New free authors network, question about theme

  • Hi. I have created a new WP Multi. My plans are to have it as an authors network, free service for good authors who cant afford (or not technically capable) to have their own blogs.

    My plan is to have it as simple as possible. based on this:

    1- One theme or two, with the ability to customize the theme to reflect each individual author. For instance, to have 2 locations in the theme where I can put a custom photo depending on whose blog is that, and another spot which will have a short info about him. I really dont know if this is possible, but you surely understand that it is impossible to have a separate theme for every author, if the number is 100 for instance. So, how can I make a specific widget for instance (where I will put the authors photo), make it customizable to show different photos (depending on whose author that blog is), without having to have separate themes for each individual author.

    2- I want the authors to be able to post each to his blog via email. He sends an email message containing his post, to a unique email address, and his post will be posted to his blog. I know this is available on normal WP, but I dont know how to do it on Multi.

    3- I want to have the main page list latest articles from all authors, and to have an index of all authors.

    Are these all possible to do, How?

    Thank you very much for the help

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    1 – Depends on the theme. If the theme can do that at all, regardless of if it’s MultiSite, then it can do it in MultiSite. The rest of that question is generic WordPress stuff, and you can all do it, just have to find the right theme for your needs. The theme code is ‘shared’ but the customization are per site.

    2 – No can do with MultiSite.

    3 – Pretty easy. Use the WPMU Sitewide Tags plugin, and it’ll pull in posts to the main site. There are a lot of tutorials for the author index, too.

    Thread Starter iceq

    (@iceq)

    Hi Ipstenu. I am really grateful for all your help(s) ??
    Do you know a good theme developer whom I can hire to enhance a free theme for me so that it would be capable of that stuff that I need? (I mean a developer you personally trust).

    Try https://jobs.wordpress.net/

    Thread Starter iceq

    (@iceq)

    Thank you esmi. I learnt that WP Network is smart enough to automatically make any changes to themes blog-dependent, namely, if blogs X+Y use same theme (Z), and a theme change was done on blog X, the change will not appear on blog Y as well.. That is cool.

    But the question now is, there are certain things that I want hard-coded into the theme, the default widgets, for instance. How can I make changes to the theme which would be reflected in all blogs?
    Same question applies to plugins. If I set up plugin X, how can I activate it on ALL blogs? Then, how can I set its default settings which I want to be in action on all blogs ???

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    Edit the theme files directly. Well… Make a child theme and use that instead, but if you lock a widget into the code there, it’s for everyone who uses the theme.

    Plugins you need something like https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/yd-wpmu-sitewide-options/

    Thread Starter iceq

    (@iceq)

    Thanx again Opstenu.

    I got this “image in a widget” widget that allows the blog author to add his image. I want that to be added to sidebar for everyone by default, but the image will still have to be customizable.
    I dont believe hardcoding it will allow changes by authors.

    Also, not all changes can be coded to the theme’s files, as far as I know.

    Thanx for the plugin.. I will certainly try it.. now at least I know that these plugins are called “sitewide X..” which makes searching much easier ??

    Thank you.. UR efforts are appreciated

    Thread Starter iceq

    (@iceq)

    I forgot. There are other things that I need. default categories for every new blog, default set of pages (about me, CV, contact me, etc).

    There is the plugin called New Blog Defaults, but it only sets configurations, not posts, pages, etc (content).

    p.s. any other tips / reminders/ recommendatinos regarding WP NET are really really appreciated .. not matter how small they are !

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    Tweak settings for new blogs
    * https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/wpmu-new-blog-defaults/
    * https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/default-blog-options/

    But you may need Replicator, which is a pay-for plugin that will let you clone one site.
    * https://wpebooks.com/replicator/

    Thread Starter iceq

    (@iceq)

    I installed these all ??
    thank you very much again.. I am sure somebody else will benifit from your answers and tips ??

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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