[Support request] Importing a New Site

[Karen]

Hi, I am completely new to GeneratePress and I am obviously not tech minded. But I am trying to load Wordsmith and get the message below before I import the content.

Does this mean I am ok to keep my pages, as long as the pages are empty of content? If it means my whole site has to be completely clean how does that impact on the URL links?

For best results, only install this demo content on fresh sites with no content. If you have already installed another GeneratePress Site, be sure to clean it up by deleting the content, plugins and menus that it added.

Thank you for your help

Karen

[David]

Hi there,

we recommend that you install a GP Site on a clean install of WordPress.
Importing a GP Site to an already built website may lead to problems.

All of your existing content (pages, posts, media, plugins etc.) will remain intact. But…
The Site will import dummy content pages, posts and elements ( as seen in the demo ).
The Home page will be changed to that of the imported Site.
It will change the Menu in your navigation to imported site Menu. Your old menu will still exist but may not be displayed if its location is the same as the imported Site.
Likewise with Sidebars and Footers – the widget content may get updated. And in this case any existing widgets will be lost.
Any layout changes the sites import could also effect your existing page content. Such as how sidebars are displayed.

Of course people still do import Sites on an pre-built website. If this was a requirement then the best option would be to test it on a backup or staging site, not your live one.

[Karen]

Hi David

Thank you for replying so quickly, I appreciate it. As I say I am not techy so I just want to clarify my understanding. If I reinstall WordPress (on the update page and reinstall now), it will reinstall WordPress and I should be able to load the theme and all will be well?

I am a novice so I have very few posts but I had got to the stage of having all my pages in places apart from my blog page. I don’t mind losing the pages as long as the URL links remain intact and don’t cause me a problem.

Thanks

Karen

[David]

So first thing is to do is to create a backup of your site.

If you’re host provides Staging, then create a Staging Site of your existing site. And then edit the Staging Site. This will allow you to make changes without affecting your live site. And if you’re happy with those changes you can ‘push’ them to your live site. Your host should be able to help.

So no reseting or re-installing wordpress just import the Site from the Site Library.
You’re existing posts and pages will remain intact and so will their URLs.

The first thing you will need to do is go through and make your logo and menu changes in the Customizer.

[Karen]

Hi David

My site is backed up daily with UpdraftPlus. Unfortunately I use Bluehost and they are absolutely no help with anything.

I am going to try and use GeneratePress without importing a new site as I don’t have the hours to waste on Bluehost.

Thank you for your help

Karen

[David]

Ok – yes Hosts can be a nightmare. Didn’t mean to scare you off but we are really concerned about our clients not breaking things 🙂

If you need some help replicating the Wordsmith Site then we’re more than happy to walk you through some of the changes.

[Karen]

I am concerned about not breaking things too. Being a novice I have only just stopped being afraid of what I can do wrong.

I would like it very much if you could help me and walk me through the changes to replicate The Wordsmith Site

Karen

[David]

Ok – so first off, i notice you are using Thrive ( i think ) pagebuilder on your pages. As most of the styles for them will come from thrive they won’t look any ( much ) different after we make the changes. So create a draft page using the normal WP editor, add some dummy text and some headings. Use that page to preview any changes we make.

Plugins you will need:

1. Lightweight Social Icons for the Top Bar and Footer:

https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/lightweight-social-icons/

The styling and alignment of the icons is done within the Widget just add the Social Icons to your Top Bar Widget. In Appearance > Widgets.

2. WP Show Posts for adding Post grids to the front page or other static pages, the free version will suffice.

https://wpshowposts.com

We can walk through that later if needed.

3. WP Featherlight
https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-featherlight/

This automatically adds a lightbox for all your post images.

Now we can import the customizer colors, fonts, container layout with the attached file:

http://gpsites.co/files/wordsmith/options.json

Right Click and Download as Attachment. Then in Dashboard > Appearance > GeneratePress –> Right Sidebar > Import Settings –> Choose File ( select that file ) once selected hit Import.

First thing you will need to do is head to the Customizer > Site Identity and add back your old logo.

Then in Customizer > Additional CSS you will need to paste the CSS i provide in this link:

https://gist.github.com/diggeddy/8f47e62bddd63ad859e172fdfb396e38

Once you done that can you share me the link to the Dummy page?

[Karen]

Hi David

This is the link, not good is it? https://mypathtotravel.com/?page_id=4240&preview=true

I don’t use a logo I just use My Path To Travel until I know exactly which way I am going. But I added a png logo to test it.

When I use the customiser it only shows and has only ever showed my coming soon page. It doesn’t show the page I want to be customising.

I have been using Thrive Themes and I am happy with the pages. I came unstuck with the blog page and then realised after, seriously, months of trying that it’s not possible to put a header on Thrive Themes posts. That was when I was recommend GeneratePress.

This morning, using the free theme, everything looked good. I saw posts and pages with a black header, as they should look when I haven’t done anything with them. I bought the premium theme and I have gone back to struggling with fresh air.

[David]

So lets see if we can fix a couple of things. Do you have a Blog page set-up? ie. Dashboard > Settings > Reading -> Post Page: Blog

If so go to Appearance > Menu and create a new menu and add the Items you want to be displayed including the Blog Page. When editing the menu you can set its Location, choose the Primary Navigation. I assume you will only 4 menu items so they should all fit on one line.

If you preview a page, in the WP Admin Bar if you click the Customizer button it will customize whilst viewing that page.

[Karen]

I couldn’t see the blog page because it was only privately published. I am not keen on it being public as it is a mess but as I have zero traffic it’s not something I need to bother about now.

So, thank you. I now have access to my home page and blog page on my customiser page, seriously thank you

[David]

Right so we’re getting somewhere 🙂 So did you create a Menu and Assign it to the Primary Nav? It looks like the auto generated Menu?

Also as you’re using Text for your header instead of a logo, can you remove the Logo. And in Customizer > Site Identity – Add your Site Title and uncheck the box that is hiding it.

[Karen]

I have removed the logo and just have the header name. The menu is the auto generated menu as I don’t know how to create the menu

[Karen]

What is on the menu, home, about and contact is what I need on there right now as my blog page isn’t ready. But I can’t change the colour.

[Leo]

Check out this article on how to use the WordPress menu system:
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/using-the-wordpress-menu-builder/

Primary navigation colors options are included in the customizer:
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/colors-overview/

Let us know if this helps 🙂

[Author]

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