I'm so exited! Waited just a couple of days and now tomorrow I can get busy. You have saved me so much time and energy! Can't wait to get working on it.
OK, I've been reading thru the installation and looking a screenshots. I do have one quick question, want to make sure I understand.
I have a site now and I want to make a template of it. I can copy pages, posts themes, setting etc. But I read that when I make a change to the main blog it will change the template also?
If this is right, then is the best way to do this is to create the first template from the main blog, then create a 2nd template that I can use on a regular basis? The changes I make to the main site site will not necessarily flow to all of the other blogs, but all of the other blogs will contain the same content throughout. Does that even make sense?
Maybe the best thing is for me to do a test blog first. I'm just so exited that this is here and I can begin my week with it.
Your best option is to create an entirely new blog that you use as the template. So in your case make the new blog and copy all the features of the main blog and then use that as one of your templates.
Wow! Can't wait to play with this later today (darn day job). Looks like you can save multiple templates too. Nice.
Just to be clear...
Once a new blog has been created from a template, it is completely independant of the template. So, updating the template's catagories, would not effect the catagories of sites previously created from the template, only new sites would reflect the changes, correct?
And if so, is there any way to somehow tie them together so that such changes would effect the previously created sites?
It seems it is only setting a new template if the new blog is created from the admin. It doesn't set the new template on users creating a new blog from the front of the site.
Am I using it correctly? Any plans on making it function that way? Like macitaly said above.
Ok...ran into my first challenge. I'm running WPMU 2.9.2 Installed the plug-in, created the template, created a new blog using the template and also templated the theme, blog posts etc.. However when I view the site I get 404 errors for all of the pages. I checked in at the dashboard level and the pages are there, however when I click on them or anything from the dashboard, I get a blank page.
But I have to say, once I get this fixed, this is going to be absolutely wonderful! Everything is there just like it is suppose to be. So fast too!
Have something to add to this. I cannot only not get into the newly created blog, I can no longer get into my main site. This is a test site so it isn't a big deal yet. I thought perhaps it was the Maintenance Mode plugin so I went in and deleted it, but it makes no difference. I get a plain white screen.
I think it is essential to be able to select one of your templates to be applied to new blog signups. Seems like the main use case for this plugin, with admin created blogs secondary.
RE: Templates during user signup - I'll look into the possibility for this, because I think it's a great idea!
For clarification: If I can make it happen without any theme changes, I will. If I can't without requiring you to add a tag to your site's theme, do you still want the functionality?
@Sleenie - Can you check if there's an error_log file in the root directory of your server? The dreaded white screen sometimes leaves clues as to what's happening in the error log. What other plugins do you have activated on the blog your template is based on, as well as in mu-plugins?
For me, the whole reason to use this plugin is for me to be able to decide on the template applied (automatically during sign up). User choice would be good but not necessary to me. I'd be ok with adding a tag if its needed.
I want to have a template with pages etc that is applied when a user signs up for a blog.
It is doing everything I wanted except for the automatic application of a template. All of the rest of it seems to be working ok for me.
@Jason
I would only need to control catagories on one theme in particular, so a theme mod to make it work in an already heavely modded theme would not be an issue at all. Especially vs. having to manually add cats to 100s of sub sites.
Thanks for looking into it.
This was a test site that had many plugins but not all were activated. I did make copies of all of them though from my FTP client.
I've deleted the Blog Template plugin but that didn't do the trick either, not that I thought it would.
I've also got a large error log also. Where do you want me to send these to? I can attached but the error log has more in it that I want to share with everyone regarding my databases etc.
Yeh I agree, templates that can be selected during user signups (with an option for site admin to turn the ability to select templates on and off) would be great.
An open text field there that site admin can populate that could link to the different templates by way of example would be great too.
I reckon we should get that added in asap, you cool with that Jason?
Any thoughts on what I should do? My test site is now unavailable to me. I'm attaching screenshots of the installed plugins but I can't tell you which ones are activate since I can't get into the site anymore.
I'll be happy to send you the error log..just tell me where.
I would also like to have the template for the users to choose, but I have to say, initially, the admin will be putting it together so right now this would work fine for me.
@sleenie - You can email the log file to me at jason /at/ flurrymarketing.com (change /at/ to @) I can't immediately spot what plugin is likely the cause, but I agree with James that it might be Super Cache or Protect Pages. Seeing your error log will hopefully help narrow the issue down.
I will do as you suggest James. Hopefully then I can get back in.
Normally I would bet on Super Cache also, but I think it was not activated. I normally do not activate that until a site goes live and this was a test site. Not sure about Simple Forums, which I could likely work around, but Protect Pages is important. None of the particular pages that will be in the template can be removed. Right now I think that's the only way I have to protect them but I can tell you that even though it was active, there were no pages protect. That's actually the first thing I looked for before everything went away.
Just a quick update...it does appear to have been a plugin of some sort because once I renamed the folders now the page is active again. So I'm going to install New Blog Templates first and then add in the ones I think I'll need first and see what happens.
Is it best to reinstall them completely or should I just create another plugins folder and move them over, one by one?
Yeah, add them in one by one, because when you hit the one throwing the error, you'll likely get the white screen again, so you'll know where the conflict is.
Looking at your error log, it looks like a plugin (probably Simple Forum) is looking for a database table that doesn't exist, which is giving you the white screen. Try re-installing that one, and see if it dies on you.
Just an update...I've added in about 9 plugins so far and everything seems to work just great so far. No white screen but then I haven't done the Simple Forums or the Super Cache yet.
However I did notice something. If any of the "cloned" blogs adds in a plugin then it gets added to the main site also. I understand the reasoning behind adding to the template adds to the main site or visa versa but I don't think I want whatever a blog owner does to flow backwards. How can I stop that from happening?
@Sleenie - The cloned blogs shouldn't affect the main blog at all, they should be completely separate. If you're experiencing this as you're adding plugins back into your /plugins directory, they get automatically added back to any blog that had them activated, as long as you haven't gone to the plugins page (and, for some reason, occasionally even if you have gone to the plugins page)
@cherubini - Yeah, it's definitely doable. I think it will be the default template option first, then possibly the user selectable option down the road if people do really want it. Giving end users extra choices during the signup phase tends to confuse them, and confused people tend to not become supporters :)
Great plugin! Any thoughts with merging this with the batch create plugin? That could cut down my work load ten-fold, creating 280 blogs with the correct themes and settings in one click would make me very happy when deploy this year students blogs :)
@wearebase - Yep! That was one of the ideas from the start, it just hasn't made its way into the plugin yet. It's definitely in the development timeline, for the exact reason you mentioned - it will save TONS of time when people are creating hundreds of blogs at once.
No more having to go do everything manually on each blog :)
Okay, I've now added back in all of the plug-ins and actually activated them all. I do not get the white screen any longer. Don't ask me why. But I will check after installation of every plug-in in the future. Plus I will clean up the main site.
However, when doing this a created several templates along the way to see if that created any problems. I cannot get past 5 templates. On the 6th template nothing but the theme gets duplicated. None of the pages pots etc. I just get messages Nothing can be found.
That being siad, I don't need more than two templates this go around so I am perfectly happy. Just wish I know which plug-in had created the original problem.
Tonight I am going to template the live site and then template that so I can have a good template that I can use without fear of changing the main site.
I'm excited to get started. I'm sure I'll have other questions but hopefully not for a while.
Thanks James...I think what this person was looking for was the ability to create duplicate blogs but not necessarily for multi-user purposes.
This is the problem that I have run into now. But it may be that it is designed to work this way. I created a template, let's call it template1, from the main site. I then created a new blog using template1. Then the templated blog was tweaked to be exactly what I want. I changed the theme..no problem..Changed a couple of posts no problem. the main site was still fine. But...when I deleted a couple of the plugins fro m the new blog, they were removed backwards through the template and all blogs including the main site.
Maybe I'm doing this the wrong way I don't know. I feel like I am so close to what I need.
What I am trying to accomplish is a template site, based off the main site with everything needed for the distributors, which is not everything from the main site. Then as they sign up they will get a blog populated with all of the pertinent information. They need to be able to add to their own blog without affecting the template, main site or any other blog. So the information will need to flow forward from the template or main blog but not backwards. Am I making sense?
Thanks James...I have got to stop doing posts that late. Once I went to bed , I woke up realizing that of course that would happen because there is only one installation of the plugin. I had to get up and post and saw you beat me to the punch. I'm not going to look now but will when I get up with fresh eyes. Maybe I'll dream about something other than WPMU now. That's sad!
@Sleenie - So everything is good now, except the 5 template max problem? Could you send me login details for your site? That would help me see if I can track down the problem for the max #s of templates. My email is jason /at/ flurrymarketing.com
If you don't want to send me your login info, feel free to create a new user for me, but I'll need Site Admin capabilities.
awesome, I'm on board and waiting for user selected option. Also, Batch Create integration is very good idea too. I'm really interested in seeing integration with the 'Blog and User Creator' plugin for users. This would be a jack-pot, end-of-the-rainbow, gold-rush!!!
Any thoughts with merging this with the batch create plugin?
When we add the ability to select the default template for signups they will be technically be "integrated" as that plugin as well as user singups and admin creations all use the same function.
@Jason It may be another day or so because I seemed to have messed up something else up so that is likely my fault.. I created another user using Role Manager on the templated blog. Now for some reason I can't get back into the main site as it is recognizing me as a subscriber now instead on an admin Have NO idea what I did.. Decided to take a break to get some other work done and will likely look again tomorrow.
Once I get that problem figure out I will send you the login information. This is a complete test site so I'm nto worried. Never did figure out what caused the white screens, but I'm thinking it may have been the maintenance mode plugin. Had a friend installing BuddyPress who had the exact same problem. Had her copy of the plugin folder and then reactivate one at a time. In her case it was the maintenance mode plugin. Once we switched plugins, she's working fine now.
All I have to say is.... amazing. Thank you for this wonderful product!
I did get some issues with settings getting transfered for WP e-Commerce - in fact some panels were wiped clean of defaults as well, while others were preserved. Not sure if this is an issue in copying or an issue in WPEC. Also WP Touch settings revert back to defaults. But then again I'm also using 3.0-beta2. Keep up the good work.
I also agree that merging batch create would be fabulous!
If anyone is interested in using this for 3.0... do a search-replace for 'wpmu-blogs.php' -> 'ms-sites.php' in the 'blog_templates.php' file and you're ready to go.
@sleenie - Glad to hear your site is working again. have you created any more blogs with templates? I'm interested to hear if you get a white screen again, or if removing the maintenance mode plugin fixed the problem.
@webprodigy - The problem there is that those plugins create their own tables, and Blog Templates can't know what tables to duplicate, or if any values need to be updated based on the blog ID, etc.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I have a few ideas on things that might work, but I know there will always be plugins that don't work with this because of the way they're set up.
@Jason - Yeah I understand, I might have a look into this when I have a chance. But for the time being I can simply login to the new site, deactivate and reactivate to solve the problem and still preserve my Payment Gateway settings in WPEC.
I can't expect all plugins to be supported, you're only human! I was thinking maybe an option to look for additional tables in the template blog and have those copied over. Or if you wanted to get real ambitious, list the additional tables and allow the user to select the ones to be copied. If you put something like that together, with batch options, you've got yourself a long-term subscriber ;)
@webprodigy - Great idea! I've been racking my brain trying to come up with the easiest solution to plugins that create their own tables, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the "list the tables and let us choose" thing. Adding that to the to do list!
@inetis - The template dropdown is being added via jQuery, so it's likely that the name of something has changed in 3.0. I'll be testing this thoroughly in 3.0 in the next few weeks, so if that's the case I'll get it fixed up and working for the 3.0 launch. Thanks for the heads up!
Hey everyone, after possibly the longest week ever, code-wise, I've finally gotten everything hashed out for the default template feature! Now you can make a template the default template, and when a user signs up, it's automatically applied to their blog.
Do note that the functionality of the Site Admin > Blogs page hasn't changed. Since you can choose the template before creating a blog, I didn't have it use a default at all.
For those of you wanting to use the default functionality with the Batch Create & Blog and User Creator plugins, it should work. But I haven't tested it with those yet, so be warned :) I'm going to test it with those plugins tonight, but I wanted to get this in your hands, because I know so many of you were chomping at the bit for the default feature. :)
If you do install it on a test platform and have Batch or B&U Creator installed, let me know how it goes for you
10635 pointsLike some sort of WPMU DEV GodMindblowingly helpful memberLifetime member
Sales & Support Lead
—
28th May 2010 (1 year ago)
#
@Jason,
Activated this plugin and setup a blog for template. I used this plugin to create a default template for my new users. I had it copy everything except the Users.
When a new user signs up for a blog, they are added to a site but they do not have a role for the blog (There's a picture attached below). And it seems impossible to even add a role to the blog.
Also, in the admin page for Blog Templates, it seems that you can't delete a template if it's the only one listed (more than one, and delete does work).
I find the change :
Just replace on line 132 if ($pagenow != 'wpmu-blogs.php') return;
with if ($pagenow != 'ms-sites.php') return;
And it works great :)
@masonjames - To clarify, the users problem shows up when you make a new blog with a template that doesn't copy over users? I want to make sure I have the details right when I start digging for the fix. I think I know what's happening, but I want to be sure I know when it's happening, exactly.
@inetis - Yeah, that's an issue with a 2.9.2 -> 3.0 change. That will be updated by the time that 3.0 comes out.
@idswebsites - If you set a default template, the batch create plugin should create blogs based on that template. Did it not work?
10635 pointsLike some sort of WPMU DEV GodMindblowingly helpful memberLifetime member
Sales & Support Lead
—
29th May 2010 (1 year ago)
#
@Jason, You have that correct. A new user signs up through the normal wp-signup.php. I have the blog_template plugin set up to transfer everything but users from an existing blog (and set to default). When the new user signs up a username and blog is created, but they are unable to view their blog once they login (it gives them a default wordpress error about not having permission to view the site). When I click on "edit blog" in the site admin, I see the screenshot I posted above where the user is somehow associated with the blog, but no role is defined and there's no way in wp-admin to give them a role (or add anyone with a role). If I can be of further help, let me know.
10635 pointsLike some sort of WPMU DEV GodMindblowingly helpful memberLifetime member
Sales & Support Lead
—
29th May 2010 (1 year ago)
#
Argh... double post. My bad.
@Jason, You have that correct. A new user signs up through the normal wp-signup.php. I have the blog_template plugin set up to transfer everything but users from an existing blog (and set to default). When the new user signs up a username and blog is created, but they are unable to view their blog once they login (it gives them a default wordpress error about not having permission to view the site). When I click on "edit blog" in the site admin, I see the screenshot I posted above where the user is somehow associated with the blog, but no role is defined and there's no way in wp-admin to give them a role (or add anyone with a role). If I can be of further help, let me know.
Are you sure you have all of the very latest code? I fixed a very similar (almost exact) bug last week, and now I can't reproduce it at all. Try downloading the latest code and creating a new user/blog. (The other blogs you created won't be fixed, as they have already been created, but no new user capability problems should arise.
10635 pointsLike some sort of WPMU DEV GodMindblowingly helpful memberLifetime member
Sales & Support Lead
—
1st June 2010 (1 year ago)
#
Hey Jason,
Just tried it again and got the same error. Downloaded a fresh copy from here, reuploaded the files, created a template and then attempted to create new user/blog through wp-signup.php. Blog/User are created and confirmation email is received, but when you attempt to login you get:
You don’t have permission to view this site. Please contact the system administrator.
In the admin section for Blog Templates, I am unable to delete the original templates I created. I can create more templates, make them default, and even go back and edit them, but the original one stays and will not delete. For some reason, it doesn't seem to have an id associated with it.
For instance, the default template currently has a path of "...?page=blog_templates.php&t=0" and everything works, but the template that will not delete has "...?page=blog_templates.php&t=" There's no number there at all. I did a quick look in the database, but didn't see where this info is stored. Maybe something is left over in there that's causing this?
Had trouble saving service pages in educlean and found another forum where others are having trouble too. Something in your new awesome plugin is causing it. Once I deleted your plugin all works again.
@masonjames - Can you email me the Blog Template plugin files you're using? That may help me narrow things down. I still can't reproduce the issue on my test site.
@Patrick - Thanks for the heads up, I think I fixed that bug, but I need to do some more testing on it. Were you only getting it with the Educlean theme installed, while trying to save one of the Educlean-specific admin pages?
I'm having the same issue with a Woo theme. Also, I can't create a new form with Gravity Forms, either. This plugin is absolutely brilliant, though--it just has a few bugs to work out.
Can't update any themes and cannot delete this plugin as others have reported doing. When I use FTP to delete it, the site hangs at a white screen with an error message referring to the plugin and a run once type of message (that's not the exact message).
Using latest WPMU and BP, trying to use BP Daily and BP Social themes...
@Jason: regarding finding tables used by active plugins...why not just set it to duplicate all the main WPMU tables for the account and then provide a list of the other tables that map to a user for interactive selection as "SHOW TABLES LIKE $pre_$userid_%;" (pseudocode).
@Doug - Are you referring to Aaron's blog types plugin? I haven't tried them together, but it should work. If the plugin creates custom tables for each blog, then it won't work with this one until I add the ability to select tables to copy.
@Webmeister - Make sure you delete the blogtemplates.php file from /mu-plugins as well as the /blogtemplatesfiles folder. Removing the plugin should kill any errors referring to the plugin files.
@Shawn - Yep, that's what I plan on doing. I'm trying to hash out these few bugs first, then do the upgrade to allow the selecting of other tables after that.
@Solari - Yep! It will work with subdomains or subdirectories.
Deleting this one plugin ended the problem, so there are some incompatibilities/bugs here.
Please advise when any updates to this promising plugin are available, thanks in advance. I'm marking this as a favorite thread.
FYI all who experience this issue, please note:
Make sure you delete the blogtemplates.php file from /mu-plugins as well as the /blogtemplatesfiles folder. Removing the plugin should kill any errors referring to the plugin files.
Ok, just uploaded a new update. The Whoops! bug should be worked out now, NBT shouldn't conflict with the other themes/plugins again. I've also made the Whoops message clearer, so if it does happen, you'll know which plugin is causing it.
I've also updated it for WP 3.0 RC1, so if you have a 3.0 test site, it should be working there now, too.
I'll be working on the Easy Blogging suite to hash out a few small bugs, but after that I should be able to get on adding the custom tables option to make this an even more powerful plugin.
Love this plugin, will save me a ton of time. However when I used the template it did not create posts, pages and categories. The theme settings worked. When I created the blog I got the following error...
Insertion Error: Unknown column '' in 'field list' - The template was not applied
I started a new thread with this problem, so I apologize for that but this one seemed like the place where the most people are involved with the plugin.
@Jason - There's something weird with the plugin meta. The new version reads Version 1.0 inside the blogtemplates.php file and its date modified reads May 26, 2010.
Also, you've seemed to have corrected the WooThemes issue I mentioned earlier, but I still cannot create a new GravityForm. Once I remove the blog templates plugin, though, GravityForms works perfectly again. If you need a copy of the GF plugin to test, email me at jpelker at gmail .com.
I'm having issues with the plugin regarding deleting templates and setting default. Some times when I go to delete I get the "Whoops" message so I back up try again and it works. Same with setting default however when it does finally set the default it creates another template on its own. It just appears even though I didn't create it.
I also at times get nothing when clicking delete or default. It just calls on the server and then nothing. I found that sometimes if I log out and log in again it helps.
Awesome plugin!!! It works fine when I create new blogs from the admin. However, the default option isn't working for new sign-ups. I've chosen a template as default, but I'm still getting the Wordpress Default theme (Kubrick) -- and without any of my settings or posts. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
@Jason Pelker - I think it's an issue with BT not transferring tables. I'm working on adding that to the plugin.
@PositiveActionReaction - Hmm, how long are you waiting between the page loading and clicking the default link? It sounds like Wordpress isn't saving the nonce for long enough. Anyone else having problems like this?
@Luke - Click on the template's name on the options page, and make sure all the checkboxes are checked. If they're not checked, they won't transfer any of the settings.
The boxes are all checked. It works when I choose the template from admin, but it doesn't override the Wordpress Default upon sign-up. Any other ideas? I definitely have a blog template checked as default. Is anyone else having this problem? Thanks.
Jason - No, but I've previously modified some of the Wordpress coding. I haven't launched yet, so I'm going to take it all down and start over since I've experienced a few problems with other plugins as well (both wpmu and Wordpress). I'll let you know if the problem persists. Thanks.
I just updated New Blog Templates to 0.3. The new version fixes a couple bugs, and adds the ability to include additional tables in your template. To add additional tables, simply click on the template name on the New Blog Templates options page, then check the boxes for the additional tables.
For those of you who had the problem where you couldn't delete one of your templates (usually the first one) The bug is fixed, but the fix will remove the template that you couldn't delete as soon as you add a new template, set a new default template, or delete another template. If you're using that template for anything, you'll want to replace it as soon as you install this new version.
I have been using David Dean's multi site plugin for sometime, and I like that it allows me to clone a site. Combing this functionality with an updated version of the Dean MS plugin would be awesome.
If you can add integration to supporter, member & upgrade plugins. That would make it perfect.
so that users can signup & pick a blog template as well as a subscription plan. Is this something that you are already planning?
Another great feature would be to make it so that you can select what themes are available to each template.
Each form you subsequently create with a template is resigned to the
ID of 0. That means that edits to one form are enacted on all the
other 0 ID'ed forms, as well, making Gravity Forms less than useful.
To note, there shouldn't be forms with an ID of 0; the first form
always gets an ID of 1.
I've verified this issue on a clean WordPress install, as well. Please
let me know if you need any additional information: jpelker [at] gmail [dot] com. Thank you in
advance.
@Jason
I'm afraid we can't make sure it supports every plugin. Plugins that create their own db tables will likely have issues with blog templates, and there is not much we can do about it short of analyzing every plugin out there to know how to copy them.
Gravity Forms is also not accepting new entries on sites created from templates making this issue fairly tough to work around.
To note, Gravity Forms isn't your usual plugin, either. It's robust, expensive, popular and well supported. Unfortunately, though, the GF developers aren't going to rewrite their plugin to accommodate working with the template plugin. The easier option is to correct the New Blog Template plugin to work with plugins that create their own db tables.
Above you'll find the most recent copy of the Gravity Forms plugin. I'd like to know what will it cost to get the Gravity Forms issue corrected? I'm willing to make a donation to whomever corrects this issue within 24 hours. It's obviously important to me--I've already spent the money on a WPMDev subscription, as well as GF, so I'm not going to go cheapskate now.
If anyone is willing to take on this task, please note that Gravity Forms should work using network activation and New Blog Templates set to carry over plugins and their settings.
Re: the problem I mentioned above, All-in-One SEO pack suffers the same fate; you can't update the SEO settings on a site created with the plugin--they're stuck.
The db tables transfer is a serious issue that effects the usefulness of the plugin. In its current iteration, the New Blog Templates plugin is not ready for widespread use.
Hi...It's been a couple of months since I've posted and it seems there has been some new updates to this plug-in which is great. I want to do something but my test site in now gone. So I'm working live.
I want to be sure that what I'm going to do will work. I don't want to create a New Blog because and then create a template that because the site is done and fairly large Over 95% of the initial pages etc will be cloned.. What I would like to do is create a blog template (let's call it Template1) from the main site. I know that then anything I do on the main site will flow forward. Something I don't want to happen,(at least 75% of the time) So this is what I propose.
Once I have the Template1 (from the main site) created exactly like I need it I would then like to create another template from Template1 so that I now have one called Template2. All future blogs would then created from Template2. I would likely want to delete Template1 then to prevent any future mistakes.
This means I would have my main site that would be status quo and changes to it would not affect anything on any other blog. However if changes need to be made on all the blogs it would be done from the Template2.
Is my thinking right here? I'm running the latest version of WordPressMU and just downloaded the latest version of the New Blog Template.
Yes, you could make a temporary template from the main site, create a blog from it, then set that new blog as the default template, editing it as you need to.
Keep in mind that changes to a template only affect new blogs, it won't roll out to already created blogs.
Thanks so much! This is great..but need to clarify one thing you said.
I've created Template2 and now have created 10 blogs from that. Now they need to upgrade some of the content on the Template2. Only new blogs would receive that updated information?
Any way to make changes to all blogs at one time, not just the brand new one being created? Hopefully I just missed a plugin.
Oh well, it was a good try. I guess one way to look at it would be it's ongoing work. Thankfully they won't have 1000's of blogs! Guess I'd better get to work!
Ok all, I just put out an update:
- Fixed key autoincrement issues with plugins that create their own tables.
Note the bugs with multidb have been identified, and it was a bug with Multi-DB, not this plugin, so we will be releasing an update to multidb very soon.
If there are any issues in addition to these two, let me know.
What are the limitations or guidelines in Blog ID when creating a template? I always
get an error message. Is that something I should already have? I'm thinking it's a code I am
to assign for the new template. Please help.
10635 pointsLike some sort of WPMU DEV GodMindblowingly helpful memberLifetime member
Sales & Support Lead
—
6th February 2011 (1 year ago)
#
Hiya karencatangay,
First off, welcome to WPMU DEV! :D
I'm not sure I understand your question entirely. Other than the main site, you should be fine with any of the blog/sites on your multi-site install. If you can tell us what the error message says and what you're trying to accomplish, I'm sure we can help!
Also, next time, let's open up a new thread as this one's rather old and can easily get over-looked. Unless you find a thread exactly to your issue, starting a new one is best practice 'round here.
Responses (102)
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
I can't thank you guys enough for this plugin! This is going to save me hundreds of hours in labor!
Founder & CEO — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Good to hear :)
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
I'm so exited! Waited just a couple of days and now tomorrow I can get busy. You have saved me so much time and energy! Can't wait to get working on it.
Sleenie
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
OK, I've been reading thru the installation and looking a screenshots. I do have one quick question, want to make sure I understand.
I have a site now and I want to make a template of it. I can copy pages, posts themes, setting etc. But I read that when I make a change to the main blog it will change the template also?
If this is right, then is the best way to do this is to create the first template from the main blog, then create a 2nd template that I can use on a regular basis? The changes I make to the main site site will not necessarily flow to all of the other blogs, but all of the other blogs will contain the same content throughout. Does that even make sense?
Maybe the best thing is for me to do a test blog first. I'm just so exited that this is here and I can begin my week with it.
Support Guru — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Glad you are excited.
Your best option is to create an entirely new blog that you use as the template. So in your case make the new blog and copy all the features of the main blog and then use that as one of your templates.
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Wow! Can't wait to play with this later today (darn day job). Looks like you can save multiple templates too. Nice.
Just to be clear...
Once a new blog has been created from a template, it is completely independant of the template. So, updating the template's catagories, would not effect the catagories of sites previously created from the template, only new sites would reflect the changes, correct?
And if so, is there any way to somehow tie them together so that such changes would effect the previously created sites?
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Nice plugin :)
Any chance to add a feature that allow users to decide, at signup, which template to use?
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
It seems it is only setting a new template if the new blog is created from the admin. It doesn't set the new template on users creating a new blog from the front of the site.
Am I using it correctly? Any plans on making it function that way? Like macitaly said above.
It looks awesome though!
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Ok...ran into my first challenge. I'm running WPMU 2.9.2 Installed the plug-in, created the template, created a new blog using the template and also templated the theme, blog posts etc.. However when I view the site I get 404 errors for all of the pages. I checked in at the dashboard level and the pages are there, however when I click on them or anything from the dashboard, I get a blank page.
But I have to say, once I get this fixed, this is going to be absolutely wonderful! Everything is there just like it is suppose to be. So fast too!
Sleenie
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Have something to add to this. I cannot only not get into the newly created blog, I can no longer get into my main site. This is a test site so it isn't a big deal yet. I thought perhaps it was the Maintenance Mode plugin so I went in and deleted it, but it makes no difference. I get a plain white screen.
Did I do something wrong?
Lead Developer — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
I think it is essential to be able to select one of your templates to be applied to new blog signups. Seems like the main use case for this plugin, with admin created blogs secondary.
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Hello, I'm also getting the same problem. I can't seem to see where to fix it.
Robert
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Aaron, are you saying this is what it will do? Soon?
Developer — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
RE: Templates during user signup - I'll look into the possibility for this, because I think it's a great idea!
For clarification: If I can make it happen without any theme changes, I will. If I can't without requiring you to add a tag to your site's theme, do you still want the functionality?
@Sleenie - Can you check if there's an error_log file in the root directory of your server? The dreaded white screen sometimes leaves clues as to what's happening in the error log. What other plugins do you have activated on the blog your template is based on, as well as in mu-plugins?
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
For me, the whole reason to use this plugin is for me to be able to decide on the template applied (automatically during sign up). User choice would be good but not necessary to me. I'd be ok with adding a tag if its needed.
I want to have a template with pages etc that is applied when a user signs up for a blog.
It is doing everything I wanted except for the automatic application of a template. All of the rest of it seems to be working ok for me.
Keep us posted.
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@Jason
I would only need to control catagories on one theme in particular, so a theme mod to make it work in an already heavely modded theme would not be an issue at all. Especially vs. having to manually add cats to 100s of sub sites.
Thanks for looking into it.
Member — 17th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Jason,
This was a test site that had many plugins but not all were activated. I did make copies of all of them though from my FTP client.
I've deleted the Blog Template plugin but that didn't do the trick either, not that I thought it would.
I've also got a large error log also. Where do you want me to send these to? I can attached but the error log has more in it that I want to share with everyone regarding my databases etc.
Founder & CEO — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Yeh I agree, templates that can be selected during user signups (with an option for site admin to turn the ability to select templates on and off) would be great.
An open text field there that site admin can populate that could link to the different templates by way of example would be great too.
I reckon we should get that added in asap, you cool with that Jason?
Member — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Jason,
Any thoughts on what I should do? My test site is now unavailable to me. I'm attaching screenshots of the installed plugins but I can't tell you which ones are activate since I can't get into the site anymore.
I'll be happy to send you the error log..just tell me where.
I would also like to have the template for the users to choose, but I have to say, initially, the admin will be putting it together so right now this would work fine for me.
Thx,,
Sleenie
Founder & CEO — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Try just renaming the plugins and mu-plugins folders, then create new ones and add back in the plugins one by one until u find the culprit :)
Founder & CEO — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
BTW, I'm gonna bet on super cache, maybe protect pages and possibly simple forum.
Developer — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@sleenie - You can email the log file to me at jason /at/ flurrymarketing.com (change /at/ to @) I can't immediately spot what plugin is likely the cause, but I agree with James that it might be Super Cache or Protect Pages. Seeing your error log will hopefully help narrow the issue down.
Member — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
I will do as you suggest James. Hopefully then I can get back in.
Normally I would bet on Super Cache also, but I think it was not activated. I normally do not activate that until a site goes live and this was a test site. Not sure about Simple Forums, which I could likely work around, but Protect Pages is important. None of the particular pages that will be in the template can be removed. Right now I think that's the only way I have to protect them but I can tell you that even though it was active, there were no pages protect. That's actually the first thing I looked for before everything went away.
I will give it a try though. thx
Member — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Just a quick update...it does appear to have been a plugin of some sort because once I renamed the folders now the page is active again. So I'm going to install New Blog Templates first and then add in the ones I think I'll need first and see what happens.
Is it best to reinstall them completely or should I just create another plugins folder and move them over, one by one?
Developer — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Yeah, add them in one by one, because when you hit the one throwing the error, you'll likely get the white screen again, so you'll know where the conflict is.
Looking at your error log, it looks like a plugin (probably Simple Forum) is looking for a database table that doesn't exist, which is giving you the white screen. Try re-installing that one, and see if it dies on you.
Member — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Thanks. I'll be working on this shortly.. I'll let you know.
Member — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Just an update...I've added in about 9 plugins so far and everything seems to work just great so far. No white screen but then I haven't done the Simple Forums or the Super Cache yet.
However I did notice something. If any of the "cloned" blogs adds in a plugin then it gets added to the main site also. I understand the reasoning behind adding to the template adds to the main site or visa versa but I don't think I want whatever a blog owner does to flow backwards. How can I stop that from happening?
Member — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Jason, what's your thinking on being able to have the user choose or setting a default upon sign up. Is it do-able?
just askin'. I'm excited about this one.
Developer — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@Sleenie - The cloned blogs shouldn't affect the main blog at all, they should be completely separate. If you're experiencing this as you're adding plugins back into your /plugins directory, they get automatically added back to any blog that had them activated, as long as you haven't gone to the plugins page (and, for some reason, occasionally even if you have gone to the plugins page)
@cherubini - Yeah, it's definitely doable. I think it will be the default template option first, then possibly the user selectable option down the road if people do really want it. Giving end users extra choices during the signup phase tends to confuse them, and confused people tend to not become supporters :)
Member — 18th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Great! All I want is the one to set automatically for every sign up anyway!
Just keep us posted on the ETA. I'm sure it will be awesome!
Member — 19th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Hi James
Great plugin! Any thoughts with merging this with the batch create plugin? That could cut down my work load ten-fold, creating 280 blogs with the correct themes and settings in one click would make me very happy when deploy this year students blogs :)
Thanks Bud,
Best,
Matt
Developer — 19th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@wearebase - Yep! That was one of the ideas from the start, it just hasn't made its way into the plugin yet. It's definitely in the development timeline, for the exact reason you mentioned - it will save TONS of time when people are creating hundreds of blogs at once.
No more having to go do everything manually on each blog :)
Member — 19th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Swish! Thanks Jason,
Dont suppose it will be about before next week will it? (*puppy dog eyes*)
I have 285 to make next Wednesday *sigh* :(
Thanks,
Matt
Member — 19th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Okay, I've now added back in all of the plug-ins and actually activated them all. I do not get the white screen any longer. Don't ask me why. But I will check after installation of every plug-in in the future. Plus I will clean up the main site.
However, when doing this a created several templates along the way to see if that created any problems. I cannot get past 5 templates. On the 6th template nothing but the theme gets duplicated. None of the pages pots etc. I just get messages Nothing can be found.
That being siad, I don't need more than two templates this go around so I am perfectly happy. Just wish I know which plug-in had created the original problem.
Tonight I am going to template the live site and then template that so I can have a good template that I can use without fear of changing the main site.
I'm excited to get started. I'm sure I'll have other questions but hopefully not for a while.
Thanks for a great plugin.
Member — 19th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Quick question...will this work with a singe installation WP? Or is that something that will be available with 3.0?
Founder & CEO — 19th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@sleenie by definition a single install won't have the capacity to create new blogs :)
However... this *will* work with wordpress 3.0 MultiSite / Network / MU stuff setup on it (we're just calling it WPMU still for ease of reference :)
Member — 20th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Thanks James...I think what this person was looking for was the ability to create duplicate blogs but not necessarily for multi-user purposes.
This is the problem that I have run into now. But it may be that it is designed to work this way. I created a template, let's call it template1, from the main site. I then created a new blog using template1. Then the templated blog was tweaked to be exactly what I want. I changed the theme..no problem..Changed a couple of posts no problem. the main site was still fine. But...when I deleted a couple of the plugins fro m the new blog, they were removed backwards through the template and all blogs including the main site.
Maybe I'm doing this the wrong way I don't know. I feel like I am so close to what I need.
What I am trying to accomplish is a template site, based off the main site with everything needed for the distributors, which is not everything from the main site. Then as they sign up they will get a blog populated with all of the pertinent information. They need to be able to add to their own blog without affecting the template, main site or any other blog. So the information will need to flow forward from the template or main blog but not backwards. Am I making sense?
Founder & CEO — 20th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
If you delete a plugin, it will be removed from all blogs - you need to deactivate plugins on a per blog basis.
Alternatively if you are deactivating them sitewide that woudl also call them all to be disabled.
If, however, you are simply deactivating plugins one one blog and that's deactivating in turn then there's a problem.
Member — 20th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
Thanks James...I have got to stop doing posts that late. Once I went to bed , I woke up realizing that of course that would happen because there is only one installation of the plugin. I had to get up and post and saw you beat me to the punch. I'm not going to look now but will when I get up with fresh eyes. Maybe I'll dream about something other than WPMU now. That's sad!
Sales & Support Lead — 20th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@sleenie,
I know exactly what you mean... should be dreaming myself at this point! :P
Developer — 20th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@Sleenie - So everything is good now, except the 5 template max problem? Could you send me login details for your site? That would help me see if I can track down the problem for the max #s of templates. My email is jason /at/ flurrymarketing.com
If you don't want to send me your login info, feel free to create a new user for me, but I'll need Site Admin capabilities.
Member — 20th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
awesome, I'm on board and waiting for user selected option. Also, Batch Create integration is very good idea too. I'm really interested in seeing integration with the 'Blog and User Creator' plugin for users. This would be a jack-pot, end-of-the-rainbow, gold-rush!!!
Lead Developer — 20th May 2010 (2 years ago) #
When we add the ability to select the default template for signups they will be technically be "integrated" as that plugin as well as user singups and admin creations all use the same function.
Member — 21st May 2010 (2 years ago) #
@Jason It may be another day or so because I seemed to have messed up something else up so that is likely my fault.. I created another user using Role Manager on the templated blog. Now for some reason I can't get back into the main site as it is recognizing me as a subscriber now instead on an admin Have NO idea what I did.. Decided to take a break to get some other work done and will likely look again tomorrow.
Once I get that problem figure out I will send you the login information. This is a complete test site so I'm nto worried. Never did figure out what caused the white screens, but I'm thinking it may have been the maintenance mode plugin. Had a friend installing BuddyPress who had the exact same problem. Had her copy of the plugin folder and then reactivate one at a time. In her case it was the maintenance mode plugin. Once we switched plugins, she's working fine now.
Member — 26th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
All I have to say is.... amazing. Thank you for this wonderful product!
I did get some issues with settings getting transfered for WP e-Commerce - in fact some panels were wiped clean of defaults as well, while others were preserved. Not sure if this is an issue in copying or an issue in WPEC. Also WP Touch settings revert back to defaults. But then again I'm also using 3.0-beta2. Keep up the good work.
I also agree that merging batch create would be fabulous!
If anyone is interested in using this for 3.0... do a search-replace for 'wpmu-blogs.php' -> 'ms-sites.php' in the 'blog_templates.php' file and you're ready to go.
Developer — 26th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
@sleenie - Glad to hear your site is working again. have you created any more blogs with templates? I'm interested to hear if you get a white screen again, or if removing the maintenance mode plugin fixed the problem.
@webprodigy - The problem there is that those plugins create their own tables, and Blog Templates can't know what tables to duplicate, or if any values need to be updated based on the blog ID, etc.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I have a few ideas on things that might work, but I know there will always be plugins that don't work with this because of the way they're set up.
Member — 26th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
Any idea of how long until we can set a default template to implement on sign ups instead of just new blogs created by admin?
Member — 26th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason - Yeah I understand, I might have a look into this when I have a chance. But for the time being I can simply login to the new site, deactivate and reactivate to solve the problem and still preserve my Payment Gateway settings in WPEC.
I can't expect all plugins to be supported, you're only human! I was thinking maybe an option to look for additional tables in the template blog and have those copied over. Or if you wanted to get real ambitious, list the additional tables and allow the user to select the ones to be copied. If you put something like that together, with batch options, you've got yourself a long-term subscriber ;)
Member — 27th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
Thanks for this great plugin.
I tested it on the new WPMU 3.0 and I can't see the menu "Template" in the "Add blog" section.
Do you have an idea ?
Developer — 27th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
@webprodigy - Great idea! I've been racking my brain trying to come up with the easiest solution to plugins that create their own tables, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the "list the tables and let us choose" thing. Adding that to the to do list!
@inetis - The template dropdown is being added via jQuery, so it's likely that the name of something has changed in 3.0. I'll be testing this thoroughly in 3.0 in the next few weeks, so if that's the case I'll get it fixed up and working for the 3.0 launch. Thanks for the heads up!
Developer — 27th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
Hey everyone, after possibly the longest week ever, code-wise, I've finally gotten everything hashed out for the default template feature! Now you can make a template the default template, and when a user signs up, it's automatically applied to their blog.
Do note that the functionality of the Site Admin > Blogs page hasn't changed. Since you can choose the template before creating a blog, I didn't have it use a default at all.
For those of you wanting to use the default functionality with the Batch Create & Blog and User Creator plugins, it should work. But I haven't tested it with those yet, so be warned :) I'm going to test it with those plugins tonight, but I wanted to get this in your hands, because I know so many of you were chomping at the bit for the default feature. :)
If you do install it on a test platform and have Batch or B&U Creator installed, let me know how it goes for you
Sales & Support Lead — 27th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
Oh man, this looks awesome! I'm gonna test it out tonight/this weekend.
This plugin should work as a replacement for the "default theme" plugin now correct?
Sales & Support Lead — 28th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason,
Activated this plugin and setup a blog for template. I used this plugin to create a default template for my new users. I had it copy everything except the Users.
When a new user signs up for a blog, they are added to a site but they do not have a role for the blog (There's a picture attached below). And it seems impossible to even add a role to the blog.
Also, in the admin page for Blog Templates, it seems that you can't delete a template if it's the only one listed (more than one, and delete does work).
Still playing/testing. I'll keep ya updated!
Member — 28th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason Thanks for you reply. This plugin'll save me a lot of time.
Member — 28th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
I find the change :
Just replace on line 132
if ($pagenow != 'wpmu-blogs.php') return;with
if ($pagenow != 'ms-sites.php') return;And it works great :)
Member — 28th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
been thinking of making something like this for ages, but alas no time available. I'm thankful for my membership and can't wait to test it out!
Member — 28th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
is there a way of calling the template function from another plugin.. like the batch create? to batch create + template ability?
Developer — 28th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
@masonjames - To clarify, the users problem shows up when you make a new blog with a template that doesn't copy over users? I want to make sure I have the details right when I start digging for the fix. I think I know what's happening, but I want to be sure I know when it's happening, exactly.
@inetis - Yeah, that's an issue with a 2.9.2 -> 3.0 change. That will be updated by the time that 3.0 comes out.
@idswebsites - If you set a default template, the batch create plugin should create blogs based on that template. Did it not work?
Sales & Support Lead — 29th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason, You have that correct. A new user signs up through the normal wp-signup.php. I have the blog_template plugin set up to transfer everything but users from an existing blog (and set to default). When the new user signs up a username and blog is created, but they are unable to view their blog once they login (it gives them a default wordpress error about not having permission to view the site). When I click on "edit blog" in the site admin, I see the screenshot I posted above where the user is somehow associated with the blog, but no role is defined and there's no way in wp-admin to give them a role (or add anyone with a role). If I can be of further help, let me know.
Sales & Support Lead — 29th May 2010 (1 year ago) #
Argh... double post. My bad.
@Jason, You have that correct. A new user signs up through the normal wp-signup.php. I have the blog_template plugin set up to transfer everything but users from an existing blog (and set to default). When the new user signs up a username and blog is created, but they are unable to view their blog once they login (it gives them a default wordpress error about not having permission to view the site). When I click on "edit blog" in the site admin, I see the screenshot I posted above where the user is somehow associated with the blog, but no role is defined and there's no way in wp-admin to give them a role (or add anyone with a role). If I can be of further help, let me know.
Developer — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Are you sure you have all of the very latest code? I fixed a very similar (almost exact) bug last week, and now I can't reproduce it at all. Try downloading the latest code and creating a new user/blog. (The other blogs you created won't be fixed, as they have already been created, but no new user capability problems should arise.
Sales & Support Lead — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Hey Jason,
Just tried it again and got the same error. Downloaded a fresh copy from here, reuploaded the files, created a template and then attempted to create new user/blog through wp-signup.php. Blog/User are created and confirmation email is received, but when you attempt to login you get:
In the admin section for Blog Templates, I am unable to delete the original templates I created. I can create more templates, make them default, and even go back and edit them, but the original one stays and will not delete. For some reason, it doesn't seem to have an id associated with it.
For instance, the default template currently has a path of "...?page=blog_templates.php&t=0" and everything works, but the template that will not delete has "...?page=blog_templates.php&t=" There's no number there at all. I did a quick look in the database, but didn't see where this info is stored. Maybe something is left over in there that's causing this?
Member — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason
Had trouble saving service pages in educlean and found another forum where others are having trouble too. Something in your new awesome plugin is causing it. Once I deleted your plugin all works again.
In case you were unaware
Member — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Here is the link to that forum
Developer — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@masonjames - Can you email me the Blog Template plugin files you're using? That may help me narrow things down. I still can't reproduce the issue on my test site.
@Patrick - Thanks for the heads up, I think I fixed that bug, but I need to do some more testing on it. Were you only getting it with the Educlean theme installed, while trying to save one of the Educlean-specific admin pages?
Member — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason
Yes just the educlean theme when trying to change the services setting under the appearance tab.
Member — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
blog templates and blog types integration any time soon?
Member — 1st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@ Patrick
I'm having the same issue with a Woo theme. Also, I can't create a new form with Gravity Forms, either. This plugin is absolutely brilliant, though--it just has a few bugs to work out.
Member — 2nd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Getting the Whoops! message here too.
Can't update any themes and cannot delete this plugin as others have reported doing. When I use FTP to delete it, the site hangs at a white screen with an error message referring to the plugin and a run once type of message (that's not the exact message).
Using latest WPMU and BP, trying to use BP Daily and BP Social themes...
Member — 2nd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason: regarding finding tables used by active plugins...why not just set it to duplicate all the main WPMU tables for the account and then provide a list of the other tables that map to a user for interactive selection as "SHOW TABLES LIKE $pre_$userid_%;" (pseudocode).
Member — 2nd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Will this work with subdomains?
Thanks!
Ray
Developer — 2nd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Doug - Are you referring to Aaron's blog types plugin? I haven't tried them together, but it should work. If the plugin creates custom tables for each blog, then it won't work with this one until I add the ability to select tables to copy.
@Webmeister - Make sure you delete the blogtemplates.php file from /mu-plugins as well as the /blogtemplatesfiles folder. Removing the plugin should kill any errors referring to the plugin files.
@Shawn - Yep, that's what I plan on doing. I'm trying to hash out these few bugs first, then do the upgrade to allow the selecting of other tables after that.
@Solari - Yep! It will work with subdomains or subdirectories.
Member — 2nd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Deleting this one plugin ended the problem, so there are some incompatibilities/bugs here.
Please advise when any updates to this promising plugin are available, thanks in advance. I'm marking this as a favorite thread.
FYI all who experience this issue, please note:
Developer — 3rd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Ok, just uploaded a new update. The Whoops! bug should be worked out now, NBT shouldn't conflict with the other themes/plugins again. I've also made the Whoops message clearer, so if it does happen, you'll know which plugin is causing it.
I've also updated it for WP 3.0 RC1, so if you have a 3.0 test site, it should be working there now, too.
I'll be working on the Easy Blogging suite to hash out a few small bugs, but after that I should be able to get on adding the custom tables option to make this an even more powerful plugin.
Member — 3rd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Love this plugin, will save me a ton of time. However when I used the template it did not create posts, pages and categories. The theme settings worked. When I created the blog I got the following error...
Insertion Error: Unknown column '' in 'field list' - The template was not applied
I started a new thread with this problem, so I apologize for that but this one seemed like the place where the most people are involved with the plugin.
Thanks and again great plugin!
Member — 5th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason - There's something weird with the plugin meta. The new version reads Version 1.0 inside the blogtemplates.php file and its date modified reads May 26, 2010.
Also, you've seemed to have corrected the WooThemes issue I mentioned earlier, but I still cannot create a new GravityForm. Once I remove the blog templates plugin, though, GravityForms works perfectly again. If you need a copy of the GF plugin to test, email me at jpelker at gmail .com.
Member — 5th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
I have the same problem with gravity forms
Member — 5th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
I'm having issues with the plugin regarding deleting templates and setting default. Some times when I go to delete I get the "Whoops" message so I back up try again and it works. Same with setting default however when it does finally set the default it creates another template on its own. It just appears even though I didn't create it.
I also at times get nothing when clicking delete or default. It just calls on the server and then nothing. I found that sometimes if I log out and log in again it helps.
Member — 5th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Awesome plugin!!! It works fine when I create new blogs from the admin. However, the default option isn't working for new sign-ups. I've chosen a template as default, but I'm still getting the Wordpress Default theme (Kubrick) -- and without any of my settings or posts. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
Thanks,
Luke
Developer — 6th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason Pelker - I think it's an issue with BT not transferring tables. I'm working on adding that to the plugin.
@PositiveActionReaction - Hmm, how long are you waiting between the page loading and clicking the default link? It sounds like Wordpress isn't saving the nonce for long enough. Anyone else having problems like this?
@Luke - Click on the template's name on the options page, and make sure all the checkboxes are checked. If they're not checked, they won't transfer any of the settings.
Member — 7th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
The boxes are all checked. It works when I choose the template from admin, but it doesn't override the Wordpress Default upon sign-up. Any other ideas? I definitely have a blog template checked as default. Is anyone else having this problem? Thanks.
Developer — 7th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Luke - Are you using any other kind of plugin that modifies the signup process?
Member — 7th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Jason - No, but I've previously modified some of the Wordpress coding. I haven't launched yet, so I'm going to take it all down and start over since I've experienced a few problems with other plugins as well (both wpmu and Wordpress). I'll let you know if the problem persists. Thanks.
Developer — 8th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
I just updated New Blog Templates to 0.3. The new version fixes a couple bugs, and adds the ability to include additional tables in your template. To add additional tables, simply click on the template name on the New Blog Templates options page, then check the boxes for the additional tables.
For those of you who had the problem where you couldn't delete one of your templates (usually the first one) The bug is fixed, but the fix will remove the template that you couldn't delete as soon as you add a new template, set a new default template, or delete another template. If you're using that template for anything, you'll want to replace it as soon as you install this new version.
@lukeluke How'd the reinstall go?
Member — 16th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Nice! Will give this a try :)
Member — 17th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
I have been using David Dean's multi site plugin for sometime, and I like that it allows me to clone a site. Combing this functionality with an updated version of the Dean MS plugin would be awesome.
Developer — 18th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
What does the Dean MS plugin do that this one doesn't?
Member — 20th June 2010 (1 year ago) #
If you can add integration to supporter, member & upgrade plugins. That would make it perfect.
so that users can signup & pick a blog template as well as a subscription plan. Is this something that you are already planning?
Another great feature would be to make it so that you can select what themes are available to each template.
Member — 21st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
I may have found another error with the site template plugin
re: Gravity Forms (and I thought that the new version was working well,
too)...
http://img.skitch.com/20100621-pk2fum652uhaa5ubd18ikkpi88.jpg
Each form you subsequently create with a template is resigned to the
ID of 0. That means that edits to one form are enacted on all the
other 0 ID'ed forms, as well, making Gravity Forms less than useful.
To note, there shouldn't be forms with an ID of 0; the first form
always gets an ID of 1.
I've verified this issue on a clean WordPress install, as well. Please
let me know if you need any additional information: jpelker [at] gmail [dot] com. Thank you in
advance.
Lead Developer — 21st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
@Jason
I'm afraid we can't make sure it supports every plugin. Plugins that create their own db tables will likely have issues with blog templates, and there is not much we can do about it short of analyzing every plugin out there to know how to copy them.
Member — 21st June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Gravity Forms is also not accepting new entries on sites created from templates making this issue fairly tough to work around.
To note, Gravity Forms isn't your usual plugin, either. It's robust, expensive, popular and well supported. Unfortunately, though, the GF developers aren't going to rewrite their plugin to accommodate working with the template plugin. The easier option is to correct the New Blog Template plugin to work with plugins that create their own db tables.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/144582/gravityforms_1.3.12.zip
Above you'll find the most recent copy of the Gravity Forms plugin. I'd like to know what will it cost to get the Gravity Forms issue corrected? I'm willing to make a donation to whomever corrects this issue within 24 hours. It's obviously important to me--I've already spent the money on a WPMDev subscription, as well as GF, so I'm not going to go cheapskate now.
If anyone is willing to take on this task, please note that Gravity Forms should work using network activation and New Blog Templates set to carry over plugins and their settings.
Member — 23rd June 2010 (1 year ago) #
Re: the problem I mentioned above, All-in-One SEO pack suffers the same fate; you can't update the SEO settings on a site created with the plugin--they're stuck.
The db tables transfer is a serious issue that effects the usefulness of the plugin. In its current iteration, the New Blog Templates plugin is not ready for widespread use.
Member — 13th July 2010 (1 year ago) #
Hi Jason/WPMU Developers,
Are you all working on getting New Blog Templates to be a default option for new users signing up on the front end? I'd love to have it!
Thanks,
Luke
Member — 28th July 2010 (1 year ago) #
Hi...It's been a couple of months since I've posted and it seems there has been some new updates to this plug-in which is great. I want to do something but my test site in now gone. So I'm working live.
I want to be sure that what I'm going to do will work. I don't want to create a New Blog because and then create a template that because the site is done and fairly large Over 95% of the initial pages etc will be cloned.. What I would like to do is create a blog template (let's call it Template1) from the main site. I know that then anything I do on the main site will flow forward. Something I don't want to happen,(at least 75% of the time) So this is what I propose.
Once I have the Template1 (from the main site) created exactly like I need it I would then like to create another template from Template1 so that I now have one called Template2. All future blogs would then created from Template2. I would likely want to delete Template1 then to prevent any future mistakes.
This means I would have my main site that would be status quo and changes to it would not affect anything on any other blog. However if changes need to be made on all the blogs it would be done from the Template2.
Is my thinking right here? I'm running the latest version of WordPressMU and just downloaded the latest version of the New Blog Template.
Thanks!
Lead Developer — 28th July 2010 (1 year ago) #
Yes, you could make a temporary template from the main site, create a blog from it, then set that new blog as the default template, editing it as you need to.
Keep in mind that changes to a template only affect new blogs, it won't roll out to already created blogs.
Member — 28th July 2010 (1 year ago) #
Thanks so much! This is great..but need to clarify one thing you said.
I've created Template2 and now have created 10 blogs from that. Now they need to upgrade some of the content on the Template2. Only new blogs would receive that updated information?
Any way to make changes to all blogs at one time, not just the brand new one being created? Hopefully I just missed a plugin.
Lead Developer — 28th July 2010 (1 year ago) #
No. It's not really very possible programatically either.
Member — 29th July 2010 (1 year ago) #
Oh well, it was a good try. I guess one way to look at it would be it's ongoing work. Thankfully they won't have 1000's of blogs! Guess I'd better get to work!
Lead Developer — 30th July 2010 (1 year ago) #
Ok all, I just put out an update:
- Fixed key autoincrement issues with plugins that create their own tables.
Note the bugs with multidb have been identified, and it was a bug with Multi-DB, not this plugin, so we will be releasing an update to multidb very soon.
If there are any issues in addition to these two, let me know.
Member — 5th February 2011 (1 year ago) #
Hi,
What are the limitations or guidelines in Blog ID when creating a template? I always
get an error message. Is that something I should already have? I'm thinking it's a code I am
to assign for the new template. Please help.
Sales & Support Lead — 6th February 2011 (1 year ago) #
Hiya karencatangay,
First off, welcome to WPMU DEV! :D
I'm not sure I understand your question entirely. Other than the main site, you should be fine with any of the blog/sites on your multi-site install. If you can tell us what the error message says and what you're trying to accomplish, I'm sure we can help!
Also, next time, let's open up a new thread as this one's rather old and can easily get over-looked. Unless you find a thread exactly to your issue, starting a new one is best practice 'round here.
Thanks!
Member — 6th February 2011 (1 year ago) #
Ok, gotcha! I already created a new post - blog id error message. thanks!
Become a member