Front-end: Categories not listed in a menu format?

@styzer

re: I looked for the “many templates” but only found 3 of them. Am I missing something? I’d like to see how I can customize the display.

All of the premium templates include the searchable category dropdown filter. Here’ the link:

https://connections-pro.com/templates/

re: Finally, a wild question: is there a plugin that could display a screenshot of the URLs within the entry’s display (front-end)?

Close, I think. There is the SiteShot extension which can display the site’s thumbnail instead of the entry’s photo or logo. The page I linked to shows it being used in the popular cMap template.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the reply, Steve. The three that are displayed (free version) are:

– Default Entry Card 3.0 by Steven A. Zahm
– Names 1.0.1 by Steven A. Zahm
– Profile Entry Card 3.0 by Steven A. Zahm

Are you saying that the free version should display a list of categories? It doesn’t have to be a dropdown, but should be clearly visible. And as far as customizing the default template, can it be done?

If I click on Customize/Global Options/ and select Character index, the preview screen gives a “Not found, error 404.” So I don’t know.

Using it for Organizations and not for Individuals, all I want is to show the CATEGORIES names (alphabetically) on top, not characters. When people would click those, they would be taken to that category’s listing. And that category’s menu would still show on top, on every page for quick navigation.

Thanks!

Andre

@styzer

re: Are you saying that the free version should display a list of categories?

No, I’m not. The free templates do not include this feature.

re: And as far as customizing the default template, can it be done?

What customizations are you asking for specifically (other than categories)? Each of the free templates do have configuration options which can be set using the template Customizer.

re: If I click on Customize/Global Options/ and select Character index, the preview screen gives a “Not found, error 404.” So I don’t know.

The correct location is the Connections : Templates admin page. Click the Customize button for the template you wish to configure.

In regards to the 404 message, have you followed quick start tutorial and set the page to the directory home page?

https://connections-pro.com/documentation/install/#Step_5_Set_Directory_Homepage

re: all I want is to show the CATEGORIES names (alphabetically) on top

You have a few options:

1. Using nothing but the free Connections… you could manually place the category links above the [connections] shortcode on the page. The URL’s for the category links can be found on the Connections : Categories admin page. It’s the “View” link.
2. One of the premium templates which includes the searchable/autocomplete category drop down filter.
3. Since you want a category list, the Enhanced Categories extension is an option.

Hope this helps!

I see, thank you. So the Free plugin does not have a category listing, but I can create one. I may go for the extensions, but first I have to sell this to my client.

The customization I’m after is how to change the colors, background colors, for the “cards.” Is there a “Custom CSS” feature of some kind I can use for this?

The 404 error kind of disappeared without me doing anything. No worries on that front.

Thank you again!

Andre

@styzer

re: The customization I’m after is how to change the colors, background colors, for the “cards.” Is there a “Custom CSS” feature of some kind I can use for this?

Ok, the free templates do include the options to change the border color, width and radius in the Template Customizer but that is about it. The cMap template which I referenced previously has many more color configuration options.

If you wish to use CSS to change colors, you can definitely do that, use the theme’s custom CSS area.

Hope that helps.

I entered the following code, using both my theme css and a custom css field, but nothing happened.

.cn-entry {
background-color: #f3f3f3;
}

Would it be possible to tell me which file I have to edit, and which class/id?

I would rather not spend money right now as I’m not even sure my client will like it. But I need to show something, and would prefer being able to darken a bit that background in the info boxes.

Thank you!

@styzer

re: I entered the following code, using both my theme css and a custom css field, but nothing happened.

You located the .cn-entry, notice that the background color is an inline style in that div (set there for legacy reason). You need to override the inline style with the !important flag. Like so:

.cn-entry {
	background-color: #f3f3f3 !important;
}

re: Would it be possible to tell me which file I have to edit, and which class/id?

I do not recommend editing core files because any changes you make will be overwritten when WP updates the plugin. If you want to edit files in an update safe way, here are some links to some tutorials:

– Tweaking Core Templates
– Custom Template Override Files
– Custom CSS for Templates

Really though… if you only want some CSS tweaks, place the CSS in the theme’s custom CSS area … just watch the weight of the CSS selector. Make sure your selectors are more specific to give them more weight so they override what is being applied in Connections by default. And, in the case of the few inline styles which are used, use the !important flag.

Hope that helps!