How to set up the Featured Content Gallery in WordPress Revolution Lifestyle
January 27, 2009 by HeatherCowper
If you are using Revolution Lifestyle as your WordPress theme and need a little help setting up the Featured Content area of your homepage, then read on.
This article will tell you how I set up the Featured Content Gallery on my homepage. I don’t claim to be any expert, so if these instructions don’t work for you, then you can seek help on the Featured Content Gallery Forum or Revolution Forum where people more expert than me can answer your questions. This tutorial may also be useful if you are using other Revolution themes which have a featured content area.
Introduction
The Featured Content area is the section of the homepage below the header with several changing photos relating to posts you’ve written. You need to select which of your posts to feature in this way. I generally feature about 4 posts, normally my most recent ones, but you need to feature at least 2 posts for the featured content gallery to work.
The Featured Content Gallery is based on a plugin which you need to download. There is also a site for the Featured Content plugin with a forum where you should be able to find any help you need. The Revolution Lifestyle theme comes already set up with the Featured Content Gallery but you can also add it to other WordPress themes. There is a Revolution Two tutorial on How to Configure the Featured Content Gallery Plug-in here, which you may like to read, although I will cover the instructions below.
Download the Featured Content Gallery plug-in
Go to the Install and set-up page on the Featured Gallery website here and click where it says Download the newest version of the Featured Content Gallery plugin.
Save the featured-content-gallery-zip file to an area of your own computer where you will easily find it again. Then unzip the file to make it a normal folder. On my computer I do this by right clicking and Extract All.
Log on to your server and upload the content-gallery folder to the Public_html/wp-content/plugins/ folder. Do not change any file or file name. If you are unfamiliar with how to do this, browse through the folders on the left side of the screen to find the content-gallery folder then browse through the folders in the right hand side of the screen to find the Public_html/wp-content/plugins/ folder. When the plugins folder is open right-click on the content-gallery folder and press Upload. Once the upload has finished, the content-gallery folder should now show within the plug-ins folder on the right hand side.
Go to the WordPress Dashboard and click Plugins at the top right. You should find the Featured Content Gallery Plugin showing in the Inactive list at the bottom of the page. Activate the plugin by checking the box beside it and pressing Activate.
Setting up the Featured Content Gallery in the WordPress admin area
In the WordPress Dashboard click Settings at top right, then Featured Content Gallery from the sub menu. You will now be able to set the settings as you wish. I used this Revolution Two Tutorial on How to Configure the Featured Content Plug-in to guide me on what to put in the settings. In case you can’t view this, the suggested settings for the Revolution Lifestyle theme are;
Gallery Width in pixels: 588
Gallery Height in Pixels: 400
Category Name: Featured
Number of items to Display: 3 (In fact I changed this to 5)
The number of items to display is the maximum that will be displayed, but the number is also determined by how many posts you decide to feature. For example you may have it set to 5 as a maximum but only decide to feature 4. However, you must set up at least 2 posts to be featured, or the plug-in will not work.
You can play around with these settings, but if you are just starting with Revolution Lifestyle, I’d recommend you go with the suggested settings and get the Featured Content area working correctly, then come back to customise later.
In the WordPress dashboard, go to Manage/Categories. From your list of categories click on the one named Uncategorised. Edit the Category name to Featured and save by clicking the Edit Category Button. Note that it is important that you change the uncategorised category to featured – it will not work if you just set up a new featured category. (Uodate – see the comments for a correction to this section by Featuredcontentgallery admin)
Writing a post to feature in the Featured Content Gallery
Write a post as normal and save as draft. When you are ready to publish, you need to do the following to ensure the post will also appear in the Featured Content Gallery.
When setting up the categories for the post, ensure you check the featured category. If you later want to remove the post from appearing in the Featured Content Gallery, then uncheck the box against the featured category. Then press Save.
To set up the photo that will appear in the Featured Content Gallery you need to find a photo which you have re-sized to close to the sizes you have set up in the Featured Content Plugin settings. If you have followed the suggested settings above, this will be 588 pixels wide by 400 pixels high. As long as the photo is close to this in size, the gallery will crop around it, but if it is double the size it will not look right. If you use Flickr, I find that I can download the medium size which is 500 x 375 pixels and it works fine.
Download your chosen photo of the correct size onto your computer. Upload the photo into the WordPress Gallery for your post. To do this you click on the Add Media/ Add an image button immediately above your post when in the Write post function of the WP dashboard. Using the Browse Uploader, Browse to find your chosen photo, then press Upload to upload the photo into the WordPress Gallery. Once it has uploaded you will see a link in the Link URL box which looks something like this; http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/butterfly-3.jpg
Copy the Link URL from your chosen photo as described above and on the Write Post page of your chosen post, scroll down to find the Custom Fields near the bottom of the page. In the Value box paste the Link URL for the photo and in the Key box type articleimg. Next time you do this step for any post, the articleimg will appear in the dropdown in the Custom Fields section. Press the Add Custom Field Button , the Update Button and then Save your post as normal.
Now publish your post. You need to repeat the step and ensure that a second post is marked with the featured category and a photo added to the Custom Field seaction, as the Featured Content Gallery does not work correctly with only one Featured Post.
Then continue to make other posts featured as you write them, up to the maximum number you have specified in the Plugin settings. As you write more and feature them, you will have to uncheck the feature category on older posts, so that you are featuring your most recent posts.
You should also consider what to write as the first line of any post you plan to feature as this is what will appear below the photo in the Featured Content Gallery. I always try to write something that summarises what the article will be about and encourages the reader to go and read that post.
I’ve tried to give you some easy to follow instructions based on my own experience, but if you need more help you should be able to get it by visiting the Featured Content Gallery Forum or the Revolution Two Forum.
Read Related Posts
Changing the Header in my WordPress Revolution Blog
Setting up pages in my new WordPress blog
Setting up my Feeds in WordPress Revolution Lifestyle
Back to My Blogging Journey Home
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john on Thu, 5th Feb 2009 4:54 am
thank you so much, I’ve been working on this for hours and your explaination was so simple and helpful
Angela on Sat, 7th Feb 2009 2:42 am
you’re a lifesaver. thank you for this post, i really appreciate it.
jen laceda on Tue, 24th Feb 2009 4:10 pm
Hi Heather,
You know what? You have inspired and encouraged me to create my own wordpress site. However, I feel like I have so many new things to learn and I am quite overwhelmed with all the information. Nevertheless, I find this journey an exciting one, and I would just like to say thanks for posting details of your blogging journey. It has provided me with comfort in my own journey, and it is also a good resource for me. Hope you don’t mind!
Jen Laceda
fashion_jen@hotmail.com
admin on Tue, 24th Feb 2009 10:46 pm
So glads some folk are finding this helpful
@Jen
I do think that WordPress is the right platform to take your blog to a new level. It’s very rewarding to feel that others are getting something out of my experiences. I’ll keep posting my thoughts on the things I discover along the way.
My current guru is Yaro at
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/
I’ve been working my way through his archives & podcasts – maybe you’d find some interesting ideas there too.
jen laceda on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 1:30 am
Many thanks for sharing. Really. You don’t even know how much I appreciate all this!
jen laceda on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 2:55 am
hi heather,
just a quick question. wondering if you could help me. i’ve been tearing my hair out looking for answers on the web, but i’m sure i’m just doing something stupid.
whenever i try to upload a photo to a post, nothing happens. no photos are uploaded. instead, i get this message: “unable to create directory / wp-content/uploads/2009/02. Is its parent directory writable by the server?”
have you had this error message before? by the way, i my site is hosted by BlueHost and my theme/design in Revolution Streamline.
thanks in advance,
jen
admin on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 8:14 am
@ Jen
I’m afraid you’ve gone beyond my level of expertise & I’ve never had that problem.
Suggest you go on the Revolution forum & ask the question – the moderators are usually pretty good at answering the questions, as long as you don’t ask too many at once.
http://www.studiopress.com/support/
I’m interested that you’re also planning to use a Revolution theme – any particular reason – was it a considered choice or did you just like the look? I wrote about choosing my theme here.
http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/choosing-my-wordpress-theme/
So far I’ve been pretty happy with it although it took me a while to get it sorted. As you’re finding out, one of the key things is the support you get when setting up the theme & there’s plenty of help available on Revolution, although as I’ve said before, it’s not always pitched in language a beginner can understand, so you have to do a little figuring out yourself.
Tricia @ Nightowlmama on Mon, 23rd Mar 2009 7:03 pm
Just wanted to say thank you so much for your instructions. I’m using the free vision of this theme and there is no support for it. If I could afford to pay for the theme I’d certainly sign in but right now that is not possible. HOpefully with the rest of your instructions I can atleast get up and running. Beautiful blog site you have luv the travel content.
Yus on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 3:25 pm
Hi heather,
I want to ask you about the featured category. you said Note “that it is important that you change the uncategorised category to featured – it will not work if you just set up a new featured category.”. My problem is I already deleted the uncategories category during my setup time. What must i do to have back the uncategories category.
admin on Mon, 30th Mar 2009 7:53 pm
@ Yus
So sorry but my expertise for troubleshooting is rather limited – suggest you post you problem on the Featured Content support forum. Hope you get it sorted.
http://www.featuredcontentgallery.com/forum/
featuredcontentgallery admin on Tue, 14th Apr 2009 7:01 pm
“In the WordPress dashboard, go to Manage/Categories. From your list of categories click on the one named Uncategorised. Edit the Category name to Featured and save by clicking the Edit Category Button. Note that it is important that you change the uncategorised category to featured – it will not work if you just set up a new featured category.”
THIS IS NOT RIGHT, DO NOT USE THIS CATEGORY, CREATE NEW ONE, WHAT EVER YOU WANT, BUT DO NOT USE SPACES. RENAMED UNCATEGORIZED CATEGORY SOMETIMES DOES NOT WORK FOR SOME SITES!
ANY OHTER CATEGORY WILL ALWAYS WORK(BUT NO SPACES)!
admin on Tue, 14th Apr 2009 8:45 pm
@ featuredcontentcategory admin
Thanks for the correction – it’s just that I seem to remember having problems getting this bit right when I did it with a new category – but perhaps as you say I was putting in spaces where I shouldn’t.
Hopefully we’ll all get there in the end.
Marika on Sun, 19th Apr 2009 3:21 pm
Perfect! If I just had found this post earlier, it would have saved me an afternoon of sweat and tears…it took me only 1 minute to fix the problem – which was that I created a new Features, instead of renaming the Uncategorized one.
And no, I had no spaces anywhere in my category name, so I guess this does work afterall…
Getting the Featured Content Plugin Working with the Revolution Theme | Jewels Of Cyprus - Internet Marketing From the Ground Up on Sun, 19th Apr 2009 7:26 pm
[...] given where credit is due. Tip on the ‘Uncategorized’ Category renaming taken from here. Share and [...]
Nik on Sun, 24th May 2009 8:38 am
Thank you so much for sharing, Heather, and lots of love from Germany!
Hellas on Thu, 11th Jun 2009 2:15 pm
Thank for clear explanation. It help me a lot. You rule
Shreyas on Fri, 19th Jun 2009 7:31 pm
Hey! Nice post there..
Anyhow i wanted you to ask what exactly should i type in the custom field to add that thumbnail to the featured category 1 n 2.. the ones below the slideshow
admin on Sat, 20th Jun 2009 4:33 pm
@ Shreyas and anyone else wondering how to set up the thumbnail photos in the bottom section of the homepage.
Go to this useful Tutorial on the Studiopress support
http://www.studiopress.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13
But if you can’t get access to this support area then you need to use the following values in the Key box within the Custom fields area;
articleimg – for the large photo at the top
thumbnail – for the two sections below the main photo (I use these for My travel blog and My blogging journey)
hpbottom – for the bottom section (I use this for Featured Place)
Once you have used them once, they will automatically appear as an option in the select dropdown.
Tony on Tue, 30th Jun 2009 2:32 pm
Hi there, I’ve tried doing what you told me but they still don’t show up. The thumbnails that is. I got the featured gallery working fine. I checked the thumbnailimg option and then I tried using it and it doesn’t work. Did you ad anything else in code aside for the main code for the featured gallery?
admin on Tue, 30th Jun 2009 7:17 pm
@ Tony
Sorry you’re still having problems – these things can be so frustrating, but I think you’d better get some expert help with your problems as I not massively technical and it’s a while now since I set it up – try asking the question on either the Featured Content forum
http://www.featuredcontentgallery.com/forum/
or the Studiopress theme forum if you purchased your theme from them
http://www.studiopress.com/support/
Cillian Murphy on Thu, 30th Jul 2009 9:57 pm
Heather,
Thanks so much for your help with these posts. My site is http://www.joan-didion.info. Stop by and have a look @ the result!
admin on Thu, 30th Jul 2009 10:11 pm
@Cillian
So glad it was of help – we read A year of magical thinking in our book club – so moving.
mahe on Thu, 13th Aug 2009 10:02 am
settings menu not showing fcg option, plase help to fix this.
admin on Fri, 14th Aug 2009 7:30 am
@Mahe
I think you’re best to consult the experts with your problem, on the FCG forum – I’m sure there’ll be someone who can help you solve your problem. It’s a while now sice I set mine up, so I’m a little rusty.
http://www.featuredcontentgallery.com/forum/
Vivian on Tue, 25th Aug 2009 6:49 pm
Hi Heather,
Thank you for your sharing. I have one more question about how to change the featured category #1,#2 under the content gallery in this theme.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Vivian on Wed, 26th Aug 2009 1:40 am
I found out how to configure featured category #1,#2 but don’t know how to put the image next to the post. Do you have any idea? Thank you.
admin on Tue, 1st Sep 2009 8:24 pm
@ Vivian
If you mean the little thumnail photo that appears next to the short extract of each post e.g. in my case under My Travel Blog and my blogging journey – I did describe how to do this in one of my comments above.
Go to this useful Tutorial on the Studiopress support
http://www.studiopress.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13
But if you can’t get access to this support area then you need to use the following values in the Key box within the Custom fields area;
articleimg – for the large photo at the top
thumbnail – for the two sections below the main photo (I use these for My travel blog and My blogging journey)
hpbottom – for the bottom section (I use this for Featured Place)
Once you have used them once, they will automatically appear as an option in the select dropdown
You need to upload a small square photo sized 70 x 70 as you normally would through add media and then copy the code in Link URL and post it in the value box beside the thumbnail or hpbottom in the Custom Fields section
Dave Powell on Sun, 1st Nov 2009 4:30 pm
Well thank heavens for a simple explanation of this plugin! I watched the 14 minute video from the plugin website and couldn’t understand it all – read the post above and voila, I have a working plugin!
heri flood on Mon, 16th Nov 2009 11:31 pm
Help me a lot. Thanks, you explain it really clear.
lace on Fri, 19th Feb 2010 4:57 am
Hi heather, thank you so much for teaching us on how to configure the featured gallery … I need your help about something else though, if you get the time… How do I change the category and subcategory settings so that when I click on it, the Whole post shows up and not just a part of the post. I find that some people dont know to click on the title to see the whole post, so they end up just reading an excerpt of the posts… like when i click on your Accomodation, or Accomodation> Camping, the whole post shows up…Thank you so much…
admin on Fri, 19th Feb 2010 12:41 pm
@ Lace
Here’s how I do it. In the WordPress dashboard, go to settings then Reading. Here you’ll find you can set how many posts appear on each page and also you can choose to show full text or a summary.
Prosperar on Mon, 12th Apr 2010 9:00 pm
Thank You So Much!!!
My site is in Spanish and my Category was named Destacado instead Featured, that simple problem was causing me a big headache.
Thanks,
Mylene on Tue, 11th May 2010 6:01 pm
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Your article helps me solve my problem with the featured content gallery!
Blessings!
.-= Mylene´s last blog ..Investment =-.
Kelsey on Mon, 5th Jul 2010 4:43 am
Thank you thank you so much! This helped me so much. Exactly what I was looking for! I now have it up and running on my site! Thanks.
Candi on Mon, 28th Feb 2011 9:05 pm
Your explanation was great but one question…I dont have the the option below the posting area to add Custom Fields…is there a plug-in link you can give me for that!?
Thanks
Candi
admin on Tue, 1st Mar 2011 10:06 pm
@ Candi
When you are in the Edit Post screen, you need to go to the Screen Options top right on the page and when you click the dropdown, various options will be revealed. One of them is Custom Fields and you need to check that box to ensure the custom fields appear
Candi on Wed, 2nd Mar 2011 5:26 pm
Thank u!!!!
Candi´s last [type] ..WhatUMissed- BET Rip the Runway
Telemarketing Company on Thu, 2nd Jun 2011 4:23 pm
Thanks every so much, I was spending ages on this trying to set up a blog for a telemarketing company.
Your guide was clear and simple to follow.
Heather on Thu, 2nd Jun 2011 8:14 pm
@ Candi, Telemarketing Glad you found it useful, you can find more articles like this at my new blog at http://www.mybloggingjourney.com/
My 7 Links – a delve into the archives at Heather on her travels | Heather on her travels on Sun, 10th Jul 2011 2:05 pm
[...] articles became. Clearly there were other people tearing their hair out trying to work out how to set up their featured content gallery or changing their header and finding my articles [...]