Last Updated on 2018/10/10
Adding post lists and grids to your Site couldn’t be easier than with the WP Show Posts plugin. Dispatch uses the Free version to display posts on the Front page and in the Sidebars. Of course with a little Flint Skin CSS treatment.
Head off to Dashboard > WP Show Posts > All Lists. Within are six lists:
- Align
- Standard
- Sidebar
- Header
- Simple
- Simple Sidebar
Each of them have very particular settings required to match the demo content you see here. Changing those settings may affect the way the post is displayed, and not necessarily for the better. So please work on a duplicate or make a note before changing.
Note: the name of the List has no relevance to the different styles displayed.
Table of Contents
- 1 General ( and important ) information
- 2 List: Standard
- 2.1 Zhonghu: China’s Traditional Alto String Instrument
- 2.2 The Zhongdihu: A Comprehensive Guide to China’s Traditional Bass Instrument
- 2.3 The Wen Zhen Qin: The Evolution of a Tang Dynasty Instrument
- 2.4 Yazheng and Its Regional Variations
- 2.5 Xiqin: Tracing Its Roots from Tang to Modern Times
- 2.6 Tuhu: A Cultural Icon of Zhuang Music
- 2.7 Content Wrap (WPSP Only)
- 2.8 Featured Image
- 2.9 Meta above title
- 2.10 Entry Title forced to 2 lines
- 3 List: Align
- 4 25+ Essential Books for a Broader Understanding of China
- 5 Exploring the Panlong River in Kunming, Yunnan
- 6 Exclusive Interviews with Chinese Bands & Artists for World Music Day 2023
- 7 Mutiny on the Lurongyu 2682: A Dark Tale from the Deep Blue
- 8 Lists: Sidebar
- 9
- 10 List: Header
- 11
- 12 List: Simple
- 13 List: Simple Sidebar
General ( and important ) information
Before we go into the detail let’s cover some basic and very important information.
Advanced Settings
For the purpose of the demo content a couple of the Lists are using Advanced Settings. First off the Standard List is using Ascending Order (Default: Descending). Secondly the Simple List is using Offset, so it omits the first 4 posts. You may want to put these back to default if you’re not intending to replace them.
Duplicating WP Show Posts List
So we have four lists, and we want to make a new Standard list with a different category. The easiest way is to use one of the Duplicate Post plugins in the WordPress repository. Simple hey. And it works for all post types including GP Elements. Awesome. Note: When making a duplicate you are generally given two options. Clone and New Draft. I advise using the New Draft as some people have reported issues when using Clone.
List: Standard
This is the standard WP Show Post list that has the same custom styling applied to the GP Blog:
Zhonghu: China’s Traditional Alto String Instrument
Last Updated on 2023/12/08 Table of Contents1 The Art of Zhonghu: The Instrument That Enriches Chinese Orchestras.1.1 Historical Overview1.2 Structural Characteristics1.3 Playing Techniques1.4 Performance Posture1.5…
The Zhongdihu: A Comprehensive Guide to China’s Traditional Bass Instrument
Last Updated on 2023/12/08 Table of Contents1 Varieties and Uses of the Zhongdihu in Chinese Orchestras.1.1 Structure and Construction1.2 Varieties1.3 Tuning and Range1.4 Musical History1.5…
The Wen Zhen Qin: The Evolution of a Tang Dynasty Instrument
Last Updated on 2023/12/06 Table of Contents1 文枕琴 (Wen Zhen Qin): Evolution and Innovation of an Ancient Chinese Instrument.1.1 Introduction1.2 Historical Context and Characteristics1.2.1 Origins…
Yazheng and Its Regional Variations
Last Updated on 2023/12/06 Ya Zheng’s Unique Sound: A Reflection of Chinese Musical Diversity. Yazheng (轧筝), a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, is a descendant of…
Xiqin: Tracing Its Roots from Tang to Modern Times
Last Updated on 2023/12/05 Table of Contents1 Xiqin (奚琴) – An Ancient Prototype of the Huqin Family1.1 Historical Development1.2 Song Dynasty Transformations1.3 Later Developments1.4 Ming…
Tuhu: A Cultural Icon of Zhuang Music
Last Updated on 2023/12/05 Table of Contents1 The Tuhu’s Distinctive Design and Cultural Significance.1.1 Structure and Design1.2 Playing Technique1.3 Role in Ensemble and Music1.4 Development…
This is how the list is displayed within the Content area just by adding the WP Show Post Shortcode. Here follows the basic styling changes that have been made.
Content Wrap (WPSP Only)
Using a custom Hook Element the Post article content is now wrapped within a DIV container. This container carries a class of wpsp-content-wrap
for styling. This wrap is present on all WP Show Posts that are output inside Dispatch.
Featured Image
The featured image has a fixed height to match the layout. This is achieved using this CSS:
.generate-columns-container article .inside-article img, .wp-show-posts-image img {
height: 180px;
width: 100%;
-o-object-fit: cover !important;
object-fit: cover !important;
}
You can edit the height property to suit, or remove the CSS it entirely if you want to use your own sizes.
Meta above title
This is achieved using a flex box on the Entry Header. Again this applied to the GP Blog:
.generate-columns-container article .entry-header, .wp-show-posts-entry-header {
display: -webkit-box;
display: -ms-flexbox;
display: flex;
-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
-webkit-box-direction: reverse;
-ms-flex-direction: column-reverse;
flex-direction: column-reverse;
}
Entry Title forced to 2 lines
The entry title always displays a minimum and maximum of 2 lines. This mantains the across row alignment. Again this is applied to GP Blog. The ex
unit is used to define the number of lines visible. The lines are set by defining the line-height
and setting the height
to as many mutiples as you require lines. e.g up the height to 7.5ex will create three lines.
.generate-columns-container article .entry-header .entry-title, .wp-show-posts article .wp-show-posts-entry-title {
line-height: 2.5ex;
height: 5ex;
overflow: hidden;
text-overflow: ellipsis;
}
List: Align
Designed for a single column list this displays the content the image to the left and content to the right. This is subtly different to just resizing the image in the WP Show Posts list settings and aligning it left. Thanks to the Content Wrap we added (above) the content will never wrap around the image. On mobile it just stacks.
To add one of these your posts requires a little markup. And is done like so:
<div class="wpsp-align">shortcode_goes_here</div>
25+ Essential Books for a Broader Understanding of China
Last Updated on 2023/08/19 Table of Contents1 Some of the Best Chinese Books to Explore the Many Facets of China.1.1 “Dream of the Red Chamber” by Cao Xueqin1.2 “To Live” by Yu Hua1.3 “The Three-Body Problem” by Liu Cixin1.4 “Water Margin” by Shi Nai’an1.5 “White Deer Plain” by Chen Zhongshi1.6 “Soul Mountain” by Gao Xingjian1.7…
Exploring the Panlong River in Kunming, Yunnan
Last Updated on 2023/06/25 Table of Contents1 Nostalgic Pastimes and Timeless Traditions Along the Panlong River1.1 Post Author1.1.1 China Underground Nostalgic Pastimes and Timeless Traditions Along the Panlong River In November 2008, a captivating journey unfolded along the banks of the Panlong River in Kunming. This picturesque river, situated in Yunnan province, China, offers a…
Exclusive Interviews with Chinese Bands & Artists for World Music Day 2023
Last Updated on 2023/08/20 Table of Contents1 World Music Day 2023, a global tribute to the power of music. Interviews with Chinese Bands and Artists.1.1 Post Author1.1.1 Dominique Musorrafiti World Music Day 2023, a global tribute to the power of music. Interviews with Chinese Bands and Artists. Explore our exclusive interviews with 18 prominent Chinese…
Mutiny on the Lurongyu 2682: A Dark Tale from the Deep Blue
Last Updated on 2023/06/05 Table of Contents1 The Dark History of the Chinese Fishing Vessel Lurongyu 2682: Mutiny, Murder, and Deception.1.1 Post Author1.1.1 China Underground The Dark History of the Chinese Fishing Vessel Lurongyu 2682: Mutiny, Murder, and Deception. In the depths of the South Pacific Ocean, aboard the Chinese squid-jigging trawler Lurongyu 2682 (鲁荣渔2682号),…
Lists: Sidebar
In the right had sidebar you can see the Sidebar list. This List is set to 1 column and only displays the Featured Image, Title and Category. This is designed for Widgets, a narrow column or as part of a grid (like in our next List).
To add this style the Widget requires a CSS Class of:
wpsp-card
Dispatch comes with Widget Classes Plugin installed. This provides this function.
List: Header
The Header list as seen on the Front Page requires a list containing only 5 posts. And can accomodate most of the content elements. Which are only displayed on the large leader post.
To add this style the Header Element requires the following element classes:
wpsp-grid wpsp-card
List: Simple
This is output using the wpsp-card
inserted into a containing DIV like so:
<div class="wpsp-card">shortcode goes here</dib>
List: Simple Sidebar
Nothing fancy here, just a list being output using the a Widget in the sidebar.