1. First, in your sidebar, go to “Settings” and select “Featured Content Gallery” Decide which pages you want to have images link to from your Gallery on your homepage. Most sites have too many pages to have an image link to each one. So, choose your most important pages: Contact Us, Products, About Us, Blog, etc… Determine the page ID number for each page. You can do this by either installing the “Reveal IDs” plugin, or simply go to your pages screen and rollover the page title with your mouse and take note of the page number that shows up in the bottom bar of your browser. Jot down these IDs and then type them in the “Post or Page IDs” field on the Featured Content Gallery screen.

2.Upload your image.
Go to the page that you want the gallery image to link to.  Here, we are going to change the “about” page. Click on the little icon for “add image”.

3. On the screen that comes up (NOT the one below) you will select “upload from your computer” (be sure the photo is saved on your computer: ) Also, make sure that your photo is properly sized before uploading. There is nothing that disturbs me more than seeing a beautifully designed website with gallery photos that are squished and stretched beyond recognition. Take the time to crop and resize your images to the dimensions set in your Featured Content Gallery screen.  Below, you see the “Add an Image” screen. I uploaded my happy friend Friar Fritz. Go down and copy the link from the “Link url” field.

4 Close the Add Image screen to get back to your page and scroll down to the “Custom Fields” Section. Select or type in “articleimg” in the name box and then paste you image link into the “value” box. Update your page. Now, you will have assigned a photo in your gallery to this page.

5. If you want to customize the text overlay that appears in your gallery, simply add a new “custom field”. Label it “featured text” and then in the value box type in the text that you want to overlay the image in the gallery.

I’ve used all of these plugins and can personally vouch for their effectiveness and ability to improve your WordPress site.

The following list was hard to narrow down. There are SO many good plugins…. But, I did my best. Let me know what you think.

All in One SEO Pack: This is one plugin that every WordPress site should have.  If you’re a beginner, you can use All in One SEO Pack out of the box. But, if you like to fine tune and tweak… then get after it. All in One SEO Pack allows you to add keywords, tags, optimize page titles, and much more.

Akismet: Akismet is the best anti-spam plugin available for WordPress. No one likes to waste time weeding through spam comments. Set up is easy with Akismet and then you don’t have to worry about spam comments any more!

Contact Form 7: Manage multiple contact forms with Contact Form 7. I’ve used many different forms for my sites, but I always come back to this one. It’s simple, reliable and flexible. Contact Form 7 supports Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and more.

WP Super Cache: This plugin generates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. This reduces the loading time of your blog. Visitors can browse your blog faster and navigate more easily. No one want to lose visitors because your site is slow!

WordPress Related Posts: WordPress Related Posts Plugin will generate a related posts via WordPress tags, and add the related posts to feed. This plugin generates related posts according to the tag and category. These posts are then shown at the end of the article. You keep your readers interested and entice them to explore more of your site by showing them related content.

Thank Me Later: So Cool! Thank Me Later automatically sends an e-mail those who have left a comment on your blog. You can use this plugin to say “thank you”, invite them to subscribe to your RSS feed, find you on Facebook or Twitter or email you personally. A great way to create personal relationships with your visitors and keep them coming back.

WPtouch iPhone Theme: Transform your WordPress site into an iPhone application-styled theme whenever your site is viewed from a mobile device. You don’t have to alter any code from your regular WordPress theme. A definite must these days!

Google XML Sitemaps: This plugin generates an XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com index your blog. With a sitemap, search engine crawlers see your site structure more easily and are able to retrieve your information. Move on up the Google index with this one!

Google Analyticator: Add Google Analytics to your site with this simple plugin. Google Analyticator also offers several widgets to display analytics in the admin section of your WordPress site.

Sociable: Seen those cute little social networking icons at the bottom of pages or posts? Well, here you are. Sociable automatically add links to your favorite social bookmarking sites on your posts, pages and in your RSS feed. You can choose from 99 different social bookmarking sites! Give your readers an easy opportunity to share what you have to offer.

Most Common & Familiar

Even if you don’t know it… you probably view several WordPress sites each time you’re on the internet. Here are just a few businesses/organizations who use WordPress: Fisher Price, National Geographic, Best Buy, Jane Fonda, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Danielle Steel, etc… see for yourself.

Fully Customizable…

I’m a designer at heart. I love beautiful things and if I can’t create exactly what I want for my client, I’m not happy. WordPress allows me the freedom to customize the code and templates till my heart’s content. Thus, I create lovely sites for my clients… and they’re happy!

There are also a zillion plugins and theme variations out there for WordPress users, many more than any other CMS. Simply search the WordPress Plugin page and you’ll probably find exactly what you’re looking for!

Amazingly Easy to Use

As I just said, I’m a designer at heart…. If I can’t figure something out with relative ease, then I know my clients won’t be able to either. Those problems were solved when I switched over to WordPress. After using Druple and Joomla for other sites, and spending hours on end training my client’s on the ins and outs of the administration side of the site… well, we were all about to pull our hair out!

Then WordPress waltzed into my life and it’s never been the same. WordPress calls it like it is… the admin navigation is straightforward and help is really only a click or two away. More on that later…

Really though, I’m so thankful that WordPress (developed by Matt Mullenweg) is both robust and user-friendly.  My clients can pick up WordPress after just an hour of two of training.

Blogging & SEO

As most know, WordPress was first created as a blogging tool. So… you should blog. No matter what your organization or industry, blogging can only help, not hurt you. I strongly encourage all my clients to have a blog page on their site. A regular commitment to blogging will naturally increase content. Content is king! Honestly, that’s the best SEO to have!

Community

Since using WordPress I have actually met some amazing people – both in person and online. The WordPress community is amazingly generous. Since WordPress is open-source (read: free!) users and developers seem more than willing to share their thoughts, tricks and tips with others. So, if you have a question, there are numerous help forums and experts out there to help.

More questions about WordPress? Feel free to contact me and I’d be happy to chat with you!

We’re happy when you are happy and successful – that’s our goal!

Services:

* Custom Web Design
* Joomla
* WordPress
* CMS integration
* Web programming
* Flash
* Hosting
* Domain Regsitration
* Search Optimization

Design Services:

* Logo Design
* Print Design
* Brochure Design
* Letterhead and business stationary Design
* Advertising Design

We offer skilled web design and graphic design, quality service, a full range of web design and maintenance services including domain hosting and search engine promotion, to domain registration, and web site programming. We are a College Station Web Design and Graphic Design firm offering fresh designs, intuitive web sites, the latest multimedia technologies, and innovative graphics.

Santa Clara Design also offers elegant print design for identity design, logos, stationary sets, brochures, newsletters, and advertising/marketing pieces. Our quality shows in every detail… Our clients are located all around the Bryan/College Station area including College Station, Bryan, Navasota, Caldwell, Austin, San Antonio, Houston… and now reaching into other states!

Santa Clara Design offers a variety of packages to make your life easier. Check out our Web Design Packages and our Corporate Identity Packages where you can get all your advertising and promotion requirements met in one place.

Just in the past few years, consumers have come to rely on the Internet in ways no one could have expected. To remain competitive in today’s market, you need a strong Internet presence to provide those consumers with information about you and your products. Target those consumers and turn them into customers with a website developed by professional web designers.

Whether you need a simple brochure-style website with just the basics, or a full e-commerce web solution, we will work with you to develop a site and marketing strategy for your business.

We specialize in website design and graphic design. Services include print design, identity design, logo design, marketing pieces, hosting, graphic design, e-commerce, domain registration, and several multimedia technologies including Macromedia Flash®. Call now to discuss the needs of your business.

And remember, we like to help people who help others. So, if you’re a ministry or non-profit in the Bryan or College Station, Texas area or beyond, let us know and we’ll see what we can do to give you a non-profit or ministry discount!