Does your SNO site need a few updates?
We look at a lot of websites every day. Like, a whole lot of them.
One thing that鈥檚 sure to catch our eye (and聽not聽in a good way) is sites that need an update or two. Whether it鈥檚 Legacy Elements in the header or Trending Stories from three years ago on the homepage, items that are outdated can make your site stick out like a sore thumb.
We hope updating your website is already a regular part of your practice, but we know there are many moving parts to manage.听Here are a few things we recommend you double check.
Legacy Elements:聽If you鈥檝e ever visited your聽, you may have seen a big red message at the top indicating that you鈥檙e using Legacy elements. If you look at the elements, you鈥檒l see some labeled 鈥淟egacy.鈥 These are carryover elements from an older version of our design theme. We聽recommend swapping them out for the newest, most updated version (complete with all the bells and whistles).
To make the swap, hover over the Legacy element, click on the gear in the upper left-hand corner, and follow the instructions provided in the blue box. Check out聽聽for more information.
Menu Items:听Another giveaway that your site needs some TLC? Your menu still includes items from several years ago that you no longer update. There are exceptions of course, but try to keep your menu items current and remove anything you鈥檙e no longer using. For more information on editing your menu,聽.听
Instagram Plugins: We know there are tons of plugins to choose from when it comes to聽displaying an聽Instagram feed on your site鈥檚 homepage. We also know that these plugins sometimes malfunction or disconnect from the feed. Why not ditch the plugins and use the embed code provided by Instagram instead? We think it looks just as good鈥
Learn how to do it聽.
Polls Plugin: If you look in your site鈥檚 dashboard, you may see two tabs for polls 鈥 SNO Polls and Polls. Before we developed our own, the standard WordPress plugin (the one labeled 鈥淧olls鈥) used to be the norm. Now, we recommend using SNO Polls instead. Why? More design options, choices over end date/time for the poll, and the ability to add a poll directly to a story are just a few reasons.
To make the switch, click on the聽聽tab in your dashboard. Be sure to click on the 鈥淚mport Legacy Poll Data鈥 button at the top to pull in any previously published polls. And voila! You鈥檙e ready to start creating new polls.
Trending Stories Widget: Ever noticed really old stories displayed in your Trending Stories widget? There鈥檚 an easy fix for that. Your trending stories get pulled in based on your site鈥檚 analytics, so you鈥檒l want to聽visit your SNO Analytics tab. If you click on the 鈥溾 tab at the top, you can adjust the parameters and exclude stories published before a certain date. Click on 鈥淪ave Changes鈥 to update the widget, and you鈥檙e all set!
Non-Home Sidebar: Often, we see sites make impressive updates to the widgets on their homepage, but they forget about their Non-Home Sidebar widget area. This can lead to old advertisements, countdowns, or polls unintentionally hanging out longer than they should.
By default, the Non-Home Sidebar shows on any stories using the Single Sidebar聽聽(which many sites use as their default). Make sure it鈥檚 updated accordingly using your site鈥檚聽听迟辞辞濒蝉.
Patterned Site Backgrounds: Okay, so we sort of snuck this one in here. It鈥檚 not that a patterned site background looks outdated. It鈥檚 just that it can sometimes make your site look cluttered and chaotic. We recommend sticking with a solid color background for your site (a white site background is usually the聽standard). And if you must use a patterned background, make sure to keep it simple.
If you need any help making these (or any other) site adjustments, remember that we’re聽just a聽support ticket聽away and ready to assist!