Table of contents

About blog.txt

Blog.txt is a theme for WordPress designed to impact your content in the most minimal way: using whitespace as a major design element, guiding the reader to the content.

Blog.txt v3.0.1 is fully compatible with Wordpress 2.0.2 – 2.2.

The blog.txt theme features:

Please note if a newer version of the blog.txt theme becomes available, a notice will appear in the Presentation › blog.txt Options submenu. This check is done automatically when the blog.txt Options submenu is loaded.

Blog.txt 3.0 is completely reworked from version 1 (I just skipped version 2, frankly), building on my experiences developing the Sandbox. This version also allows for translation. If you have translated blog.txt, please let me know. Thanks.

Installing the theme files

The theme is installed just like any other WordPress theme. You can read more detailed installation instructions on the WordPress Codex.

If you are upgrading from an older version, first reset the theme options in the blog.txt Options submenu. Then delete all the blog.txt theme files and folders before uploading the new version.

To install the theme:

If you would like to donate, just visit plaintxt.org and you can donate with Paypal. Your support is appreciated. Plus it's a nice way of saying "Thanks."

Enabling comments / author byline on pages

Pages are usually considered static in blogging and different from posts, which are what make a blog a blog. Comments are not displayed on pages by default and the author's name is also omitted; however, you can enable both of these features with this theme.

Comments on pages

Comments are not displayed on pages by default, but are displayed on posts per convention. You can enabled comments on a per page basis by adding a key/value with the text "comments."

To enable comments on a page:

Enabling comments simply attaches the comments.php file to the page. You can turn off comments on a page by deleting the comments key/value. This does not delete any exisiting comments, but simply disables them from loading with the page.

Author byline on pages

You may add an author byline on a per page basis by adding a key/value with the text "autholink".

To enable an author link on a page:

This function is related to the Author link option in the Presentation › blog.txt Options submenu. If you have selected "Displayed" for the Author link option, then an author byline on a page will include a link to the author's archives. If you have selected "Hidden," the author byline will appear but without any link. Magic!

Using page templates

There are two page templates included with the blog.txt theme: Links Page (links.php) and Archives Page (archives.php). You can add a title, text, and enable comments and/or an author byline (see above) with both of these page templates. The text will appear above the actual template contents.

To use the page templates:

The Archive Page displays archives by month and category archives with a link to each category RSS feed. The Links Page displays all the links by link category.

Customizing the sidebars

For complete control over the sidebars without editing the theme files, use the Widgets plugin by Automattic. This plugin gives complete control over sidebar contents from the Presentation › Sidebar Widgets submenu, which will appear after the plugin has been activated.

As you will see in the Presentation › Sidebar Widgets submenu with the blog.txt theme active, the blog.txt theme actually has two sidebars. The sidebars are displayed on top of one another (appearing like a single sidebar) with a two-column layout selected, and on the left and right with a three-column layout selected.

The blog.txt theme will correctly display all of the widgets included with the Widgets plugin. There are, however, hundreds of other widgets available that do all sorts of things; therefore. some widgets will require additional CSS declarations to be added to the style.css file.

Unforunately I can't write CSS for other widgets/plugins. I can't help you learn CSS, but I can help you use CSS.

For help learning CSS, visit:

The blog.txt theme automatically replaces a few of the default widgets that come with the Widgets plugin, e.g., Meta, Links, Search, with ones that match the default blog.txt sidebar style.

Similarly the theme also automatically loads some of its own widgets, e.g., RSS Links, Home Link. This allows the default blog.txt sidebar to be completely replicated using the Widgets plugin.

Special classes and styled elements

The blog.txt theme stylesheet (the /blogtxt/style.css file) includes specific styles for some special classes and many HTML elements. Some explanation may be helpful for some of the styled HTML elements.

Note that these classes and elements won't work correctly when entered into the visual rich editor. I highly recommend disabling the visual rich editor feature (in the User › Your Profile submenu, uncheck "Use the visual rich editor when writing").

Styled elements

The blog.txt theme includes information for many, many HTML elements (e.g., <blockquote>, <q>, <ins>, <del>) but it may be useful to note how blog.txt handles two particular HTML elements: <em> and <strong>.

I would like to promote semantic markup in blogging. It helps make the content more accessible, consistent, and future-friendly. This theme considers <em> (emphasis) different from <i> (italics), and <strong> (strong emphasis) different from <b> (bold).

Bold and italics refer to the appearance of the text, whereas <em> and <strong> refer to levels of emphasis put on the word(s). It's the difference between presentation (<b>/<i>) and meaning/context (<em>/<strong>).

In item a, the <strong> element denotes strong emphasis and adds meaning/context to the words. In item b, the <b> element simply bolds the text and is purely cosmetic.

Imagine if someone were reading your blog aloud. You would want them to shout "stop doing that!" but not to shout "readme.html!" right?

Below are examples of how the <em>, <strong> and <b>, <i> elements have been styled for blog.txt:

Emphasis

Used to add meaning and context to text

em

Used to indicate emphasis

You <em>should not</em> be late.

strong

Used to indicate stronger emphasis

He shouted <strong>You're fired!</strong>

Presentation

Used to style text (not to add meaning)

b

Used to bold text

Find the word <b>happy</b> in the glossary.

i

Used to italicize text

Go to the <i>Presentation</i> subpanel.

For more information on how to write semantic markup in your blog, visit:

Headings

Headings for the content area have been styled to display correctly: with more space above than below as content must logically follow headings. Headings help create an outline of the content on your page. They guide the reader and also help machines understand the structure of content.

While there are no hard-and-fast rules regarding this, I believe the headings should follow a logical progression, e.g., h1 › h2 › h3 › h4 › h3 › h3 › h4 … . There should not be two h1-level headings on a single page. Therefore, since post and page titles are h2-level, the only headings that should be used in the content area are h3–h6.

Special classes

There are certain conventions amongst many WordPress themes for special classes. Notably common are the image classes.Again, these won't work correctly if entered directly into the visual rich editor. You should have a basic understanding of HTML before using these classes. I won't be able to help you learn HTML. I can, however, help you use HTML.

Alignment classes

Used to align elements, notably images

alignleft - Floats element to the left, e.g.,

<img class="alignleft" … /> <p class="alignleft" … />

  XXXXXXX
        ⌈¯⌉ XXX
        ⌊_⌋ XXX
        XXXXXXX

<img class="alignleft" src="http://www.example.com/example.jpg" alt="Example" />

alignright - Floats element to the right, e.g.,

<img class="alignright" … /> <div class="alignright" … />

  XXXXXXX
        XXX ⌈¯⌉
        XXX ⌊_⌋
        XXXXXXX

<img class="alignright" src="http://www.example.com/example.jpg" alt="Example" />

center - Centers element as a block, e.g.,

<img class="center" … /> <span class="center" … />

       XXXXXXX
          ⌈¯⌉  
          ⌊_⌋  
        XXXXXXX

<img class="center" src="http://www.example.com/example.jpg" alt="Example" />

content-column - Sets element in column (Should be used with one of the elements above), e.g.,

<p class="content-column alignleft" … /> <div class="content-column alignright" … />

<div class="content-column alignright"> … </div>

Icon element classes

Used to add a Silk icon to any element

download - Adds a download icon, e.g.,

class="download"

Download this file

<a class="download" href="http://example.com/example-file">Download this file</a>

html - Adds an html (web) icon, e.g.,

class="html"

This webpage is great!

<p class="html">This webpage is great!</p>

pdf - Adds a pdf icon, e.g.,

class="pdf"

The Adobe pdf is a …

The <span class="pdf">Adobe pdf</span> is a &hellip;

zip - Adds a zip (compressed archive) icon, e.g.,

class="zip"

Get the zip

<a class="zip" href="http://example.com/example-zip">Get the zip</a>

Micellaneous classes

Other presentational classes that can be applied to elements

important - Adds an info icon and other styles, e.g.,

class="important"

Lorem ipsum importanto habeo inciderint mei at …

<p class="important">Lorem ipsum importanto habeo inciderint mei at &hellip;</p>

caps - Used to style text in small-caps, e.g.,

class="caps"

I work at Ini-Tech …

I work at <span class="caps">Ini-Tech</span> &hellip;

Standards compliance

The blog.txt theme is compliant with both XHTML and CSS standards. What does this mean? An explanation of web standards from The Web Standards Project:

You can read more about developing with web standards at 456 Berea Street.

hAtom microformat

In addition to XHTML and CSS web standards, version 3 of the blog.txt theme implements the hAtom 0.1 microformat. Microformats are markup that express semantic information in webpages. Programs can extract information from webpages marked up in a microformat much like feed readers extract information from Atom or RSS syndicated feeds.

For a thorough discussion of the significance of hAtom in blogging, read the WordPress.com hAtom support thread.

hCard microformat

hCard is a microformat that expresses basic contact information much like a vCard, except within your blog itself. Basically this is done by using <span>'s with certain class attributes.

The first name, last name, and website information for the admin user (as set in the Users › Your Profile submenu) is automatically used to create an hCard that is placed in the footer following the copyright information (with the function blogtxt_admin_hCard() ).

The hCard microformat is used throughout the theme, actually, for author links, bylines, and comment authors. You don't need to do anything, as basically hAtom and hCard are ways of making your blog more accessible.

License information

The blog.txt theme, © 2006–2007 Scott Allan Wallick, is licensed under the GNU General Public License:

Please feel free to alter the blog.txt theme in any way that pleases you. All I ask is that you allow my original design credit to remain.

Development and help

If something isn't working correctly with this theme, please visit blog.txt on Google Code to file issues, report problems, help create documentation, etc., because the more everyone shares, the better things can be.

You can also access the blog.txt Subversion repo, which hosts pre-release fixes and allows changes to be tracked. If you would like to directly assist in the development of blog.txt and are familiar with Subversion, just let me know.

Please feel free to send me an email if you're having a problem; however, I will ask that you start an issue on the blog.txt development website before I start problem solving. Thanks.

Credits and thanks

A special thanks goes to Andy Skelton, who taught me heaps. Andy I collaborated to create the Sandbox. Thanks to Rick Lee for his thoughtful feedback. And to Adam Freetly for helping me see 20 things I had to fix.

Icons

The file icons are from the Silk Icons collection by Mark James. The feed icon (unused by default, but included) is from the Feed Icons collection by Matt Brett.