RYO Membership Directory Plugin Administrator Manual
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A Member's Blog RSS feed doesn't appear on my page
If it's been put it in properly and the screen displays "Loading..." but never seems to load, it's either the wrong URL or the feed is invalid XML. Test it at W3 Feed Validation Service.
Note that some readers may be able to handle a certain level of invalid xml, so it's possible to be able to see a feed in FireFox or Internet Explorer, but have it fail in the jquery process used in the Directory. The solution is to use a product that generates good xml for feeds. WordPress and other blog platforms generally do this well, but some plugins may interfere with that.
I can't seem to upload any pictures to member profiles
After activating the plugin, there should be a folder in the wp-content folder called memberimages. If it’s not there, it’s because your server blocked it’s creation. You or your webmaster may need to create that yourself using ftp software, and while you’re checking, make sure there are sufficient permissions to allow the program to read and write to that folder. That usually means setting permissions to 0644 or 0755. (If you have trouble saving pictures for your member profiles, the setting may have to be 0664. Check with your hosting company about that if you still have problems.)
How do I get my Pages out of the menu bar?
Like any WordPress website, and depending on your theme, Pages tend to get placed in the main navigation bars. Sometimes that's a good thing, but some Pages you really don't want there. We use a plugin called PageMash. It works with most themes and makes it easy to set the order of Pages in the menu bar and also adds the ability to hide a Page. Just go to Plugins, Add New. Search for pageMash.
When I try to customize my directory pages I get errors?
If you're trying to customize a Page command like [memberdirectory] by adding directive codes check the following:
- Be sure the directive codes are spelled correctly, have no spaces, and are all lower case.
- If you've placed codes on separate lines, be sure there are no blank lines.
- If you've placed codes on separate lines, try putting them into one line. (Word wrap is okay, but no 'Enter' key to separate lines.) When using multiple lines, some plugins change the codes and they are not recognized.)
If you're trying to customize templates, refer to the instructions in the template codes page. Editing HTML can be tricky, and this is complicated by the fact that you use substitution lines and conditional lines. If you still can't get it to work, check the box in Directory Setup that resets that template to the standard we delivered. That way you have a working standard that you can build on.
How can I customize the stylesheet used for the directory?
The stylesheet for the directory is embedded in the html file generated for your page, and has been tested with many themes for compatibility. There will be times when that needs to be changed, and we have made provisions for that.
Have your webmaster find and copy the dirstyle.css file in the app folder of the plugin files. That copy may be edited to suit and placed in the wp-content/directoryimages/css folder. It will then be used instead of the original file.
Can I fix an index that's too wide for my narrow page?
The alphabetical index that is placed on your directory page has a "button" that corresponds to the first letter or number of every entry on the page. If there are too many buttons and you need to 'split' them into two lines, add this parameter: indexwidth=20
The number, in this case 20, is the maximum number of buttons that will be placed in the first line. If there are more than that, the line of buttons will be split into two lines of about the same length. Change the 20 to a number that's appropriate for your page.
How can I get my system to upgrade automatically?
In the RYO Member Directory Dashboard there's a link that will automatically upgrade the software, similar to upgrading WordPress automatically. If this doesn't work, it may be that your hosting company blocks this activity. But more likely, it's a matter of file permissions for directories and files in the wp-content folder. Some systems require permissions set at 0755, others at 0775 (which allows group access). You may have to ask your hosting company how this needs to be set. Generally, if one is "right," the other is "wrong." so you need the correct setting. And here's a hint: Most hosting companies will require 0755.
