WP as CMS: Different areas within one page

  • Hello,

    I want to use WordPress for my next website project, but I’m not sure if it fits my needs. My problem is that there is only one big text box for all of the page contents. But what happens if I have a design which has multiple columns for example, and in the right column I want to display an image or text related to the post / article.

    In Typo3 and other CMSs, my template would be defined in a main content area and a sidebar (or main text and right box). If I would create a new page (or article) in one of these systems I could say: Use this text for the main content and put this text as well as an image in the sidebar (or right box).

    Is there any plugin which adds more of this “areas” or “blocks” functionality to WordPress? I’ve seen a lot of examples of sites using WP as a CMS, but you always clearly see that its a big frame around the post content which is filled with some stuff from sidebar widgets, but the article itself is always quite independent.

    Is it actually possible to use WP with a layout which won’t look like a typical blog?

    I will just use the site I had currently open as an example:
    https://wilhelma.de/nc/de/tiere-und-pflanzen/tiere/amazonienhaus.html

    In the middle is the actual article. On the right side are some additional information which belong to the article (like the Fütterungszeiten = Opening hours?). Where would I put this information in WordPress?

    I think I could use the meta data to achieve this, but how could I tell my client “OK, to add some text on the right side, open the meta data box, click on new, enter rightSideContent as the key and fully formatted html as the value.” It would be even worse in case he would like to insert an image… (Upload first, copy the path, add an image tag, paste URL as src?)

    Thanks,

    Thomas

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

  • Is it actually possible to use WP with a layout which won’t look like a typical blog?

    Yes. The only limits are your imagination and your skills.

    to give you some examples, search for cms templates, magazine templates or newpaper templates. that’ll give you a good way to start, but wordpress is really flexible in how it displays the post contents.

    with the power of custom lists and queries you can make your site do some pretty powerful things ??

    Just coming back to this one again…

    Is there any plugin which adds more of this “areas” or “blocks” functionality to WordPress? I’ve seen a lot of examples of sites using WP as a CMS, but you always clearly see that its a big frame around the post content which is filled with some stuff from sidebar widgets, but the article itself is always quite independent.

    Any template can be widgetized – allowing users to add content to any page using drag’n’drop widgets. Templates can also be created that pull content in from different resources within the WP system. Finally, you can build theme-specific functions that do just about anything.

    Thread Starter thomas_barteler

    (@thomas_barteler)

    Hi,

    Thank you very much for your answers!

    to give you some examples, search for cms templates, magazine templates or newpaper templates. that’ll give you a good way to start, but wordpress is really flexible in how it displays the post contents.

    I did using the WordPress showcase and unfortunately I didn’t find an example in which the design of an individual post or page is more complex. They all follow the “normal” structure, where the sidebar displays the newest or related posts for example. But the actual content of one article is always very simple.

    Any template can be widgetized – allowing users to add content to any page using drag’n’drop widgets. Templates can also be created that pull content in from different resources within the WP system. Finally, you can build theme-specific functions that do just about anything.

    Maybe I didn’t find the option in the user interface, but aren’t the widgets something “global” which you define once for the blog?

    It would be great if you could point me in some direction how to implement the following:

    The content area should be divided in 2 columns. In the left column, the normal article text is shown. In the right column, I want to display an image, which the author who creates the article should choose, as well as some additional information like prices which only belong to this specific article.

    The author enters the article text in the content box in the admin UI. But where to enter the price information? Where to put the image? The only thing I could imagine now is to:

    – Learn the author to use HTML and insert 2 floating DIVs for the columns using the HTML editor.

    – Use meta fields for all of the things which should appear on the right side.

    In Typo3 for example, the admin UI would know that there is a right column and a left column and the author could simply say, “OK, now add a text element to the right column”, or an image and so on.

    I understand that WP is not a classic CMS, but I really like it because it’s so easy to use and offers most of the needed functionality.

    Thank you very much for your help, it is really appreciated!

    using meta fields would indeed be a good thing to read up about. here’s some starter stuff you could use to start a custom theme

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Using_Custom_Fields

    and here’s a good plugin for structuring meta fields in the admin interface

    https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/more-fields/

    and lastly there are a number of plugins to modify widgets to appear on specific pages.

    https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/slayers-custom-widgets/
    https://konstruktors.com/blog/wordpress/842-wordpress-gpl-widget-context-plugin/
    https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/widget-logic/

    disclosure — that last one is my own ??

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