How to Tweak WordPress for Easy Navigation

First Posted on March 26, 2009

The main function of my blog is to provide articles, tips, and tutorials based on my direct experience in using the WordPress platform. I want this content to be easy to read and easy to find once a reader finds the way to the blog. One way of doing this is to provide easy ways to navigate the content.

Navigating my site is very easy:

  • There are five post-listings per page. Each post listing has an easy to read headline link to the full content and a short excerpt to give the reader an idea of what the content is about.
  • There is a pager option at the bottom of each listing page in order to navigate to the next five posts.
  • There is a list of content — by category — in the sidebar.
  • There is an icon for easy RSS content subscription at the top of the sidebar.

The template code for the sidebar content listing looks like this:

<li><h2>Articles</h2>
<ul>
<?php
 global $post;
 $myposts = get_posts('numberposts=9&offset=0&category=41');
 foreach($myposts as $post) :
 setup_postdata($post);
 ?>
<li class="recentposts"><a href="<?php echo get_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
</li>
 
<li><h2>Tips</h2>
<ul>
<?php
 global $post;
 $myposts = get_posts('numberposts=9&offset=0&category=42');
 foreach($myposts as $post) :
 setup_postdata($post);
 ?>
<li class="recentposts"><a href="<?php echo get_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
</li>
 
<li><h2>Tutorials</h2>
<ul>
<?php
 global $post;
 $myposts = get_posts('numberposts=9&offset=0&category=34');
 foreach($myposts as $post) :
 setup_postdata($post);
 ?>
<li class="recentposts"><a href="<?php echo get_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
</li>

CSS Styling for the sidebar and other template code can be found in the article, “WordPress Comes To Select Digitals“.

Each full article, tip, or tutorial includes a link back to the home page at both the top and the bottom of the content.

As my content increases, I will add some kind of archieve listing for the content, possibly by category, too.

I have also made it easier for search engines to navigate my blog pages. I now run the Google Sitemap Generator plugin by Arne Brachhold. I am very satisfied with the sitemap this generator produces.

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