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.
We also provide a support and customization guide that has detailed answers to your questions.
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 to build websites for multiple clients, do you have a “multi-use license” for your theme?
- Do you have an affiliate program for the SmallBiz theme?
- I’m building sites for clients. Which is the best way to go – the multi-site license or affiliate program?
- Is the SmallBiz theme based on Thesis?
- Does the SmallBiz theme work on Mobile devices like iPhone and Android?
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?
- Does the SmallBiz theme work with WordPress 3.0+?
- I have a question that isn’t answered here, how can I get help?
The comprehensive SmallBiz User Guide has more details on how to use & customize the SmallBiz Theme.
Q: What do I need in order to use your theme?
You will need a good hosting provider that supports WordPress and PHP5. 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 do-it-yourself small business owners and web consultants who help small businesses. 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?
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: Does the SmallBiz theme work with WordPress 3.0?
Yes.
And the latest version of SmallBiz – SmallBiz 3.0 – takes advantage of many of the new capabilities in WordPress 3.0 so it actually requires WordPress 3.0+. If you are using an earlier version of WordPress (such as 2.9.2) you will want to use SmallBiz 1.65. If you are a SmallBiz customer just contact me and I’ll send you a copy of that version.
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 – you can earn up to $74 per sale of the SmallBiz Theme. See my Expand2Web SmallBiz Theme Affiliates page.
Q: Does the SmallBiz theme work on Mobile devices like iPhone and Android?
Yes! This blog post shows some screen shots of what the SmallBiz theme looks like on mobile devices like Android and iPhone (iOS) devices.
Q: Is the SmallBiz Theme based on Thesis?
No. We’ve used Thesis for some projects, but we built the SmallBiz Theme from the ground-up for small business websites and top local SEO results. Here is a comparison of SmallBiz and Thesis.
Q: Which is the best way to go – the multi-site license or affiliate program?
If you are building websites and selling them to clients, the multi-use license is probably your best bet. You pay once and can build as many client sites as you want. If you have a blog or website and want to sell the theme directly and earn commission, the affiliate program is a good way to go. You can also do both if you want.
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: I have a question that isn’t answered here, how can I get help?
Contact Me and I’ll be glad to help!
{ 69 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?
Hi
I can’t seem to get my home page picture to reduce in height – I have resized it as suggested but It will not reduce
Also – You said that I could remove the expand2web note at bottom of page
i can not find the spot to do this
Hi Wes,
How are you resizing the image? All you have to do is resize it on your computer, then upload it in the SmallBiz Options Panel. Let me know how you are resizing it and I’ll work with you to figure out what is going on.
And yes since you have the multi-site license you can remove the attribution in the footer. I’ll email you instructions on how to do that.
Hey hey,
Thanks for the help on my last question about the Contact Form. I’ve had another issue pop up that I can’t figure out how to fix.
Can you check out http://equipmentrentalmtjuliet.com and look at the sidebar. This happened right after I added a photo and text to that page. I’ve not done anything else with it.
Dan
Dan,
my name is Thomas I am a web developer on Don Campbell’s team. I sent you personal follow up email regarding your question. Please contact me at thomas@expand2web.com
I got the “personal follow-up” email. I found it to include more information than I originally thought I needed. Not only that, I was extremely pleased with your responsiveness and your ability to diagnose my issue immediately. Now it’s fixed and I doubt my client knew I had a problem.
Hi Don,
I removed part of the social media widget on one of my clients website http://www.chicagotreeserviceprofessionals.com and I’ve tried to add a picture just below it, but without success. I watched the video and used the optional 1 and 2 sidebar with no success. What can I do in order to keep the two social media icons? The image size is 200 px wide by 150 pix high
Thanks
Wally Z
Wally,
take a look at this forum post on how to add images:
http://members.expand2web.com/forum/sidebars-widgets/how-to-add-an-image-to-the-sidebar
Here is a written and video tutorial about using the sidebars and Optional sidebars: http://members.expand2web.com/forum/sidebars-widgets/different-sidebar-for-each-page-how-to
If this does not answer your question don’t hesitate to email me directly at thomas@expand2web.com and I will help you create a customized solution for your site.
Thank you for all of your quick help & support. I really appreciate it.
You referenced http://www.northvalleyoptometry.com in the post above. I noticed that you have hyper links added to each of the service areas in the footer. Is there a how-to created on how to replicate that process on the theme?
Josh,
take a look at this tutorial: http://members.expand2web.com/forum/footer-feature-box/hyperlink-cities-and-service-areas-in-the-footer
Let me know if you have further questions. You can reach me directly at thomas@expand2web.com
Hey Don,
Just built a website right out of the box, amazing results!
Check it out here: http://www.SanAntonioPartyPlanners.com
I still have some more work to do to ‘amp it up’ but I am very pleased with the results so far.
I wanted to know if there was an application you could recommend that works as a ‘small business directory’ and as a ‘local classifieds directory’ that accepts both ‘free & paid listings’ to use with the Small Biz Theme and WordPress.
Thanks for all you’ve done and I wish you the best.
Carlos
That’s great Carlos – nicely done!
I don’t know of a “directory” app like that, but I’ll keep on the look out for a WordPress Plug-in that might do something like that…
Hi,
Could you please tell me is it possible to make the header larger or smaller, rather than the standard.
And can some flash photos be added at the top of the home page? (Do you have a function to do this, or is it best done by inserting an animated gif into page)
I notice that they seem to be mostly pages (home, about, contact) rather than posts – does that negatively affect seo?
appreciate your help,
Hi Melinda,
The standard header is 900w X 150h. This makes it easy for people to create and upload their own headers. We’ve also formatted the theme so it displays on mobile devices. If you want to change the size of the header, you can with some changes to the CSS.
You could add Flash to the header if you wanted, but you would need to edit the theme. It is built to enable easy header image uploads, not flash files.
The initial pages created out of the box are WordPress Pages. There is full support for Blog Posts as well. The blog tab is added automatically, and as soon as you start writing blog posts they will show up.
As far as Google is concerned, there is no difference between pages and posts. We’ve designed the theme for maximum SEO impact. And WordPress is a good base anyway for your SEO efforts.
I hope that helps!
Hi Don,
I just created a new website with the new ver3.3 upgrade. I chose the cynthia layout, but I’m wondering how do I change the white color that are within the left and right home page text boxes? I”d also like to customize the color of the footer area that’s totally white. The website is
http://www.lafondadelgusto.com
Thanks
Wally Zambrano
Wally,
changing the “page” background color will take care of both.
Take a look at this post: http://members.expand2web.com/forum/pages-content/page-background-color-how-to-change-it-from-white-to-something-else
You may want to change the “grey” image in the footer too. The image is called “shadow.jpg and can be found in: wp-content/themes/smallbiz/images
Let me know if you have further questions. You can reach me directly at thomas@expand2web.com
Hi Don,
One last question. Is there a page that lists all of the styles that are setup for the SmallBiz theme?
Thanks for all your quick responses,
Yvette
Hi Yvette,
By styles do you mean page layouts? This video shows off the 6 different layouts you can switch to in the SmallBiz Options Panel: SmallBiz WordPress Theme Layouts
No I meant CSS styles for headings, paragraphs, etc. I see from the default front page that there is one for a call-to-action. I was wondering if there were any others like this setup.
Hi Yvette,
Oh, ok. Yes you can override any of the styles in style.css (we keep it clean so it only contains your modifications) or by creating a Child Theme (as I describe in this video.)
Hello
I have a client that does not like the black and white colours of the drop down menu.
Can you please tell me how to change those?
Many thanks
Chris
Chris,
take a look at this: http://members.expand2web.com/forum/menu-tabs-submenus/font-color-for-menu-submenu-tabs
Let me know if you have further questions. You can reach me directly at thomas@expand2web.com
I don’t see any mention as to the sites being mobile ready. Are they or is that in the planning?
Hi Roger,
Thanks for pointing that out! Yes, all the SmallBiz layouts are mobile ready and show nicely on iPhone and Android devices. There are some screen shots in this blog post: SmallBiz WordPress theme layouts.
Thanks for the quick response Don. Having your sites mobile ready is BIG!
Hi,
I would like to make the header higher. The picture that I currently have in the header is cut off. Can you walk me through the process. Thank you in advance.
Hi Son,
take a look at this post:
http://userguide.expand2web.com/how-to-guide/the-smallbiz-options-panel/header-graphics-creating-adding-and-removing/
The second to last headline from the bottom shows you how.
Let me know if you have further questions. You can reach me directly at thomas@expand2web.com
Hi Don/Thomas
Squeeze and sales pages are very popular on business sites but I haven’t been able to find anything related in your training/forums.
Would it be possible to put together a tutorial showing how to start with a bare page (no header, sidebar or footer) and the basics of how to code a standard squeeze page with H1 headline, video (with and without), opt in box, bullet points etc?
There are a number of squeeze page plug-ins available but most are themes in them selves which eliminates using my Expand2 web theme.
I’m sure it can’t be too hard to build one from scratch once shown?
kind regards
Peter
Hi Peter,
Yes, you should be able to create a page like that from within any theme. The SmallBiz theme provides a “No Sidebars” Page Template that will allow you to create essentially a blank page and then add your content from there. Then you can add your videos, opt-in box code snippets, bullets, etc to that page. Does this help?
Hi Don
Thanks for your prompt reply. I guess what would be the most ideal would be a couple of modifiable templates – one for a sales page and one for a squeeze page that can be selected and then altered as required.
Even just the basic html for both as a starting place that could be cut and pasted and then played around with would be a great help.
I’ve tried robbing code from other similar pages but for one reason or another it seems to consistently cause all sorts of issues I have no idea how to fix.
Based on the large amount of squeeze page products flooding the market I’m sure something like this would be a welcome addition to the SmallBiz theme.
Will WP 3.0.5 break the theme in any way?
Hi Leslie,
Nope – we test with each new version of WP and it works fine with WP 3.0.5
-Don
Hi Don
Could you please tell me … is it possible to easily create a site with no header and no navigation bar?
Wayne
Hi Wayne,
Yes, it is possible. You would need to edit the header.php and it’s pretty straightforward.
How do I install – a online payment processing and a calendar for event registration?
Hi Wes,
I use PayPal for online payment processing. You could use another payment processor, but the installation of that is more to do with the payment processor you choose than the theme. Any WordPress site can handle it.
As for a calendar for event registration, I would use one of the existing registration services rather than re-create one. Something like Meetup or EventBrite and embed it on your site.
Hi Don and Thomas
How would I add the code for the new facebook comments plugin to my site
as mentioned in this post https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/472
Thanks
Wes
What do I need to do to upgrade to the latest version of Small Biz Theme? I want to get in on the new mobile capabilities! Let me know if I need to buy a new license so I can use it for my clients!
Thanks
Dee Nott
Virtual Tribe SMMC
Hi Dee,
As a SmallBiz customer you get free upgrades – you should have received one if you are on our mailing list. I’ll send the update to you via e-mail. Thanks for being a SmallBiz Customer!
I hope anyone who is looking at this will understand that Don Campbell is on top of it! I don’t think I have ever had such amazing customer service and support, especially from an online service provider! This is Sunday and my question was answered on the FAQ post in less than 2 hours and an email with the link for the upgrade was in my inbox…This is Crazy Good!
Not only is this an amazing theme but support is unmatched! Why do I think it is so amazing? I customized my theme using the forum instructions alone…and my site started showing up #1 on Google for my main keywords! Web Video Marketing Fayetteville NC…online video marketing fayetteville nc being two of them.
Now if only Don could get clients like me to pay closer attention to their emails
Thank you for the kind words Dee!
I am having problems installing smallbiz onto my website dashboard as when I download the files, it isn’t in a zip format. It then won’t allow me to install the folder file in one go, it only opens the folder to view all the applications. A bit stuck really as I can’t seem to get the installation to proceed
Douglas,
The theme is delivered as a ZIP file, but on some computers when you try to download it will automatically unzip the file. Try to do the download with a Right Click so that you download the ZIP file without unzipping it.
Thanks guys, can you email me the link to the download page again please, will have another go
Doug
Doug – check your email inbox. I followed up with you on Sat, Apr 2, 2011 at 3:11 PM. The email contained the theme Zip file and detailed instructions.
Thomas
(thomas@expand2web.com)
I’m sure by now Douglas has been given the answer…for me and Mr “Mac” I didn’t realize I had set my Safari Preferences to open “safe” files after downloading and so every time I would try and install a zip file to wordpress it would always open the entire file and I ended up having to fire up my PC to upload the zip file.
Even though it was stored as a ZIP file on my Mac trying to upload it made the file open up. Glad I finally figured that out…I’m trying to retire the PC altogether…I’m getting there!
Just curious about plugins. I’ve just put together a new site..actually still need to get some content on it, but as I’m putting it together I’m wondering about plugins. I see and get that this theme, which is awesome, does not need an SEO plugin. Other than the WP-DB plugin, are there any other plugins that would be recommended or you consider necessary? Thanks!
Hi Geoffrey,
Good question. It totally depends on what the objective of your site is. Some people replace the basic contact form we provide with a more elaborate one like Gravity Forms. Let me know if there is some specific functionality you are looking for and I’ll recommend a plugin if I know of one that would help.
No, nothing specific at this point. My concentration is locally targeted and searched domains, so I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles. Just want to make sure my site is working as efficiently as possible. Your contact form is just fine for my purposes. Back up would be the most important thing I can think of, and I can incorporate social media plugins if I get clients that want to go that route. Thanks for the feedback, and I do love your theme and recommend it whenever I get the chance on various forums!
Actually, there is another specific question regarding plugins…do we need to add the google xml sitemap plugin, or does the theme already have this functionality?
Hi Geoffrey,
SmallBiz does not automatically create an XML sitemap, so if you want to create one, use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin.
I noticed there has not been much said about shopping carts for over a year. Can anyone give an update as to the best shopping cart plug ins for the small biz theme please?
Thank you….
Joan,
the old rule still stands – if you have more than 25 Products consider a stand-alone ecommerce solution such as Xcart or Shopsite. If you just have a few products we recommend: http://www.instinct.co.nz/e-commerce/
I am having trouble with the Menus option. I followed the instruction on the video, and I created a menu with 4 pages showing out of 6, as I want 2 to be hidden. It still shows all 6.
Any ideass on why this is happening?
Dave
Dave,
one of the most common problems is that no “Primary Menu” was set and saved. See screenshot below the video here: http://userguide.expand2web.com/how-to-guide/the-smallbiz-options-panel/menu-creating-custom-menu-omitting-pages/
If this does not solve your problem please contact me thomas@expand2web.com
I’ve been working on my first site all day. I’d like to experiment and make the blog the home page so that it shows up first. That may seem to defeat the purpose but it may actually be effective for my application. I assume that it can be done and would appreciate some simple direction?
Jody,
1) Log into Wordpress
2) Click on “Appearance” -> “SmallBiz Options”
3) Expand the “Layouts” tab and look for the “Custom Homepage” drop down.
4) Choose the “Blog” page.
Feel free to contact me at thomas@expand2web.com
I have seen some themes wherein no matter whether you choose HTML editor for texts, when you return, you find the Visual editor gets active and increases your labor as you need to clean up extra tags.
Do we need to remove the Visual editor (tiny mce) at once? The free themes do not have such stupid coding.
Hi Pagula,
Totally agree with you – I hate it when that happens. It’s not really a theme thing though, it’s a WordPress thing.
The more recent versions of WordPress remember which editor mode you have it in and don’t clobber your nice HTML with the visual editor unless you actively choose that tab.