The Local Help
Requirements
- The Elemental theme (which is included, for free, when you purchase The Local)
- WordPress 3.0+
- PHP 5.2+ and a MySQL database
- A host server with GD library (very common)
- Note: You do not need to purchase Elemental separately. It comes included with your purchase of “The Local”
Overview
The Local is a child theme for Elemental, a larger framework, which means both must be installed in your /themes/ directory, though only The Local needs to be activated. For more on child themes, please view the screencast. Users new to either theme should also read the Elemental documentation first.
The Local is unique in that the homepage content is controlled entirely by custom widgets and control panel options. No code needs editing and technical barriers are almost non-existent.
Configuration
- First read the Elemental configuration docs
- Setup WordPress on your web space (info on WordPress and Theme installation here)
- Download your theme from the accounts control panel.
- Install/ Upload the theme on your website. There are sometimes problems with using the WordPress theme uploader so you may need to upload the theme files manually using an ftp client
- Log in to the control panel and visit Appearance-Widgets to configure your homepage. Some widgets will already be set up in the optimal configuration you see in the demo, but you are free to drag and drop.
- If you plan to use Google Adsense, sign up and write down your Publisher ID. Once you’ve entered it in the The Local’s control panel, you can insert ad widgets in any of the 4 homepage columns or in the upper right corner.
- Visit The Local > Options and edit anything else, from typography to navigation
- For information on creating custom Site Styles check out the tutorial here
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I have to buy Elemental when I buy The Local?
Nope, Elemental comes bundled with The Local for free, so one purchase gets you everything you need to get your hyperlocal site up and running. - How come multiple Google Adsense unit don’t always show up?
From the Google help page:“Currently, AdSense publishers may place up to three AdSense for content units on one web page….This system automatically displays an optimal number of highly targeted Google ads on each page. For this reason, the maximum number of ads may not always appear.”
- What if I’ve already purchased Elemental and want The Local. Do I have to buy Elemental twice?
If you log in to your accounts panel, you will see a coupon that will deduct the cost of Elemental. - How do I get the id for my weather location?
To find my weather location I use Yahoo! Weather. To get the location for Steamboat Springs I would first find the relevant weather page – http://weather.yahoo.com/united-states/colorado/steamboat-springs-12793087/ – and then click the rss icon in the top right which takes you here – http://weather.yahooapis.com/forecastrss?p=USCO0370&u=f. You can then see the id as the p parameter in the path in the url bar. In this case your location would be – USCO0370 - How do I change the logo?
The Local comes with its own graphical logo that can be overwritten in /thelocal/images/logo.png. If you prefer a text logo, you can set that preference in the control panel under The Local->Options. - What if I want to insert additional text or PHP functions
Depending where you want to insert this, Elemental/The Local comes with plenty of extra content areas (action hooks) throughout the theme. Visit The Local->Extras for more info and be sure to read the documentation on Action Hooks. - How do I hide the date and the weather display on my website?
To hide the date and the weather simply leave the ‘weather location’ field empty in the options page of the theme. - How do I align the crop location in my post thumbnails?
The crop location can be selected from the ‘Thumbnail Crop Position‘ settings drop down, in the ‘Custom Post Details’ area of the write post page.
