SmallBiz WordPress Theme FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
The Expand2Web SmallBiz WordPress Theme helps you build a professional, search optimized website for your small business in record time.
I’ve compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions from small business owners and consultants who are using the theme below.
General Questions About the Theme:
- Who is this theme designed for?
- Where can I get it?
- Why is it based on WordPress?
- I would like to use this with multiple clients, do you have a “developers license” for your theme?
- Do you have an affiliate program for the SmallBiz theme?
Installation Questions:
- What do I need to use the theme?
- Do you have any Getting Started videos?
- How do I install the SmallBiz theme?
- WordPress Post-install steps
- Can I move my WordPress installation?
- I want to use your theme, but I don’t want to learn how to install WordPress and configure everything. Will you do this for me?
Configuring and Using the Theme:
- How do I change the header image?
- Can I add a video to the home page?
- How do I my Twitter, Facebook and YouTube links to my site?
- How do I change the main page image?
- How do I change what appears in the sidebar?
- How do I create a page with no sidebar?
- Can I add Sub Menu items to the navigation?
- How do I change the Map on the Find Us page?
- How can I upload a form or PDF for my visitors?
- Can I change the order of the items in the navigation menu?
- How do I use WordPress to update my site?
- Can I still have a blog if I use your theme?
- I have a question that isn’t answered here, how can I get help?
If I’ve missed anything, please let me know in the comments below, or contact me.
Q: What do I need in order to use your theme?
You will need a hosting account that supports WordPress. BlueHost is an excellent way to go – you’ll get a domain name, 1-click WordPress installs and 24/7 support for $6.95/month. This video shows you how to sign up and install WordPress in under 4 minutes.
Q: Who is this theme designed for?
This premium WordPress theme is built specifically for small business websites. It is based on real world experience and optimized for local search (SEO) results. I built this to help small business owners get a professional looking website up and running quickly.
Q: Where can I get it?
You can see a video overview, a demo website based on the SmallBiz theme, features and pricing information here.
Q: Why is it based on WordPress?
I’ve found WordPress to be an excellent platform for creating an effective small business website that performs very well in the search engine rankings. See this article for more details: Why Use WordPress to Power Your Small Business Website.
Q: Getting Started Guide (videos)
Before you install the theme, be sure to read my Getting Started page. I also have an index of tutorials and videos on my SmallBiz Tutorials page.
Q: How do I install the SmallBiz theme?
Here is a video tutorial that shows you how to upload and install the theme without using FTP: How to install themes in WordPress 2.8.
Q: Is there anything I need to do after installing WordPress?
Yes – here is a video that walks through the “post-install” steps I take after any WordPress install: WordPress Post-Install Steps. These are important for security and search engine optimization, so be sure to check this out!
Q: I installed WordPress in a sub-directory (like: /blog/) and now I want to move it to the top level of my domain. Can I do this without re-installing everything?
Yes. Here are the instructions: Moving WordPress. If you get stuck on these let me know and I’ll help you out.
Q: How do I change the header image?
You can easily upload a new header image in the SmallBiz Options panel. You need to make sure your new header is exactly 900 pixels wide and 150 pixels high, or it may have problems displaying. Also, make sure the file name of your header graphic does not have any spaces it it or else it will not display.
Q: Can I add a video to the home page?
Yes! A bunch of people have asked for this and I’ve found an easy way to do it. Watch this video for step-by-step instructions – How to add a video to your wordpress website home page.
Q: How do I my Twitter, Facebook and YouTube links to my site?
To add links to your social media profiles like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, just add a new widget from the WordPress Admin screen. This video shows you how to add links to your own social media profiles to your WordPress sidebar: How To Add Social Media Icons To Your WordPress Website.
Q: How do I change the main page image?
You can upload a new image for your home page in the SmallBiz Options Panel. If you want to replace it with a video see this video: How to add a video to your WordPress website home page.
Q: How can I change what appears in the sidebar?
The “lady” in the sidebar of the SmallBiz theme is the “default” widget that appears when no other widgets are turned on for the site. To replace this widget, just add a new widget from the WordPress Admin screen. This video shows you how to add an email newsletter opt-in form to your sidebar: How to add a WordPress Widget to your website.
Q: How can I create a page without the sidebar?
See this video: WordPress Custom Page Template with No Sidebars.
Q: Can I add Sub Menu items to the navigation?
Yes, you can add sub-menu items to any item in the nav bar. Here is a video that shows you how: How to add navigation sub-menu items.
Q: How can I upload a form or PDF file for my visitors to download?
This video shows you how: How to upload a PDF file to your WordPress website or blog.
Q: Can I change the order of the items in the navigation menu?
Yes. You can change the relative order of each Page in the WordPress Editor. Small numbers float to the left, larger numbers to the right. Here’s a video: How To Change Navigation Order of WordPress Nav Menu.
Q: I want to use your theme, but I don’t want to learn how to install WordPress and configure everything. Will you do this for me?
Certainly. I have a pre-packaged environment with WordPress and the SmallBiz theme installed and ready to go here – small business website starter kit. Or if you already have a hosting provider and domain name, contact me and we will work out a price to install WordPress and the SmallBiz theme for you.
Q: How do I change the Map on the Find Us page?
This video shows you how to get a Google Map and change the map on the Find Us page: Adding a map to your website using Google Web Elements.
Q: I would like to use this with multiple clients, do you have a “developers license” for your theme?
Yes – see WordPress website pricing for details.
Q: Do you have an affiliate program for the SmallBiz theme?
Yes – see my Expand2Web SmallBiz Theme Affiliates page.
Q: How do I use WordPress to update my site?
See my Using WordPress Tutorial Series for all kinds of video tutorials on how to update the content on your website, add videos, photos, and lots of other things.
Q: Can I still have a blog if I use your theme?
Absolutely! The blog capability is still turned on and available on your website. All of your blog posts will show up on the “blog” tab – when someone clicks that tab in your navigation menu they will get a page with all of your recent blog posts. You can turn this off if you would like to. See WordPress Website or Blog – What is the Difference? for more details.
Q: I have a question that isn’t answered here, how can I get help?
Contact Me and I’ll be glad to help.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi there – do you have any articles or resources on installing a shopping cart solution with the smallbiz theme? I’m looking at upgrading from the ‘free’ theme to a more business friendly theme plus adding a simple 3-5 product cart… any suggestions would be welcome!
Thanks for the great info on your site!
Karim
Hi Karim, great question. There is a nice shopping cart plugin for WordPress called WP-Ecommerce that might work for you. I haven’t tested it directly with the SmallBiz theme but it is built to work with any theme.
You could also assign your products to categories, add “extra fields” for pricing etc. and make your search behave like a full-blown e-commerce site with the Smart Sort Premium Plug-in. I recommend using PayPal for your payments, rather than dealing with credit card gateways and the need for (possibly) more expensive hosting servers with a dedicated IP addresses to support SSL etc.
Can you use the wordpress facebook widgets with this template?
@PJ – good question.
Yes you can. It’s very easy – I’ll put together a little video that shows how to do it. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thanks, I really find your site very useful. Lots of great information about how to utilize these (mostly) free tool to grow business.
Don,
It’s been awhile since I visited your site. That’s definitely my loss. This site and blog has grown tremendously since my last visit. The questions I e-mailed you about have been answered after looking over your site. I’ll be in touch.
Can the SmallBiz theme work for a business with multiple locations?
I see that there is a ‘Find Us’ template but I don’t see a way to add the information for additional locations to new pages created using the template.
Good question Ron. I like to use the Find Us page for the primary location, and then build city or location specific pages for each of the other areas that the business serves.
For example, if you look at http://www.northvalleyoptometry.com we created areas served pages for each of the cities that they draw customers from.
If you wanted multiple find us pages with a map on each, you could easily just create a new WordPress ‘page’ and then embed the map and directions on it.
Hi Don,
How do I change, add, and remove specific pages?
I have created a couple of new page, but I don’t show up with the other pages.
Also, I work virtually, so I don’t need a Find Us page…can I hide it or remove it?
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave,
When you add a new Page (not blog post, but page) in WordPress it will automatically show up in the navigation menu in the SmallBiz theme. If you want to exclude a menu item you can do that in the SmallBiz Options panel.
So the first thing I would check is to make sure the new pages you created are actually Pages and not blog posts.
As for the Find Us page – just go edit the page in WordPress and set the status to Draft or delete the page and it will not appear any more.
Let me know if you have any questions about either of these ok?