I recently received an email asking for some Wordpress advice on making posts show up in columns just like on 9antivirus.com and thought I’d share one way of doing this.

I’ve set up a demo blog showing how it looks after the code is implemented.

There are two theme files to be edited: index.php and style.css. I have just edited the default Kubrick theme, so adjust this to suit your own theme.

The basic idea is to add a “switch” so Wordpress knows if you’re looking at a post which will appear in the first or second column.

View How to organize posts into two side-by-side columns in Wordpress

Hey ok so I have been building some sites for other folks and I thought I would release some of the code to the Wordpress community. So here it is, the first design released to all.

To see the theme in action visit Cregy Test Site - Minimal and Fixed width Wordpress theme.

Download the theme here. Minimal Fixed width Wordpress theme.

I have always wondered how to get an extra column into wp. I normally just call the sidebar and footer from index.php as usual and then if I want a three column layout, put the two columns in the sidebar. e.g.

[/div][!-- end of id content--]
[/div][!--end of id wrapper--]
[!--index.php end--]

[!--include sidebar--]
[?php get_sidebar(); ?]
In the sidebar.php I have two divs, one called leftcol and float this left and the second say rightcol and float it right. (It is a little bit more complicated than that but for ease this is how I will leave it).

Now we finish the index.php by telling it to call the footer:
[!--include footer--]
[?php get_footer(); ?]

However, if I add this line after the call to the sidebar:
[!--include extra.php--]
[?php include (TEMPLATEPATH . '/extra.php'); ?]
Then I can add an extra column without resorting to having in sidebar.php.

Why is this important? Well maybe the opening page is a three column layout which upon opening a post goes to a two column structure. Using the above will help that process.

By the way I have changed the <> brackets for [] just so it doesn’t break the site.

Does anyone know of any good sites or tutorials on this subject. I don’t want to use a template or anyone else’s theme or CSS style. Any thoughts?

Take a look at:
Urban Giraffe
How to design your own wp theme
Blank wp Theme
Four blank wp themes

And for completeness:
How to write a wp plugin

Nothing about templating in there but if you get that far give me a shout and help then.

Q: Hi, I need some help with this. I am using Wordpress and I would like to get a dotted border around the different categories on the sidebar.

A: Apply the border style to the outer elements, the uo and ol, not to the li’s. The following will get you started.
#sidebar ul, #sidebar ul ol {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border: 2px dotted #ccc;
}

If you want the border only on the inner lists, try this instead:
#sidebar ul ul, #sidebar ul ol {
margin: 5px 0 0 10px;
border: 2px dotted #ccc;
}

I have always wanted a list of tags that could be used in a template. Well here they are. If you know of any more please send them in this direction. Thanks


[?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?]
[?php the_date('','[h2]‘,’[/h2]‘); ?”
[div class="post" id="post-[?php the_ID(); ?]“]
[h3 class="storytitle"]
[a href="[?php the_permalink() ?]” rel=”bookmark”][?php the_title(); ?][/a][/h3]
[div class="meta"]
[?php _e("Filed under:"); ?] [?php the_category(',') ?] —
[?php the_author() ?] @ [?php the_time() ?] [?php edit_post_link(__('Edit This')); ?]
[/div]
[div class="storycontent"]
[?php the_content(__('(more...)')); ?]
[/div]
[div class="feedback"]
[?php wp_link_pages(); ?]
[?php comments_popup_link(__('Comments (0)'), __('Comments (1)'), __('Comments (%)')); ?]
[/div]
[/div] [!--closing .post --]
[?php comments_template(); // Get wp-comments.php template ?]
[?php endwhile; else: ?]
[p]
[?php _e('Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.'); ?]
[/p]
[?php endif; ?]
[?php posts_nav_link(' — ', __('« Previous Page'), __('Next Page »')); ?]

Looking for some very good Wordpress themes? Then look no further than Webgazette. These themes are brimming over with customisation options. They look good as well despite having a simplicity to them.

Ainslee Johnson is the site owner and developer of the themes and is a hugely helpful guy. Don’t hesitate to ask his help.

Some good looking sites here that have downloadable church style Wordpress themes.

Church Themes