WordPress Semiologic Pro Theme Tip #1

I've been using the WordPress Semiologic Pro theme for well over a year now and have built dozens of WordPress blogs using the software.  

What I want to do in this series of blog posts, is highlight some of the features of the WYSIWYG editor plugin that was created by Denis de Bernardy for his Semiologic Pro WordPress theme.  Hopefully, these tips will help you create a good impression with your blog.  I call it housekeeping … 

When I've built a blog, I take pride in it and honestly hate when I go back to a site and every post has a different font, different font size and no consistent structure.  To me, it feels like walking into a messy, bric-a-brac shop.  If this term isn't familiar to my overseas friends, in the UK it means your odds and ends shop - usually selling furniture, antiques and china.  They can sell everything and anything that just doesn't quite fit together.

Remember that your blog is your website and your website is your shop front so, I don't want to shout at you, but KEEP IT TIDY!  And, in terms of personality types, I'm the socializer and we're not supposed to be the organized ones, but when it comes to a website and blog, I like order and I can assure you, most of your visitors do too.  

So, let's take a look at the one thing that many users of the Semiologic Pro tend to miss … the power of the WYSIWYG editor. 

The Semiologic Pro theme comes with a powerful and advanced wysiwyg editor that looks very similar to Microsoft Word, and enables you to change the font size, font color, font style as well as highlight fonts.  It makes adding audio and video a breeze and allows you to easily drop Google Adsense right into any post or page.

The most common mistake I see people making when using the editor is copying and pasting direct from Microsoft Word and ignoring the font size or font style.  So, in one post the font size could be 10, in another 12 and in some 14 and, sometimes all bold.

I actually don't recommend copying and pasting from Microsoft Word because even though the editor allows it, I've experienced issues where you go back to edit a post or a page and the edits just won't stick.  So my suggestion is just to clean up the code by copying from Microsoft Word into Notepad and then stylelizing the font within the blog editor itself.

One other thing, when you create a post, the best way to ensure a consistent font size, is to highlight the entire text within the post or page (preferably before you add any styling) and then choosing the size you want to use from the editor.  I tend to use x-small for the general body text (a size 10) and small or medium for my headings.

See you next time with another tip on using the WordPress Semiologic Pro theme.

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