“You might also like:” or “Related Posts:”

You see this handy tool at the bottom of a lot of websites now a days. I find that when I come to the end of a post and see a display of the other things I might like, I do like them! They can be a little hard to track down if you do not know what you are looking for. Therefore, my goal with this post is to direct you to what you are looking for =).

“You might also like:”

To get this for your website, head over to the LinkWithin website and sign up for your free widget. This widget is avaliable for self-hosted WordPress users, Blogger users, TypePad users, and others. Installing this widget is simple – just download the zip file and upload it to the appropriate directory. For WordPress users, the directory you would install it in, is yoursitename.com/wp-content/plugins. To customize this widget you will need some experience in HTML/PHP. PS: Please feel free to ask for help =)

“Related Posts:”

The next widget can be installed directly through WordPress dashboard. Under your Plugins tab, click on “Plugins” and search for “Related Posts Thumbnails“. It has a built in options panel which makes for easy customization. Because of its simplicity and great array of options to edit – this one gets my vote.

Thematic: Adding Thumbnail Support to Categories

This code will add thumbnail support to your categories when using a Thematic child theme. Your front page posts will not be affected.

When using Thematic it is very important that you do not touch the core files (core files meaning index.php, header.php, footer.php..). Therefore, most of our coding additions are done through the functions.php file. Go ahead and open your functions.php file. Somewhere between <?php and ?> place the following code:

// Thumbnail Support for Categories
add_theme_support('post-thumbnails');
function my_post_title($posttitle) {
    if (is_single() || is_page()) {
        $posttitle = '<h1 class="entry-title">' . get_the_title() . "</h1>\n";
    } elseif (is_404()) {
       $posttitle = '<h1 class="entry-title">' . __('Not Found', 'thematic') . "</h1>\n";
    } elseif (is_category()) {
        $posttitle = '<h2 class="entry-title">';
        $posttitle .= '<a class="alignleft" href="'.get_permalink().'">'.get_the_post_thumbnail(NULL, 'thumbnail').'</a>';
        $posttitle .= '<a href="';
        $posttitle .= get_permalink();
        $posttitle .= '" title="';
        $posttitle .= __('Permalink to ', 'thematic') . the_title_attribute('echo=0');
        $posttitle .= '" rel="bookmark">';
        $posttitle .= get_the_title();
        $posttitle .= "</a></h2>\n";
    } else {
        $posttitle = '<h2 class="entry-title"><a href="';
        $posttitle .= get_permalink();
        $posttitle .= '" title="';
        $posttitle .= __('Permalink to ', 'thematic') . the_title_attribute('echo=0');
        $posttitle .= '" rel="bookmark">';
        $posttitle .= get_the_title();
        $posttitle .= "</a></h2>\n";
    }

    return $posttitle;
}
add_filter('thematic_postheader_posttitle', 'my_post_title');

** Make sure you have a featured image set. Post thumbnails will not work without it.

I want to give a huge thank you to a member from the WordPress forums that goes by the name ‘asinglehumanbeing’. This person gave me the code to make this work.

Watch me do it:

Change the Look of YouTube Channel

The look of your YouTube channel contributes in setting the atmosphere for your visitors viewing experience. Maybe you have seen other channels that you liked but assumed it was too difficult for you to accomplish. The truth is, it is very easy and you can do it too. Follow the directions below and create something completely personal to you or check out my free YouTube channel themes.

1. Sign into your YouTube account.
2. Once logged in you will arrive at your YouTube homepage. On the top right hand corner you will see your YouTube username. Click on your username and a dropdown will appear.
3. Click on the link “My Channel”.
4. You will see a navigation bar at the top of your channel page. Click on “Themes and Colors”.
5. Click “new theme”.
6. Name your theme whatever you like =).
7. Customize the color settings to your preference.
8. Upload a background to really set your YouTube channel apart. I recommend downloading a free pattern from DinPattern.
9. When you are finished with your customizations, click on the button “Save Changes” and you are done!

Horton YouTube Theme

A bold colored YouTube theme featuring a star patterned background. If you are unsure of how to put this to use, check out my tutorial on changing the look of your YouTube channel.

Thematic: Adding Google Analytics to Your Website

This tutorial is for those who are using a Thematic child theme. Since touching core files is a no-no, we need to add our tracking codes a different way. We can accomplish this by editing our functions.php file. Before I begin, I want to give credit to Jean-Baptiste Jung – reading his works is how I learned how to do this in the first place.

First and foremost, here is how you actually find your tracking code:

1. Log into Google Analytics.
2. Click the “Edit” button to the right of the domain name you want to add the analytics code for.
3. Click on “Check Status”.
4. Scroll down and you should see your tracking code. Highlight the code and copy it (Ctrl + C). Paste this in a notepad file for now and move onto the next part.

Next we will be adding a function that adds our tracking code to the footer. Go ahead and open functions.php and add the code below anywhere between <?php and ?>

// Google Analytics
function ga(){ ?>
PASTE TRACKING CODE HERE
<?php }
add_action('wp_footer', 'ga');

Replace the text “PASTE TRACKING CODE HERE” with your tracking code. Save your changes and you are finished!

Watch me do it: