Sliding Panels (Yes it's a Garage Door)
I mentioned Sliding Panel briefly in the last post on Upgrading to Wordpress 2.8. You can see it at the top of this site. I changed the word “Open” to “Extras” using the Plugin Editor.
Installing Sliding Panel
You have to read the readme.html file that comes with this plugin. The author for some unknown reason didn’t put the short simple install instructions anywhere but in the readme. READ IT.
If you want to jump in and skip reading the instructions, I thought so. Put this in the header after the opening body tag
<?php if ( function_exists( 'get_sliding_panel' ) ) get_sliding_panel(); ?>
Populate the Slide Panel
Now go to the widget page and you will see a widge section “Slide Panel” insert a text widget, or any other widget in the panel section. I found I can have three panels. I also found you can’t put much content in each. Save and go “Open” your slide panel.
It isn’t being utilized here at the lab as you can see if you open it. More a “Test” to see how it functions. It is “interesting” but I’m still trying to think of ways I would use it on my business sites. You can see for yourself if you open it, there are some pretty lame uses. It doesn’t provide room for a lot of content as mentioned above. Keep it Short and to the point. On my theme I can fit three widgets sections in the panel.
The plugin author uses it on his site for user login to the forum section on his theme’s and plugins. Not sure I would want to hid that information. A new user might never find it.
I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions I don’t have the clicky gene. I don’t just start clicking the mouse around a site to see what happens or what will open. Make a graphic a button and I stand a good chance of missing it.
The same is true for Slide Panel. Just because it says “Open” I wouldn’t unless I had a reason to open it.
Maybe what I lack is the Curiosity gene. I admit, I’m not very curious. Bait me with a leading question and I’m likely to not take the bait. “I was hooked a lot as a child.”
What Uses for Sliding Panel
I’m very open to suggestions on how you would use sliding panel on your RE Blog. Start throwing those ideas out there. If you are already using it, tell us how and what content you have on your site in the sliding panel. YES, you can put a link to your site in the comment.
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Post Tags: Dropdown Content , Sliding Panels Plugin
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These garage doors are so neat yet so expensive. I also work at Lowe’s home improvement and these doors are rarely sold in my community do to price alone. However, I would surely like to have them on my home!
Robert,
I have to laugh here. This post isn’t about the garage doors. It is about the sliding door plugin which is that black rectangle at the top of the header with the word “Extras” and the down arrow.
This is one sliding door that isn’t expensive to setup or use.