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[Psycho]

I've been making some updates to my website this evening and while adding some more recent projects to the home page I got this message on that particular section of the WordPress dashboard:

Warning: Illegal string offset 'children' in /wp-content/themes/UltraWebStudio-v1.03/ultrawebstudio/adminoptions/extras.php on line 570

I just wanted to check to see what this could mean?

I'm hoping it is not as sinister as it sounds, with words like: "warning", "illegal" and "children"!

I had a look at line 570 of extras.php and couldn't see anything unusual, to my non-code savvy eyes.

PHP Code:

                // check for child elements
                if (is_array($value['children'])) {
                    echo "<ul>";
                    RecentProjectList($value['children'], $options);
                    echo "</ul>";
                **
                echo "</li>";
                
            ** // end (if separator) else statement
        ** // end foreach item
    ** 


Psycho

[AndyWilson]

Which line is 570?

Needs more code to be sure, but it looks like $value is a string when the code is expecting an array

This isn't standard WP code - it's part of the admin options for the theme - so it's difficult to say what's causing the problem with just a snippet

[Psycho]

Originally Posted by AndyWilson

Which line is 570?

Needs more code to be sure, but it looks like $value is a string when the code is expecting an array

This isn't standard WP code - it's part of the admin options for the theme - so it's difficult to say what's causing the problem with just a snippet

570 is the second line down: if (is_array($value['children'])) {

The theme is a bit out of date and I do need to install the new version. Currently it is v1.03 but the new version is v2.05.

The only reason I haven't updated it yet is that the new version will need me to pretty much re-build the website. I'll need to find a free day to do so.

I'm wanting to do it ASAP because the new version is also responsive.

Psycho

[driver8]

don't waste time fixing this - dedicate that full day and upgrade your theme !

[Psycho]

Originally Posted by driver8

don't waste time fixing this - dedicate that full day and upgrade your theme !

It looks like I might need a week to do that, rather than a day!

I've been having a play about with the updated theme at a different URL and it is TOTALLY different to the version I'm using.

They have changed everything and I'm having to learn how to build the website all over again!

I want to do this but I can see it getting in the way of actual work.

Fingers crossed I can crack it...

Psycho

[ljp]

Why havent you made a child theme so updates dont break too much?

[Psycho]

I'll have a look into that.

Cheers,

Psycho

PS. Are Child Themes easy to set up after a website has been built, say a year or two after, or are they only any good if you use them from the start? My website was originally built in 2010 and I don't remember anyone mentioning Child Themes back then. I've not really had any experience with them but I will force myself find out more about them and to start using them.

[ljp]

I would update the site and make a child theme at the same time. Something is going to break if you don't update the theme anyway - it's also leaving you open to hacking.

A child theme takes a minute or so to do!

http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

[Psycho]

Originally Posted by ljp

I would update the site and make a child theme at the same time. Something is going to break if you don't update the theme anyway - it's also leaving you open to hacking.

A child theme takes a minute or so to do!

http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

Cheers!

The new version of my theme comes with its own Child Theme files already set up. I've installed them the same way I would a normal theme and activated it on my test URL.

Once I've got it built on my test URL, using the Child Theme, then I'll copy it over to the actual URL.

I'll have another look everything when I get a quiet moment... which isn't that often!

Psycho

[Psycho]

Has anyone had experience hosting a WordPress website with Demon.net?

The website that I have been working on is now ready to go live but I'm not sure if Demon.net is okay with hosting a WordPress website or whether I'll need to use a more dedicated website hosting company?

If they aren't, then it shouldn't be too hard to transfer the current domain name over to someone like Vidahost and to just host it there?

Demon.net wouldn't actually own the domain name, would they?

Psycho

[douglasb]

No, but if you wind up transferring, there might be a fee to transfer the name to Vidahost, depending on what hosting package you go for.

[driver8]

Envato free files of the month including this well-rated WP 'accordion' plugin Responsive Searchable 3 Level Accordion For Wordpress (click the 'Live Preview' button for a demo).

[driver8]

This is one crazy-ass list ! But worth a quick look, particularly as all the plugins are listed as links direct to the WP repository.

The Top 1000 most used WordPress plugins

I found a couple of sliders that look worth checking out.

[KeyserSoze]

I recently built a WP site for someone which features a slideshow on the front page. I decided to use an external JQuery plugin rather than a WP plugin as I couldn't find one suitable.

The images were not meant to change often, but now the site owner wants to know how they can do it themselves. I've simply created an unordered list of IMG tags which the Jquery slideshow hooks onto.

So to change images, they need to modify the .php template page with a text editor and replace the IMG tags to point to new images. As you can imagine for a non web developer it's not ideal.

So I have a few options here:

• Search harder to find a suitable WP plugin
  
• Make the image filenames standard so they simply need to upload a new image to the gallery and ensure they use standard naming conventions
  
• Develop an admin options page on the Dashboard which gives them a UI to modify the images

The last one will take the most time and will end up charging more for. Can you think of a better way to handle this?

[driver8]

My first question is an obvious one - did you check to see if someone has made a WP plugin version using your chosen JQuery ?

Failing that, secondly - what feature of your slider could not be met by a plugin ?

[ljp]

Install a plugin that just picks ANY image from a certain folder and give them FTP access to the folder. That has to be the easiest option.

[KeyserSoze]

I am using bxslider, and actually there are two WP plugins! Don't know why I didn't see this before Or possible I tried them and they weren't as customizable as I wanted. I basically need full control over the look and feel of the slider.

Going to give them a go now.

Originally Posted by ljp

Install a plugin that just picks ANY image from a certain folder and give them FTP access to the folder. That has to be the easiest option.

This is actually a really good idea. Although I need the images to be clickable links as well which can easily be changed by the user.


EDIT: It's not really working out. Found two WP plugins which use this slider. One only has full set of options if I purchase the premium version and the other only supports shortcodes and doesn't allow me to put the slider directly in my theme file.

Perhaps there is an alternative? Basically want a horizontal slider which can display 3 images on each page, will auto scroll but with left and right arrow navigation buttons. But the look and feel needs to be completely customizable in CSS. Any suggestions?

[KeyserSoze]

I ended up creating a new widget area in the place of if the ul list - http://codex.wordpress.org/Widgetizing_Themes

Installing the 'Enhanced Text' widget plugin and just put the HTML code into the widget box. Reason I didn't use the default Text widget is because it adds a .textwidget class around it and ruins the slider.

Still not the most user friendly solution as the site owner needs to modify the HTML code but at least they don't need to go go in via FTP, down the .PHP template file, modify it and then upload it again

[driver8]

This looks good for a freebie, despite the weird name and Lite status - Nictitate by Kopatheme (and here at WP)

[driver8]

Has anyone done a WP site for a guest house, or anything needing online bookings ? Any tips to share ?