Most weeks in this series of Feature of the Week Posts I take a look at a particular feature or element of functionality within the Catalyst Theme itself and how it works, with the intention of demonstrating how adaptable, flexible, and easy to use the theme is.
Things like Custom Widget Areas, the Custom CSS Builder, Headers and Footer elements, customizing Navbars, Sidebars, and applying Page Layouts etc have all received a little attention in previous posts.
However, there is also a whole bundle of other stuff around the Catalyst Theme itself that adds immense extra value to what a user gets when they buy Catalyst.
There’s a superb, and very active, user forum where users get the benefit of the collective experience and knowledge of other Catalyst users and gurus to get questions and problems answered quickly.
There are also “Getting Started” videos, “How To” videos and other great resources to help you find your way around Catalyst.
As once before, when the awesome Catalyst User Community formed the focus of the Feature of the Week post, this week I’m going to take a quick look at another of these extra goodies for a change.
It’s one I know particularly well…. (because I wrote it)
The Catalyst Theme Cheat Sheet
The Catalyst Theme Cheat Sheet is a FREE resource for Catalyst Theme owners and can be obtained in the Catalyst Forum.
It started out as my own written guide to a lot of the functionality that’s in Catalyst Theme – a kind of “what’s where” and “what does it do” type of guide (in fact it actually started out as a guide to Frugal Theme, the forerunner to Catalyst, but then along came Catalyst which had even more functionality!)
It then quickly mushroomed into the original 170 page document that was released back in January 2011.
It has since grown to now be around 250 pages of jam packed information as the Catalyst Theme has developed and added major new features and options along the way.
It covers pretty much everything in Catalyst Theme itself, from small features through how to use its more advanced features and concepts, all accompanied with explanations and dozens of screen shots and images to help you step through the options and functionality provided in Catalyst and enabling you to make the most of them.
Functionality like:
- The Catalyst SEO Options, including Homepage, In-Page/Post, and Archive Page SEO
- How to Configure the Header, Navbar, Sidebar and Footer Areas
- Content Display, all the options for what gets displayed and how
- Adding Google Analytics to monitor your site’s performance
- EZ-Widget Areas
- Creating a Static Homepage
- Using Catalyst Widgets
- Creating and Applying Custom Page Layouts
- Making Custom Widget Areas
- Using the Custom CSS Builder
- WordPress Integrated Catalyst Options
- and more…..
Example Content from the Catalyst Theme Cheat Sheet
As well as the Catalyst functionality though, it also covers how to develop an effective site using Catalyst, guiding the reader through core concepts like:
- Market Research – is your site addressing the needs of a hungry market?
- Keyword Research – finding relevant keywords that people search on, and that you can compete for
- Setting up WordPress and Catalyst – the main settings to check
- Search Engine Optimisation – how to boost your site’s rankings and use Catalyst effectively
- Generating Visitor Traffic – promoting your site and attracting visitors
These serve to focus attention on the external factors ‘around’ a website that help ensure a site stands more chance of ranking better, of getting more visitors and delivering the kind of results you want to achieve with it.
The Catalyst Theme Cheat Sheet is a great resource that will help you find your way around the functionality provided in Catalyst, develop more effective and successful sites with it, and make the most of the sites you design with it.
It’s one of the many additional resources that provide added value and make Catalyst Theme a unique and very special WordPress theme!
The Catalyst Theme Cheat Sheet is FREE to all licenced Catalyst Theme Owners – just check out the Sticky Post at the top of the downloads section in the Catalyst Forum .
Have fun.
David.
David Pritchard is the author of the Catalyst Theme Cheat Sheet – a 200+ page guide to help users make the most of Catalyst Theme. It has been made freely available to licenced Catalyst users in the downloads section of the Catalyst Theme forum. David also has a site that covers WordPress, SEO, internet marketing techniques and other topics not directly related to Catalyst Theme itself at http://www.FastStepInternetMarketing.com