How to Change the Drop Down Content on a WordPress Website
WordPress is one of the most popular platforms for creating a website. It is a free and open-source blogging tool that can easily be utilized for personal or professional use. Many people choose to create a website using WordPress because of its many features and the fact that it is easily functional and customizable.
While WordPress is a fantastic content management system, it does have its downfalls. One of the major issues that users encounter is that the default options for many features are not suitable for commercial use, especially when it comes to the drop down content in the WordPress customizer. In this blog post, we will discuss methods for changing the content that is presented to users when they customize a WordPress website, as well as methods for altering the appearance of that content.
The Customizer
The customizer is a feature inside of WordPress that allows website owners to change the look and feel of their site without needing to edit the code. It is a very useful tool for those who are either starting afresh with a new website or are looking to update the look of a site that they have already created. It is important to note here that the customizer is not a content editor, so it cannot be used to change the content of your site. It can only be employed to make aesthetic changes to the site’s appearance.
As stated above, the customizer is a very useful tool for those who are either starting afresh with a new site or are looking to update the look of a site that they have already created. One of the first things that you will want to do once you have accessed the customizer is to go into the appearance section and make some fundamental changes to the way that your site looks. This is where you will want to focus your attention as it is the foundation of any effective custom design.
The Appearance
- Columns
- Background Color
- Links
- Button Styles
- Border
- Font
- Spacing
- Shadow
- Text Color
There are many different aspects to the appearance of your website, and it is important to bear this in mind if you are ever planning on customizing it. The first thing that you will want to do is to set the number of columns in your page to three. In the WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > Reading and set the number of columns to three.
This will help to create a better balance between content and design, as three columns seems to work well for websites that are trying to establish a fashion or lifestyle blog. If you are using more than three columns, then you are effectively limiting the amount of content that can be displayed on a single page. Having more than three columns is useful for a website that is more focused on content than it is on design, as it can act as a great tool for showcasing larger articles.
Headers And Footers
The headers and footers in WordPress are extremely easy to edit and can be done so through the dashboard. Simply go to Settings > Layout and set the headers and footers for your site. It is a good idea to have a unique set of headers and footers for each page of your site. This will help to establish a brand identity for your site that is separate from the rest of the web content.
It is always a good idea to play around with the code of your site to see how different designs look. There are many small tools, such as the Chrome plugin Can I Use My Own Header?, that can be used to quickly see how a header or footer would look on a website without having to go through the trouble of actually creating one.
Post Formats
The default post formats in WordPress are “article”, “video”, and “image”. These are basic templates that are stored with your posts and are used to display content in a way that is easy for readers to consume. WordPress users can easily modify these formats to fit the design ideas that they have in mind for their site.
There are many plugins that are available for WordPress that can be used to modify the appearance of your site. One of the first things that you will want to do is to switch from the default post formats to “text blog”, as this will help to establish your site as a content-driven publication. Once you have switched over to the text blog format, it is a good idea to start adding content to your site, as this is probably the single most important step to take before launching a major design project.
Fonts
The typefaces that are used for the body copy of a website are extremely important, as they will dictate the overall look and feel of the site. With that in mind, it is a good idea to explore a variety of fonts and see which ones work best for your site.
There are many great fonts that are free for use, such as Lobster, which is a great font for large display; the Helvetica family, which is used in many places around the web, and is highly compatible with almost any website design; and the Franklin Gothic family, which has a strong visual presence and is often used to create logos and banners for businesses.
Colorful
As a general rule of thumb, it is a good idea to use more colors in a design; this will make a massive difference. When using color, keep simple variations in mind, as too much variation can make a design appear overwhelming. The key is to simply use colors that are relevant to the theme that you have chosen for your site.
You can use any colors that you want for your site’s background, other than white or grey, but it is a good idea to keep the colors as simple as possible, as too many colors can negatively impact a design. When choosing a font color, make sure that it is easy on the eye and that it relates to the overall theme that you have chosen for your site.
Larger Fonts
If you are using Helvetica for the body text of your site, then there is no reason to use a smaller font for the names of your blog posts and the like. Once you have switched over to using a “text blog” format for your site, it is a good idea to start using larger fonts. This will establish your site as a content-driven publication and make it easier to read.
It is always a good idea to play around with the design of your site and see how different variations look. While there may be no perfect formula for the perfect site, there are certainly best practices that can be followed to make a good-looking site that is easy to use.
WordPress is a fantastic tool for website creators, and it is easy to see why. Not only does it provide a rich experience for users, but it also offers great functionality that can be easily accessed through the customize tool. However, that same tool presents certain challenges for commercial users whose websites are built on the WordPress platform, as the options for many features are not entirely suitable for such use.
Still, with the proper planning and research, these issues can be overcome. Designing a WordPress website is not as difficult as one might think, and with a little bit of research, the perfect look for a content-driven fashion or lifestyle blog can be achieved.