PhotoPressPro has always evolved to meet photographers’ needs. Today is no exception, with the release of PhotoPressPro Platinum 1.2.
This update adds several new features, including support for custom CSS3 fonts. This is the web standard solution for embedding fonts in web pages, and it is by far the most compatible and future-proof when compared to JavaScript, Flash, or image-generation methods. Combined with the 20 web-safe fonts already built-in, PhotoPressPro is way ahead of the typography curve over any theme on the market. And it even works in IE with .eot fonts!
The other big news is full support for post thumbnails. You can upload a thumbnail that floats to the left or right of the post title, or if you assign a thumbnail to a specific post (WordPress 2.9 only), it will be shown instead.
For some great examples of both new features (and an amazing design), check out Mindy Harris’s blog at Pastel Photography. Thanks for beta testing, Mindy, you were a huge help!
Read on for the nitty-gritty!
New Features
CSS @font-face support!
Most modern browsers now include support for the CSS @font-face property, which allows you to upload your own TTF, OTF, or EOT font files to use for any text on your site. We’ve made it easy for you to use your properly-licensed font files with your PhotoPressPro Platinum theme. Just upload the font file you want to see on each Fonts page (Post title, Subtitles, Menu, Content Text, and Footer). You must upload a separate EOT font file for Internet Explorer users.
Note that some font files seem to be incompatible with CSS embedding. We’ve had great luck with all the fonts from FontSquirrel, and they have the best online font converter we’ve found here.
Post Thumbnails
Located under Images > Post Thumbnail, you can now upload a thumbnail to be anchored to the left or right of your post title. Plus, WordPress 2.9 introduced its own Post Thumbnails feature. You can upload a thumbnail for each post on the right side of the post editor, and PhotoPressPro will use this image instead of the default Post Thumbnail.
Note that the post thumbnail may not work well with centered post titles and subtitles.
Customize your footer item borders
Those blasted dots around the your footer links can now be gone forever! Or simply replaced with a dotted, dashed, or solid line of your chosen width and color. Check it out under the Colors > Footer tab on your PPP Control Panel.
Customize the menu opacity
This never works in Internet Explorer anyway (well it kinda does but it breaks other things so it’s not enabled). But for those users living in “the now”, you can make your menu as transparent as you want. Check it out under the Colors > Menu tab on your PPP Control Panel.
Post_class() support
This is for your web designer. Adds several standard WordPress CSS classes to each post, allowing a fine degree control over the styling of every post and page.
Timestamps on Pages
Added a new option under Layout > Timestamp to include your Subtitle or After Post timestamp on your Pages as well.
Enhanced SEO
Your post and page titles are now wrapped in both h1 and h2 tags depending on context, rather than just h2 tags, for better search engine optimization. For example, when a search engine reads a single post, it will see your post title as a more accurate title of the page, instead of a subtitle.
Fixes
Ok, you can have comments back on your pages now. Sorry bout that.
Minor fixes to the footer links.
If you’re reading this on the actual blog and not the RSS feed, check out the Twitter and RSS links on the right side of the navigation menu. Think you might like to add some of your own? It’s actually pretty easy to do, using PPP Simple Link widgets, and just a tiny dash of HTML code.
As you may already know, the PhotoPressPro dropdown menu is widget-ready. The built-in PPP Simple Link widget is often used to add, well, simple links to the menu. You simply enter the link text and URL, and choose whether to open the link in a new window.
But here’s a PhotoPressPro-tip: You can use HTML in the Link Text box to post an image for your link, as such:
There are a couple of things to consider before throwing this up on your blog. First, any image you use cannot be taller than your menu height, and if you want more than 1, they should each be of the same height. If the image is 32 pixels high, make sure your menu height on the PPP Control Panel > Layout > Menu screen is 32 or greater.
Secondly, you need the images. I used Handy Icons from Web Designer Depot because they are free for personal and commercial use, and I really like the look. You should search for icons with a similar license if your blog is used as part of your business. Once your images are gathered, upload them to your webserver under your WP Dashboard > Media > Add New. After uploading, click on one of the images, and highlight and copy the image URL:
Follow these next steps very carefully. You’ll need to pay close attention to what gets pasted where.
Go to the Appearance > Widgets page. Drag a new PPP Simple Link widget to the Dropdown Menu widget area.
Paste the image url you just copied in the Link Text box.
Press the “Home” key on your keyboard to move the cursor to the front, then copy and paste the following text:
<img src="
Then press the “End” key on your keyboard, and copy/paste the following text.
" alt="Twitter" title="Twitter" />
The Link Text field should look something like this when you're done (replace Twitter if necessary.):
<img src="http://blog.photopresspro.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/twitter32.png" alt="Twitter" title="Twitter" />
Enter the full URL for where you want to link in the Link URL field, and Save Changes. Refresh your blog and check it out, and repeat as necessary.
And we have a winner!
Sarah Goblot of Black Ink Photography was chosen by Random.org as the winner, using the sequence generator and a spreadsheet.
Thanks so much to everyone who participated. We’ll have to do it again next year!
BLACK FRIDAY, BABY! We’re so excited, we literally cannot wait until the real Black Friday!
So to get prepared, we’re offering a huge $60 off our Works package, $40 off the Platinum theme, and $20 off the Classic theme! Just enter the discount code BF in your shopping cart by the end of Black Friday, Nov 27, 2009.
BUT WAIT! I mentioned a giveaway, remember? How does a $100 Amazon Gift Card grab you? Maybe you can buy that lighting setup that my wife keeps telling me about you can’t stop staring at?
1 winner will be randomly chosen on Saturday, Nov 28, 2009. The giveaway is open to PhotoPressPro users only. There are 2 ways to enter:
* Purchase the theme with discount code BF by the end of Black Friday, Nov 27, 2009, and you’re automatically entered.
* Current PhotoPressPro customers can enter by leaving a comment with a link to your PhotoPressPro blog. Just make sure you enter a valid email address so we can get in touch with you if you win.
If you’re not familiar with PhotoPressPro, you should know that it’s not just another WordPress theme. It’s built for photographers – not programmers. The easy-to-use PPP Control Panel contains hundreds of design options; from a header slideshow, 20 fonts, and right-click text options, all the way down to alternating comment background colors. And the revolutionary Snapshots feature allows you to save your settings so you can pull them back up later, as many times as you want. Top it all off with world class customer service, and you have the best WordPress photoblog available today.
Now, what was I talking about before? Oh, yeah.
BLACK FRIDAY, BABY!
13 Comments
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Sarah sent me here (again) this week….. I’ll reciprocate by sending some more. And amazon – that’s a fave around here. I would be a most gracious recepient
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Awesome contest! And I’m so glad I bought I purchased my PPP from you, made the whole process of setting up my new blog a piece of cake! http://www.connierphotography.com/blog/
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Thank you for the easy-to-use, fun-to-customize blog theme! I love it! And thanks again for all your help when I ran into a glitch with my hosting. You’re the best!
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Luke…. look what you have done!!! You have created a unique easy to use blog layout… I love mine!! You are the reason it is so successful! Congrats! Happy Thanksgiving!
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Love my PPP blog, I get so many compliments on it. Thanks Luke for all you do
http://Www.joannebaconphotography.com/blog -
I’m excited!!
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Thank you for the awesome contest Luke! I love my theme! So easy to use!!!
http://www.sueannhollandphotography.com/Blog/ -
Clearly, this is the contest to enter! Gimme some amazon love!
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Thank you for doing this! I have PPP Platinum.
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I love Amazon! Keep up the good work guys!
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You guys rock as always. Now a free giveaway. Whats not to like. Keep up the great designs and I’ll always be a customer!
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woohoo! Pick me please! I have an Amazon wish list waiting!
Looking forward to working on redoing my blog with my new PhotoPressPro template after the first of the year. -
Oh no! I’m first. Well scratch me winning.
I was so excited to see my blog on the showcase earlier this week, that I already let a bunch of my friends know.
And I would love an amazon card…I’m not a starbucks…I’m not a target…I wish I was a B&H…addict…but I am me an amazon addict.
Things are heating up in the PhotoPressPro kitchen! We’ve added some tasty new features to the Platinum theme. And while we were at it, we chomped down on some crunchy bugs too.
I’d like to apologize to those of you who may have been grossed out by the crunchy bugs reference. Or maybe it wasn’t so much the crunchy bugs, as the chomping down, that bothered you. If that is the case, I also wish to apologize.
Enough nonsense. Here’s the rundown on the new version:
New features
Configurable Timestamps
You can now show the post date underneath the title! Or the author, time, categories, or tags. Or, show any, all, or none of these after the post! Don’t believe me? Check out the new Layout > Timestamp tab below. Just a few clicks to timestamp bliss.(©2009)
Custom Font Size
Instead of small, medium, or large, enter a custom pixel size for any font on your blog. That looks like this:
Bugs Tweaks
Menu fixes. Large widgets, such as contact forms, should now look correct in the dropdown menu.
CSS/IE tweaks. Those of you using Internet Explorer should have a slightly better looking Control Panel. Those using Firefox or Safari will have a far better looking Control Panel.
And maybe more. That may be too embarrassing to mention.
We are always listening to our customers and using their feedback to build the best WordPress photoblog theme available today. Have an idea for a new feature? Drop us a line or leave a comment. We love hearing your feedback!
If you’re not a customer, what are you waiting for?
PhotoPressPro has been out for over a year now, and while it’s had quite a few changes to the control panel, the blog that your readers see didn’t change much. This was intentional – we didn’t think it would be a good idea to change the look of your blog just so you could install an update. However, we’ve received a lot of suggestions for making the theme better. So we rolled them all up, added a few of our own, and created PhotoPressPro Platinum.
In the interest of not repeating a lot of information, see a quick comparison here, and check out a tabbed walk-through of the Platinum control panel.
We are also offering the Platinum theme with WordPress installation and support, and much more, in "The Works" package. It’s the perfect option if you are a new blogger, or just new to WordPress. Check out the pricing page for more information.
We’ll be adding Platinum blogs to the Showcase soon, so feel free to nominate your own blog (or your favorites) in the comments.
2 Comments
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admin
Thank you Pradeep! You have some beautiful, moving images on your site. I hope we can help build your blog.
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checked out ur offers – interesting!
PhotoPressPro version 1.3 is now available for downloading, and is fully compatible with the very latest WordPress, version 2.8. Don’t worry, it still works perfectly well with older versions, back to at least 2.6.
As you may know, WP 2.8 introduced many cool features, especially for themes and widgets. Unfortunately this caused a few problems with – you guessed it – our theme, and our widgets. Namely, the PhotoPressPro Control Panel and the custom “multi” widgets. So, the Control Panel has been completely redesigned and made even easier to use, and new widgets were added just for WP 2.8 users.
Check out the new Control Panel below. The menu is all Ajax-ified, so you can move freely about the pages and click the big “Save Changes” button only once.
There are some new features too, of course.
- New Widgets for WordPress 2.8.WordPress 2.8, recently released, introduced a killer new Widget API (application programming interface) that makes writing Widgets easier than ever. However, it broke some PPP widgets, namely PPP Search for Menu Bar, PPP Link, and PPP Multi-Pages. For WordPress 2.8, the PPP Search for Menu Bar has been reborn as “PPP Simple Search”, and the PPP Link widget is now “PPP Simple Link”. Fortunately, the new built-in WordPress “Pages” widget does almost the same thing as PPP Multi-Pages widget, so I didn’t bother rewriting it yet. All the above widgets now support unlimited copies, each with its own settings.
- Footer background color. In the “Colors” section, you now have the option to set your Footer background color.
- Content heading and text alignment. In the “Text and Fonts” section, you can now choose to left-justify, center, or for whatever reason, right-justify your content headings and text.
- Right-click warning box options. In the “Other Options” section, you can customize the text in the box that pops up when someone tries to right-click on your page. Or, you can leave it blank, and no box will pop up at all.
- New “Default” Snapshot and header image.
- Improved styling of Widgets for the menu bar. WordPress default widgets now look right, and this should allow the menu to support any Widget.
Pretty exciting stuff! Let us know your woes or wows about WordPress 2.8 or PhotoPressPro 1.3 in the comments.
We’ve kept very busy here at PhotoPressPro Headquarters over the last year or so – steadily adding features, resolving issues, and helping photographers get their blogs up and running. But if you looked at our showcase page, you’d think we peaked at 3 users.
Fortunately, Justin Tadlock wrote this fantastic post for just this occasion. After in about an hour of furious screenshotting and link-adding, our blogroll was totally updated, and the page looks great.
I’d like to thank all of these wonderful photographers for gracefully allowing us to feature their blogs. We’re proud to be a small part of their online world.
2 Comments
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Thanks Justin! You’re right, of course. I was smashing the img margins with some rogue CSS code. That’s probably the last bug, though.
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Awesome work! I’m glad someone’s putting that tutorial to use. The only thing I’d change is the margin between each photo. Give ‘em a little breathing room.
If you’ve been to PhotoPressPro.com before, you may have noticed it looks a little different around here. It’s all part of a massive youth-focused consumer-centric re-branding strategy devised by our new VP of Finance and Bulk Sales (VP of F ‘n BS), Tanner Bunt.
Ok, not really. I just wanted a nice logo. The logo is what it’s all about.
Actually, it’s just the first in the coming cascade of updates. We have a ton of exciting news to announce, as well as training videos, tutorials, free stuff, add-on plugins, and much more. Make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed or email list to get every update. It’s really very important.
The Snapshot Chooser plugin, available as a free download for PhotoPressPro versions 1.2.1 and up, provides a widget that allows your users to choose from any or all of your saved theme Snapshots to view your blog. The Snapshot is saved in a cookie, so the user sees the same Snapshot on the next visit.
You choose which Snapshots your users can choose from in the Widget admin, and it works well in all of the theme’s widget areas. You can even have multiple Snapshot Chooser widgets.
You may be wondering why I didn’t just include this in the PhotoPressPro theme. To be honest, I don’t think everyone wants it. Almost no one asked for it, actually. I just really wanted to use it on the demo. To be even more honest, this was a great opportunity for me to work out a process for building more multi-widget plugins in the future. But that’s a topic for another post.
To install the plugin, simply download and extract the zip file, and upload the ppp-snapshot-chooser folder to your wp-content/plugins folder. Go to your WordPress admin Plugins page, and activate “PPP Snapshot Chooser”.
Now you need to add the widget to the dropdown menu or the footer. Go to Appearance -> Widgets and choose your widget area on the top right. NOTE: If you don’t have any widgets in the selected widget area, adding this widget will replace your current default widgets in that area. On the widgets page, click “Add” next to PPP Snapshot Chooser to add the widget to the right side of the page. Click “edit” on the new widget to change the settings. You can change the title, choose a sort order, and choose from a list of your Snapshots. Hold down the Ctrl key (or the mac equivalent) to select multiple Snapshots. Click “Done” when you’re done, and click “Save Changes”. After refreshing your blog, you should see the Snapshot Chooser.
If you use the widget, be sure to let us know in the comments!
This release takes care of a few more-or-less “minor” bugs. Speaking of less minor bugs, if you’re using PPP 1.2 and you’re using the Simple Slideshow, make sure you check that the header images are, you know, still there after updating.
On a happier note, this update also adds support for the new Snapshot Chooser widget plugin, which allows you to offer several different Snapshots for your users to choose from.
If you previously purchased PhotoPressPro, you should have received an email with a link to download the updated theme. Check the Update page or the README.html file in the downloaded theme for instructions and details about the update.
One Comment
Great stuff. I really like the idea of the post thumbnails.