3. The social media icons seem to still be on a line above the menu on both computer and iPad. Also, you had the icons in green circles before and I liked that, but now it’s something else.See screenshot below. On my laptop, the icons are displaying inline with the menu. The reason I switched from the circles to the icons is so that it would be inline with the menu.
Also, re: the search icon/box on the menu bar. I would like it to look like it looks on the Brunch Pro demo, so maybe this is not extra work:Done
It’s getting crowded on the menu bar- I’m trying to have it all in one line. Can the menu items be closer together? Should I take something off the menu like home or sign up? Should the search be only a magnifying glass?
Please remind me of your Dropbox user name and password.
Update 10/31:
1. Thank you for the feast retina logo link.
Do these sizes correspond to Brunch Pro or to one of the newer themes (like cravings pro) which has a smaller logo area?
Is retina logo now not recommended? I’m not positive if Skylar said that or not.
Here is what Skylar said about the retina logo:
The header in the themes is not designed for retina compatibility - we made the decision to prioritize pagespeed over aesthetics in the last theme update to the header: https://feastdesignco.com/rethinking-the-header/
We've since discovered a way to add retina quality logo functionality without damaging pagespeed, and it's been added to the Feast Plugin: https://feastdesignco.com/feast-plugin-retina-logo/
2. Photo sizes
What are the photo sizes recommended for within blog posts using the Brunch Pro theme?
Google is recommending image sizes of 1200px by 1200px. We haven't been making recommendations on height, but have been recommending 1200px - 1400px in width.
I need to create some photos for my home page (Photos with links at the top of the page). What size should I use?
For the images on the homepage: above widget, the featured image size is 700px by 900px; you'll need to make sure any images you want to display in that area are at least that size.
3) Header
Can the social media icons be on the same line as the menu bar?
Done
You said my logo is not wide enough to be shorter in height (100px). So should I have my logo wider? What dimension?
You can use whatever size logo you wanted; my comment about the height was that if you wanted the height to display shorter, we can do that, but it would impact your width; I wasn't sure if you were considered about that. If you confirm what height you want it to display at, I'll adjust accordingly.
Following up about having the search icon/box on the menu bar.
This is new scope, which I haven't worked on yet.
7) Home page groupings (collections)
The first one is “What’s New”, meaning new posts. I’m clarifying that the “more posts” button would go to the more posts that are slightly older than the ones showing on the home page.
The button will go to whatever page/link you want it to go to. Right now, it's set to go to the home page of the blog. Depending on how you have your other home page widgets set up, they might not necessarily be all your latest posts. Do you want it to go to page 2 of your blog, or somewhere else?
Clarifying:
Right now the more button below a collection is large and takes up a line. Is it possible to put the more button where Recipe Tin Eats does like this:
That would require additional coding, which was not factored in - I saw your original request for collections, but wasn't aware you were wanting the button in that location. In the meantime, I have reduced the size of the button, and the padding.
10. Footer
Is there a way to have the menu take up less vertical space, or have a horizontal orientation?
I would recommend relocating the secondary navigation to be above the footer; that will require less coding changes than attempting to force the navigation in the footer to display horizontally. I have just done that.
What about the social media icons in a circle like the header?
Done
11. Side bar moving on mobile
Does this chart of iPad dimensions help figure out the iPad landscape horizontal pixels:
https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/visual-design/adaptivity-and-layout/
Does the demo display differently than my site? I hadn't made any adjustments for mobile responsiveness, and this was not in scope, so I am reluctant to make a specific adjustment that may require re-working of the entire mobile responsiveness of the theme.
There are multiple size iPads, each with different dimensions. Per my previous reply: Yes – you would need to let me know at what breakpoint (pixel size) you want it to move to a mobile view. Right now, it will drop to a mobile view when the device size is below 1200px. As an FYI, 1200px is standard on most mobile responsive websites.
12. Changing the comment format is not important. I like the way Recipe Tin’s is compact and easy to use, but I don’t need extra coding.
OK
13. Yes, please remove italics in the sign up bar.
Done
15. Side bar about widget: Let’s use the genesis user profile and see how that looks. Especially if the circle makes sense with the rest of the design.
Done
19. Call to action before comments:
So this would be a Gutenberg block that I could add at the bottom of a post? Can you create one as an optional template? Could I have the option to select or not select that template depending on the nature of the post? Meaning that it doesn’t automatically appear on every single post. Because some posts are travel and some are recipes.
This is the after-entry widget which is in the theme. It's NOT a Gutenberg block (none of the Feast themes utilizes Gutenberg blocks). If you want, we can create a widget which would be specific based on the category you assign to a post.
21. I don’t need the classic editor plugin.
OK
New question #22. Are there any other cool features from Seasoned Pro or the plugin that I should be using?
Seasoned Pro has basically the same functionality as the Brunch Pro theme. It does have a Recipe Index Filter option, but we're moving away from that, so there isn't anything from Seasoned Pro which is a "must have".
Circling back to things mentioned earlier:
23. Is my https set up correctly?
Yes - I am not seeing an error message when I visit your website.
24. I believe my c panel within Siteground is not set up with the current php.
It's set up with 7.1.3, which is still supported.
25. I believe some of my links need to be no follow but they are not. Specifically not sure about the amazon affiliate links and the Bob’s Red Mill links. Is there an easy way to search for these and remedy them?
Not that I am aware of; we would need to manually perform a search.
26. Are you going to run/add wp rocket?
I can't mind mention specifically of WP Rocket, which is a premium plugin. If I indicated it was included, let me know.
27. My back up (updraft?) is keeping too many versions in my Dropbox which gets maxed out and can’t take new backups.
I can take a look at your updraft settings to not save so many versions. How many versions would you like to keep?
28. Which security plugin (Free version) is better: word fence or sucuri?
Here's a good post with a comparison of the two of them. It recommends Sucuri: https://www.wpbeginner.com/opinion/wordfence-vs-sucuri-which-one-is-better-compared/
29. I’m trying to understand how the Pinterest box works at the bottom for the recipe. Is it a widget or a Gutenberg block or ?? How do I find it to fill it for each specific post?
See #19 - this is the same widget. This is the After Entry widget. It will automatically display at the bottom of every post. You don't need to do anything specific to the current post.
Updated Friday, 10/11:
- Logo: What size and format should I request from the designer?
If you are wanting a transparent background, the format should be a .png file.
In order to take advantage of the Retina Logo with the Feast plugin, you’ll want to ensure that you follow the instructions here for getting the appropriate size:
https://feastdesignco.com/feast-plugin-retina-logo/
- Photos: Do I need to resize my existing photos?; What size should I upload for new posts for featured images and post photos?
You do not need to resize your existing photos. I will run the regenerate thumbnails plugin which will resize your images to work with the featured image sizes of the theme (as long as they are at least the minimum size of the featured image selected).
Google is recommending 1200px by 1200px.
The theme uses a number of featured image sizes, the largest of which is 720px by 900px.
- Header: Is it possible to have a transparent colored background for the navigation bar on the home page?
To confirm – it’s currently the default #fff. I’ve updated it to be transparent (meaning there is no visible difference).
Can the logo area be a little shorter in height? Not as thin as cravings pro but smaller than what I have now?
Yes. The recommended size is 100px high for desktop; yours “dummy” one is taller than that because yours isn’t as wide as recommended.
Can the Social media icons be on the same line as the menu selections when on an iPad?
Yes – see my answer to #13 below
Please add search icon and box to navigation bar.
This will require additional coding, as this was not in the original scope. Let me see what would be required to add this.
Maybe the social media icons would look good in colored circles like this:
Done
- Menu items: Change “contact us” to “Contact”.
Done
- Recipe index: Is it ok to have a recipe index originate on the menu? (ie, recipes, travel) Is that now changing with new recommendations for recipe indexes?
Is the recipe index going to be created with the new Simple category index?
It’s okay to have a recipe index originate on the menu.
We can create it with the Simple category Index; that was introduced after I started working on the test site.
- First Grouping
Can Welcome be changed to “Welcome, I’m Dana”
As mentioned previously, the text on these images is not an overlay – it’s part of the image itself. You can provide me with an image saying “Welcome, I’m Dana” when you are ready to move to your site.
Can Seasonal Recipes be changed to “Favorite Seasonal Recipes”
See note above
- Second and All groupings:
Can “What’s New” be a larger font, same size as post titles.
Done
Also, can we add a more button that says “more posts”
Yes – what do you want it to link to?
And can the more button be put here for all the groupings (rather than take up a line at the bottom of the section):
Can you please clarify what you mean?
- Side bar (new ideas)
- Welcome/About box
- Now Trending (popular posts 2x3)
- Seasonal category (“Seasonal Inspiration: Fall” 2x3)
- Dana’s Favorites (new category 2x3)
Done
- Question about seasonal categories- can these be programmed to change by date, or do I manually need to do this?
You would manually need to change them (it’s just a matter of changing the category from the drop-down in the widget; it’s not a coding change).
- Footer (new ideas)
- Repeat social media icons, menu bar items, search box.
- remove seasonal inspiration section.
- keep everything else.
Done
- Mobile on iPad The side bar doesn’t stay in place on the right like on a computer, it bumps to the end like a mobile phone. Is there a way to change that?
Yes – you would need to let me know at what breakpoint (pixel size) you want it to move to a mobile view. Right now, it will drop to a mobile view when the device size is below 1200px. As an FYI, 1200px is standard on most mobile responsive websites.
- Is it possible to have the comment form in a more concise box similar to Recipe Tin Eats?
This is new scope – I’ve never seen a comment form like that before, so I would need to take a look at what kind of coding would be required to implement this.
- Sign up bar Is “latest posts” in italics? The font looks slanted.
Yes, that’s the styling from the demo – I can remove the italics if you prefer.
- I would like to use the new mobile menu from the Feast Plugin.
No problem – I can get that added to your site.
- The recipe index looks great. Is there another version of the more buttons that are smaller and take up less space?
I have made the buttons narrower.
- The about widget for side bar. What is the difference in formatting between the 2 options? One that is easy to edit is preferred.
The demo uses the “Genesis User Profile”, which uses a Gravatar image, which will be displayed as a small circle (see demo here: https://brunchpro.blog/)
Otherwise, you can use a text widget to add your own image and text.
You will get more flexibility with using a text widget in terms of size & shape of image etc., but the Genesis User Profile will be easier to update (assuming that you have a gravatar.com account, which I recommend you create, regardless of which route you want to take.
- This is the link for the logo designer: https://rynfrankdesign.co.uk
I’ve updated the Footer credits.
- Instagram prompt after recipe:
Is this a Gutenberg block? Looks great. I’d like to change the wording to “Did you make this recipe? Tag @FoodieGoesHealthy on Instagram and hashtag #FoodieGoesHealthy”
It’s the After Entry widget. I’ve updated the text.
- What about a call to action for the comments?
- “Let me know in the comments if you have a question or tip. I’d love to hear how it turned out.”
Do you want that to be the words to leave a comment, or perhaps automatically appended at the end of all your posts. It’s totally up to you (my recommendation would be to append it at the end of your posts; you can then change the text at any time without having to make coding updates.
- I will send the passwords ASAP.
No problem!
- I want to start using Gutenberg and need the classic editor plugin for my existing posts.
Your existing posts will remain in the “classic” format. You’ll only need to use the Classic Editor plugin if you want to retain that format for new posts.
A) Header
I would like the header layout to be similar to this with a more narrow logo area. The navigation bar = light green in color:
B) Custom fonts and colors
I would like all titles, sub headers, body text, boxes, and lines to be specific fonts and colors (not default).
I want to add dark and light green color trim wherever I can.
Colors and fonts specifics coming from the designer soon.
- Amatic SC regular (it’s an all caps). I’d like to see how the headers look in all caps. Can be found on FontSquirrel.com.
- I don’t have the accent font yet. It will be used for the tagline in the logo. Hasn’t been finalized yet. We can use Allura temporarily. Also on FontSquirrel.
- I like how the blog Damn Delicious uses an accent font. If I have the headers in Amatic, I’m not sure if using an accent font will be too much. Or perhaps Amatic can be the accent font instead.
- I would say that if you are using Amatic SC that you don't use a different font in this location, unless it's significantly different. Amatic SC is considered a "cursive" font, which would typically be the accent font.
C) Sticky menu bar?
- I like the sticky menu bar at the top. (Sandwich in mobile version).
- I recommend using the Modern Mobile menu, a new feature in the Feast plugin. It's created without javascript, so is less likely to cause conflicts and other issues. Let me know your thoughts.
- Are skinny sticky menus considered user friendly or do they take up too much space?
- On mobile, they may take up too much space, but on desktop, generally not.
- Menu selections: Home (if needed), About, Recipes (index), Travel (category or index), Sign up, Contact
- Added Menu with your selections
- Social Media icons = Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest (thinking of dropping Twitter)
- I added a social media widget to the primary navigation (I'm still adjusting the padding).
Sticky menu similar to this:
D) Recipe Index
- I need help setting up the Recipe Index. Is it possible to set up a separate index for travel to prepare for the future when I have more travel posts?
E) First row below the header:
Moving down the home page, next I would like there to be 3 full width labeled photos that when pressed, will link to: The Best of my Seasonal Recipes (category to be created), Tasty Travel (category or index), Welcome- Hi, I’m Dana (about).
I’d like the option to add a 4th section to the row should I want to feature a new category here later, so will that be easy for me to add myself later? I like a narrow space between each photo.
Each box looks similar to this:
As the theme isn't designed to show 3 separate pages/categories etc (the demo displays posts in a featured post widget), I've had to adjust how this displays. This means that any overlay would need to be added to the image itself, rather than CSS from the theme.
F) Latest posts:
Next section down on the home page is a 4x1 full width section with a heading: “What’s New” (Latest posts). I want the option to make this section bigger (4X2) if I blog more often in the future. (Or could be 3x2 if you recommend that).
Each post is represented by photo and title (no blog text).
Example of latest posts section:
I have added that section - I wasn't sure if you wanted it to be in the Home Top, or in the Home Middle section, with a sidebar on the right?
G) Side bar:
- Now starts the side bar. Side bar starts lower down than before. With the following sections:
- Welcome (About)
- I added a text widget with an image into this location. If you prefer, you can add the Genesis User Profile widget here.
- Now Trending (popular posts) in 2x3 grid.
- I've added a mockup into the sidebar on my site; I'm not sure what widget you are displaying on your site, but likely we can keep that once we move the theme over to your site.
- Do I need anything else? I plan to take some things out of the side bar because they are on the sticky menu, is that OK?
- You can have whatever widgets you want in your sidebar. I generally recommend having enough content to stretch the length of your home page, so that you don't have a white space. You can add affiliate links, or a subscribe widget, for example, if you like. It's really your personal preference.
- Will the side bar push to the bottom on mobile?
- The sidebar will display below post content and above your footer widgets on mobile.
H) Subscribe bar:
- Then a subscribe bar. “Get the latest posts right in your inbox”. Example:
- Done
I) Collections:
Next I’d like to feature the following collections, each 3 (or 4?) x 1. Each labeled with the collection name (which is a category) and with a small more button for the category. I may need to create these specific categories.
Collections:
Holidays
What’s for Dinner?
Kids’ Picks
Fall Favorites (Is there any way for this to automatically be replace with the next season when the date changes?)
-
- Added
- Will these collections be easy for me to change myself if I want to add or swap out manually?
- Yes - it's utilizing the Homepage: bottom widget; you can update the categories at any time.
Example of collection (but the photos would be equal size):
J) Footer
- I would like a small footer area with the following information:
copyright, disclosures and privacy policy link (I need to update this page), credit to logo designer and web developer?, “Recipe/image use” statement link?- I have updated your site footer. Let me know the link/name for your logo designer credit
- Please let me know what you think belongs in this area. Some people repeat menu, search, social media icons, but probably that is not necessary with a sticky menu bar at top.
- It's a personal preference; some people put a different menu in this location. I have multiple menus in my footer, together with a little contact information.
- If possible, I would like to have “Seasonal Inspiration” section in the footer (4x1), otherwise in the side bar: Spring - Summer - Fall - Winter (categories), with cover photos that have a transparent white band with writing labeling each option to press, styled like section E above. Please advise. Example of a collection in a footer below:
- I've added a "Seasonal Inspiration" section to your footer. In terms of an overlay - I would recommend that you don't do this - if you have a long post title, it may distract from the image.
K) Individual Blog Post: The layout moving down the page:
- Title
- Line of small writing with choices that come from the Feast Plug in, like date of last updated, may
- contain affiliate links, etc.
- Social media share buttons: Pinterest, Facebook, Print.
- The existing plugin you are using will be retained
- Jump to the recipe button, on same line as social share if looks right (I need this coded because I plan to use Create recipe plugin. But just for recipe posts, not travel.
- Post
- Recipe Card
- I added the Create by Medivine plugin to the test site, and created a "dummy" recipe card, which I added to this post.
- Social media share buttons again
- The existing plugin you are using will be retained
- Did you make this recipe? (or visit this destination). I’d love to see on Instagram. Just tag @FoodieGoesHealthy.
- The image you provided is part of the Tasty Recipes plugin, and displays as part of the Recipe card. We can add a widget for that, but note that it would display at the end of your post, not immediately under the recipe. You can see it on this post.
- Save this post for later on Pinterest (with made for Pinterest photo)
- This is an image manually added into a post.
- You’ll Also Like (related posts)
- The existing related posts plugin you have on your site will be retained
- Call to action for comments: Let me know in the comments if you have questions or tips. I’d love to hear how it worked out.
Example of color in the recipe card:
Example of bottom of post:
L) I need to set up a new recipe plugin. I have Easy Recipe and want to switch to Create by Mediavine.
-
- I added the Create by Medivine plugin to the test site, and created a "dummy" recipe card, which I added to this post.
M) Should I put google ads back on? Will they slow my site too much?
-
- I'm not a fan of Google ads. I would recommend just using Mediavine
4) I need an under the hood overhaul. Is this something that you do?
Being this is an older blog, I need to update things:
- Update to better plugins. And check settings for the ones I’m keeping.
- Let me know your site's user name and password. I will not update anything until we are ready to go live with the new theme
- Check selections in my C panel and update php (out of date due to limitations of Canvas).
- Let me know you cPanel user name and password. Again, I will not update anything until we are ready to go live with the new theme
- Check that https was installed correctly.
- Will do.
- May have google warnings, etc. Might be due to old theme or ?
- What Google warnings are you receiving? Some can be ignored, others will require action
- Is google analytics and console set up correctly.
- I will need your Google Analytics user name and password to check
- Need to add no follow to some links.
- Where do you want these added?
- Resize photos/optimize images.
- When we add the new theme to your site, I will run the regenerate thumbnails plugin for your featured images.
- run something like wp optimizer and sweep.
- We recommend WPRocket
- Have too many blog post revisions saved.
- According to this article by WPBeginner:
- All post revisions are stored in your WordPress database. Due to this, many users worry that too many revisions can slow down their websites. It is not true.WordPress skips post revisions when making database calls on the front end. It only looks for revisions on the post edit screen, or when you are actually browsing revisions.
- According to this article by WPBeginner:
- My backup plugin saves too many versions for my Dropbox to hold so then stops saving.
- Which backup plugin are you using?
- Need to add amazon disclosure.
- Do you have the disclosure available?
- Check mail chimp set up.
- Can you please let me know your Mailchimp user name and password
5) Tagline question:
Do you think my logo needs a tagline? Or can I communicate my slant on my home page/about/menu selections.
My blog name is Foodie Goes Healthy.
My tagline could be “Seasonal Recipes and Tasty Travels.” It encompasses an indication of my fresh, seasonal, real foods cooking and my intent to add more travel posts.
I know the theme does not support taglines, but I could add one to the logo if helpful.
- Or alternatively, I could put Seasonal Recipes and Tasty Travels on my menu bar. I plan to put SR and TT sections on the home page just below the header. So that’s another way to indicate what the blog is about.
Thoughts?- The tagline is set on the site which is beneficial for SEO purposes. In terms of your logo, it's totally a personal decision. If you want it to be immediately clear the niche of your site, you can add it to your logo. Again, it's a personal decision.