WordPress Custom Loop and Ultimatum

What is the Custom Loop?

When using WordPress as a blog; you create posts that get posted to your blog page. In Ultimatum you setup your page by using the WordPress Loop. This is the loop used in WordPress to process and show you posts.

So, in that case, what is the Custom Loop? WordPress provide a way of creating your own post types; a way of ordering them so only they show on pages; more specific, it allows you to basically have custom blog posts on individual pages.

In Ultimatum; when creating a layout; you can select the WordPress Loop and you can select the WordPress Custom Loop. In this blog post we are going to talk about the Custom Loop (which I use elsewhere in this site to show my posts for my courses - go check it out).

Create Your Custom Post Type

Before we get into this; what you need to do is create a custom post type. You can do this by going to the Ultimatum > Custom Posts Type menu option. Here you select Create a Post Type and run through the prompted inputs to create. When created you will see another option in the WordPress menu on the left with the name given for you Custom Post Type - so in my page I have one Called Courses which you can see in this image below:

Now that we have the custom post type you can create posts under that option in the same way you create posts in the Posts option. We will come back to this a little later.

Create Your Layout

The next thing we have to do is create a new layout. This layout will include the WordPress Custom Loop widget. What I suggest is creating a layout which is either similar or identical to your blog page (you can use clone from that layout); that is if you have a standard blog page.

The WordPress Custom Loop, unlike the standard loop; has only 1 tab of options. This is because you only control the page with the multi-posts on it; the screen where you see a list of posts. Most of the options are pretty self explanatory such as Item Count; Show Posts As, etc. The only thing you really need to change is the Select Content Source - which you have to select the custom posts type you created. The other options you can change to fit your idea of the page.

Below we see an image from my custom post type; note where I have selected Courses:

Viewing Your Posts

So; here is the tricky big. What you have now is a page that will show the list of your custom posts. However, if you select one then nothing happens. Your posts do not open.. So, here is the trick - the trick that I found from experiment (as I could not find the answer anywhere).. When you create your custom posts; what you need to do is select a layout of your standard blog page (see image below); or a page layout that has the WordPress Standard Loop on it. Now, when you click on one of your custom posts it loads using the standard WordPress Loop and opens as you would want..

Here is an image taken from one of my custom posts :

And thats it. Simple as that, just 2 layouts; one with custom loop and other with WordPress standard loop.

Conclusion

I searched over and over myself trying to figure out how to use the custom loop. In the end I discovered by experimenting.. Now that I have found out the info I wanted to supply it so that other Ultimatum Theme users can figure out and use the WordPress Custom Loop.

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Where Did I Begin

Before WordPress; before even HTML4.. I used to create websites using HTML and a text editor. I progressed; through time; to using tools such as Dreamweaver back when it was still a version number and not beginning with CS.. I believe it was version 7 or something similar.

It has really only been the last 2 or so years that I have started using WordPress.

My Initial WordPress Experience

Like many who first find WordPress; I started with free Themes. I spent hours trying to find a theme that matched what I wanted. Hours going through the thousands of themes that were available. I found some that were close to what I was looking for but never quite right. So I started to learn how to make changes in the code (I am a Software Engineer after all) and editing to make the theme match; as close as possible; to what I wanted.

Premium Themes

My first foray into premium themes came after I saw Genesis Theme by StudioPress; I can't remember how I came across it. At the time I was doing reviews in my YouTube channel on products and I asked if I could try it out. It was great; although there was still some editing to be done to tweak some elements. I followed that up with a few other reviews on other premium themes; each one allowing me to make more changes without coding. The closest I came was the Catalyst Framework.

Then I Found Ultimatum

The Catalyst framework went a long way to creating the WordPress site that I wanted; but then one day I found Ultimatum. I found it by accident; an instructor I bought a course from on Udemy was talking about it and had a special deal.. I took that deal (its the first premium theme / framework I have bought) and have not looked back.

Ultimatum allows me to start with a completely blank slate. I then can build up Templates; template then can have layouts created. I can create layouts for all the different pages I want and the best of it is that it is my design, my creation and not one of someone else like most themes.

With each release of Ultimatum comes more options; more functionality; such as Bootstrap 3. Ultimatum has given me the ability to use WordPress but also design my own theme.

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The Question

I recently got asked the question of how can I put a line under each of my posts on the multi post screen?

This is a question that I had asked myself at some point as its nice to separate out each post to make it obvious to everyone where each post preview starts and ends. The solution I came up with was to use CSS and place a bottom border after each post; therefore producing the line.

The Solution

The following steps and images show how I did this using just CSS with in the Ultimatum system

1) Goto your template and layout - So - Ultimatum > Template > Layout

2) Select the specific layout you have with your WordPress Default Loop in it

3) Select EDIT CSS > Layout Specific CSS from the top of the layout

4) Select Core WP > Posts from the menu

5) In Post Container (All Posts) section; Post Container Border - Set a size for Border bottom; select solid or some other style and a colour

Doing it this way its using the Ultimatum framework to edit the CSS and produce this effect. There are other solutions; some of which involve custom CSS - but doing it this way works.

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Why do I love producing courses And Why I Love a Sale??

Its a question I often ask myself as it can be fun but difficult. Sometimes you get nice comments and sometimes you don’t..

You’d think that having negative comments would put you off; but to be honest its a great growing experience when you do because a lot of these students want you to improve your course.

Its great getting positive comments because this spurs you on to do your next course..

Part of the reason I like doing courses is the sales. What I aim to do is be in a position in life where I can offer my own digital products; support myself and my family and do something I enjoy.

To be honest though, if you’re only doing this for the money then you will not get far.. The main reason I do them is because I enjoy doing them. I enjoy the learning; learning of the subject I will teach. Part of it is knowing that people will be learning something I have taught.

I also love looking at the complete product/course when complete. I know that I did that; me, myself and I. It’s nice to feel that accomplishment.

The biggest thing though is the interaction. The comments and discussions. You get to know people; though that are really committed to learning but also helping. I like the questions, the thinking I have to do to answer the questions..

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Has Technology helped us to start our own business ideas? This is a question I often ask myself these days. On the surface of it; there are far more opportunities opened and it takes much less capital. But in my eyes this means there are far more people also taking that plunge.

Many years ago, to start a business you had to have your capital to start, potentially buy or make product, advertise in the local and national directories. Certainly to make it international as a business you had to get seccessful.

Then came out the Internet. That wonderful tool we all love and use. And after a few years of dodgy image sites and various personal pages; businesses started to get they idea that this was a useful media to have a presence on. Even the .com businesses were born and things were wander fun. At least from around 1997 till around 2000; peak trading is recorded at being March 10 2000.

Then the bubble burst and many of the .com companies went out of business. At this stage it's safe to say that technology didn't help us start our own business...

Those companies that did survive have managed to become some of the big players in the market; such as Amazon.

[the_ad id="178"]The good news since then though, at least in my eyes, is that companies have learnt that the biggest advertising force, the best tool to get their brand sold is use, the consumers. By giving us the facility to earn a percentage of their profit by helping them sell their product is a brilliant concept and so affiliate marketing is the biggest help to use to create our own business.

Affiliate marketing gives use the option to advertise products to sell. Products that we don't need to stock ourselves. Products that when sold we earn a commission on. I've seen many online shops created that sell just affiliate products as all you need is a web domain and something like WordPress with WooCommerce. Technology has done well here.

For those that want to sell products sites such as eBay were born. Sites were you can auction off things that you don't want. You can even advertise products for drop shipping which is where you sell a product and its shipped from the manufacturer.

Even Amazon selling is easy to do. You can sell your old items through a seller account. You can sell as an affiliate. You can even buy products from drop shippers that will take the products you purchase to Amazon; you sell through Amazon and Amazon gets it delivered. They even advertise it. So you just pay for the product and a percentage to Amazon. How easy is that...

Next thing we have is advertising such as Google Adwords. You can create a website or blog. You can get a Google Adsense account and you can sell space on your site for advertising. You can even create video and put on YouTube and use Adsense. Some people make their entire living this way.

Finally we have sites where you can sell a digital product. We have clickbank where many products are sold by affiliates. You also have sites such as Udemy where you become a teacher.

So, has technology made it easier to start our own business? Yes BUT so easy that many are doing it making it harder to get noticed. Marketing today is different to years gone by. But that is another subject.

As a side note. You can even run much of a business from a smart phone these days. This blog post was created entirely with a iPhone as an example.

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Previously it involved lots of code, premium products and knowledge how to put it all together. However; as time has gone on I found that it has gotten easier and easier.

Combine that with all the affiliate products that are now out there; you don’t even need to own an item to sell it and make money.

So, over this time of research I found that you could create this eCommerce site easier and easier to the point where I managed to figure out I could create this website in an hour.

Now.. a little caveat in that; this hour is to build the site - that doesn’t include the time you spent creating logos, adding all products, adding blog posts etc. That in itself can take a lot of time; to get right. But that hour does include setting up the site, creating the layout, adding a few products even.. You can go from no site to having a site selling products in just 1 hour.

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