Wordpress Help Needed

[honestgaz]

Howdie folks,

Ok so I have a dilemma, as i'm struggling in how to achieve what I want to achieve as I'm not good with wordpress. I wish to add "Free play" slots to my site. So I'm thinking I have to create a new post-template in my template files for the "slot games" to use, like: "slot-games-post-template.php". Ok so I comprehend that much, at least I think that's what I have to do.
Anyway, my dilemma stems from the fact I would like to be able to "tag" or "add" certain online casinos that actually have that specific game available to play. So when people visit the "free play game", i can show them ads or bonuses relating to casinos where they can click thru and play that specific game. How do I achieve this ?

What do I need to do ? Do I have to get a specific wordpress "plugin" created for this, or does one already exist ?

Here's hoping someone understands what I'm trying to do and can point me in the right direction.
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P.S: I might add, the 2 main things I wish to achieve is, 1: the relationship of the ads to the games (so they match), and 2: I wish to be able to delete/change the casino links/ads from the back end have it removed from all the free-play-slot-templates.php shown.. As I do not wish to have to remove the ads from hundreds of pages in the future, when casinos go rogue or cease trading etc.

thanks
gaz

 

[edgarf76]

What theme are you using? Show us your site so we can give you feedback. There are several ways you can do that, some ways come with the theme

 

[tryme1]

OK, Use categories for your free play games (ie: Rival, RTG, Microgaming) so that all the games from one supplier are in one category.

Use an ad serving software like OIOPublisher to create ads specific to that category where the ads only show casinos that offer games from that particular supplier.

So, the workflow would be something like this:

1) Create Microgaming category in Wordpress.

2) Create page for, say, Thunderstruck II in Microgaming category

3) Use OIOPublisher or other similar plugin to create ads for 32Red, MrGreen or whichever other casinos that offer Microgaming slots you want to feature.

These can be in rotation, but you'll need to assign the ads within that Ad Group to the Microgaming category.

4) When casino goes rogue, return to OIOPublisher plugin, remove their banners and links. Job done.

 

[honestgaz]

Sounds like a plan tryme1 - appreciated

 

[AussieDave]

If you only require pages which displays free games and casino banners/ads specific to each game, what tryme1 has explained, is the best option (imo) for someone who is not WP savvy.

 

[honestgaz]

Ok so I've been looking at this today and I'm still struggling.

tryme1 says to create a "page" for say Microgaming category. But pages in wordpress do not have categories for pages.. (unless im missing something).. They only have categories for "posts". If I try and set it up on posts, this doesn't allow me to set a template to use. What am I missing ?

 

[tryme1]

Hi, I meant 2) Create a 'Post' and you should be able to use custom templates for posts as well as pages.

 

[edgarf76]

OK, Use categories for your free play games (ie: Rival, RTG, Microgaming) so that all the games from one supplier are in one category.

Use an ad serving software like OIOPublisher to create ads specific to that category where the ads only show casinos that offer games from that particular supplier.

So, the workflow would be something like this:

1) Create Microgaming category in Wordpress.

2) Create page for, say, Thunderstruck II in Microgaming category

3) Use OIOPublisher or other similar plugin to create ads for 32Red, MrGreen or whichever other casinos that offer Microgaming slots you want to feature.

These can be in rotation, but you'll need to assign the ads within that Ad Group to the Microgaming category.

4) When casino goes rogue, return to OIOPublisher plugin, remove their banners and links. Job done.

That sounds good. If you are able to create sub-categories go for it. Can about help me with the thread about a wordpress plugin?

 

[honestgaz]

When I go to create a post, there is no option to use a specific template

 

[tryme1]

Well, there should be. Click the 'Screen Options' thing towards the top right of the screen where you adding a post. You should see an Option called Post Templates. Tick/Check the box next to that and the Post Template options should magically appear below and to the right of the box where you enter the post.

 

[honestgaz]

unfortunately not tryme1. On the "page" page, it is "Page Attributes" for templates.. Under the "post" page there are no options for page templates or anything to control them.
Im using the MADE review theme: http://themeforest.net/item/made-responsive-reviewmagazine-theme/2557495

 

[tryme1]

OK, then try this: rename your post template as single-slot-games.php, then see if that shows up as a custom post type. I use custom post templates all the time, so it's definitely doable.

 

[honestgaz]

hmm,
I don't seem to have a post template.. I have: single.php, page.php, template-full-width.php, template-review.php and header, footer & index

 

[tryme1]

I meant the template you referenced in the opening post, which you called slot-games-post-template.php. Rename that one as single-slot-games.php. Wordpress should identify that as a custom post template and allow you to select it when adding slots games.

 

[AussieDave]

The theme your using honestgaz, is a Pain in the Ass. I have the Theme Flavor by the same developer (industrial themes).

I'm no slouch when it comes to WP or php for that matter. However after 3 weeks of screwing around with Flavor, I gave up. These theme's are specifically built to do xyz. Try and change/alter that format, even in the slightest manner and you run into a world of drama.

My suggestion, find another theme

 

[AussieDave]

So I'm thinking I have to create a new post-template in my template files for the "slot games" to use, like: "slot-games-post-template.php".

I meant the template you referenced in the opening post, which you called slot-games-post-template.php. Rename that one as single-slot-games.php. Wordpress should identify that as a custom post template and allow you to select it when adding slots games.

Made comes with mini sites built into the theme. Think of these as being independent from the main WP site.

They have a lot of available options but primarily, the purpose of these mini-sites, are for reviews. Reiterating, trying to mod these themes to do anything outside of what they were inherently designed to do, is an exercise is frustration, which ends up being a BIG waste of time.

In addition, all these themes have a large DOM footprint. The developer runs them on a VPS & implements W3Cache because they have a high-overhead and need the resources.

If it was me honestgaz, I'd ditch Made and find another theme.

Maybe try http://www.flytonic.com/ designed for gambling affiliate requirements. These have review themes with star ratings etc etc and are easy to setup and load quick too.

 

[honestgaz]

I have the mini review sites set up for casino reviews and slot reviews.. Took me ages to figure it out and set it all up, I can't be ditching it now. I looked at that flytronic a while back and didn't think much of them really. I will stick with this one for now.

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@tryme1 that template: "slot-games-post-template.php" doesn't exist, that was a metaphorical example of what I thought I had to create. I will look at it all again tomorrow with fresh eyes and see if my brain can decipher what I need to do.

 

[AussieDave]

Each to their own M8. The best of luck persevering with Made, you'll need it

 

[Elly]

Thank you !!

 

[Giggity.]

Themeforest themes have great stock features built into them, but are generally .js beasts with a huge resource overhead which effects performance. We always have to do alot of various performance optimizations for themeforest builds

If you need to mod or deviate from what comes stock, or even manipulate the design to your liking, you really need to be up on your WP coding languages like php, html, css and be comfortable working with large mysql databases (once your site grows)

Maybe you should think about going with a more basic theme like bet4you suggested

Put it this way... made is pretty similar to flavor, which our main site affiliate is built on. We do web design for a day job and I'm telling you this theme is a pretty complex beast, even for professionals

Notice alot of people fall for the fancy theme demos not entirely understanding what it takes to make your site look as good as the demo

Good luck whichever way you go!