Fly Out Notifications

Ok, flyout notifications on new features is pretty damn cool.  Any questions I might have had about the new layout were answered as soon as the update was complete.  The notifications are clean, can be turned off or x'd out, not too obtrusive.  I'm actually looking forward to see how future theme makers can utilize this same feature for self customization, instead of bloated control panels.

Fly Out Tabs

Finally, I don't have to go through and drop down the tabs on the side of the menu, I never understood how this was a smart update.  Thankfully, now you can simply hover over a menu item and the sub-menu will fly out for easy selection.

WordPress 3.3 and Elegant Themes

As of right now, nothing seems broken in my theme.  It always gives me little butterflies when I can upgrade to the latest version of WordPress and not completely wreck the theme I'm using.  This theme was created by Elegant Themes and although they update their themes on a regular basis, it's always nerve wracking going through the process of checking all the links and various widget placements.

So, there you have it, my 5 Minute of WordPress 3.3.  Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.

Nucleus

How young was I, how blind was I to the untold treasures that Word Press held.  Little did I know at the time that Word Press would handle all of the issues I had using Nucleus, hardly any templates, little to no support base, and not he most intuitive administrator interface.  Keep in mind this was about 3 years ago and it was simply known as Nucleus, not the now further developed Nucleus CMS.

But really, how much further has Nucleus came along?  To me, it doesn't appear that far, if you go by anything other than it's home page pitch.  Probably the saddest part about this possible Word Press competitor is that it's testimonials page is completely falling apart.  2 of the 3 sites I followed through their testimonials were either nonexistant or were no longer using Nucleus.  Further down the list, one testimonial even spelled Nucleus wrong...but there it was, for all to see.

The easiest CMS I have ever installed, on my quest to find the ultimate open source content system; Nucleas is topping the lot.

Such an unprofessional embarassment.  I'm sure the support and open community are great people, but it's got a long way to go.  Perhaps they should start with their image and figure out how they can make Nucleus fill a niche not already owned by Word Press.  Until then, they are just a first time bloggers mistake.

The theme's collection of features are configurable by easy to use administration interfaces. And in the event where these don't cover your specific needs, the theme's pluginable nature allows for ultimate customization.

Download Semiologic

Installation (updated for WP 2.6.X)

• Unzip the theme file.

• Upload the entire folder contents of 'semiologic' to your /wp-content/themes folder.

FTP Semiologic

• Login to WP-Admin and select 'Design' from the dashboard.

Click Design In WP Dashboard

• Select Semiologic form Available Themes, then Activate.

Default Usage
Customizing The Layout, Font And Skin Under Design/Layout and Design/Skin, you'll find an entire collection of layout, font and skin options for you to choose from when you initially set up your site.

Layout Manager

Skin Manager

Font Manager

From a canvas perspective, the layout options cover the most commonly sought for design patterns.
The skins are sometimes tweaked from a version to the next — be so kind to report browser quirk when you spot any.

You can of course override all of these options by creating your own skin, or by taking advantage of the theme's custom.css feature (see below).

Customizing The Page Elements
As a rule, page elements only appear when the relevant feature or functionality is active.
Comment links and forms, for instance, only show if you allow comments. Likewise, you won't see any trackback link unless you allow pings. Both of these are configurable on an individual post basis under its "Discussion" options. Or globally for new posts under Settings/Writing.
Other page elements are available for (mass-) activation under Design/Widgets:

Widgets

These include commonly sought page elements, including author images, related searches, related tags, related posts, and social bookmarking.

Customizing The Header
Design/Header will let you upload any image or flash file for use as the site's header. Alternatively, you can use an image as the header's background and keep text on top of it, or even use an image or flash file as the site's logo — replacing the name of the site in the header.

Design Header

If you don't have any graphic designer at hand, feel very free to download the older Semiologic Headers on this site .

Keep in mind that file names and extensions are case sensitive.

Customizing The Navigation Menu
A navigation menu manager under Design/Widgets lets you insert arbitrary navigation links to your site.

Widget View

The Header Nav Menu has options for changing search text and for changing your navigation menu.

Header Nav Menu

Choose the type of link you would like to create in the navigation bar by selecting it in Items drop down menu. There are choices for Pages you've already created, URL, or Home. To link to Pages within your blog simply create the page and then select it in the Item drop down menu and click the plus button. For linking to other URL's select URL from the Items drop down menu and click the plus button.

For URL items you will be given two input fields, one for the title and one for the actual url. Make sure and save your changes before closing the window.

Customizing The Sidebars
Sidebar customization is also possible by dragging and dropping elements of your sidebars into the order you prefer. Simply select the current widget location, then drag and drop.

Almost all widgets are configurable in a way or another. To access a widget's control panel, clicking the Edit button to the right of their name. To hide a widget's control panel, click the Cancel button to the top right of the panel.

Widget Editing

Inserting Advertisements
Semiologic Theme uses widget boxes to help with the placement of advertisements. Choose the location of where you want your advertisements to show through it's Widget Location. From here simply add a TEXT widget, Edit and insert the ad code, then save.