Baton WordPress theme: Baton Landing Page Layout & Note Sidebars

With the release of our new feature-packed theme, Baton Pro, there are a few select features we’d like to talk about. Today we proudly introduce to you the Baton Landing Page Layout and Note Sidebars.

Baton Landing Page

The Baton Landing Page is a content layout for our Conductor Plugin that is only available when using the Baton Pro theme and Conductor together. The main purpose of the Baton Landing Page is to replicate the Front Page layout on any page. Any page would be able to have full width widget, like the Baton Hero and Baton Features widgets. This layout is only available if you have Baton Pro and Conductor active at the same time.

How to Create a Homepage Layout on Any Page in Your WordPress Website

Adding the Baton Landing Page Layout to a page works the same way as adding any other Conductor layout to a page.

1. From the front-end of your website (while logged in) navigate to the page you would like to add the Baton Landing Page Layout to.
2. Once you have navigated to the page you would like to customize click on the Customize button in the admin bar at the top of the page.
3. In the left panel of the Customizer select Conductor Layouts.
4. Since the page you would like to conduct is already displayed in the Customizer you can just click on the Conduct this Content Type button, and the page will be conducted.
   
5. Once the Conductor layouts load select Baton Landing Page.
6. Click on the Save & Publish button in the top-right corner of the left sidebar in the Customizer.

Note Sidebars

Note Sidebars are a feature of our plugin Note. The main functionality of Note Sidebars is to add widget areas above and/or below any page. Imagine having a normal WordPress page that starts with a Baton Hero widget, with Note Sidebars this idea can become a reality.

Creating a Note Sidebar

Creating a Note Sidebar is as simple as creating a Baton Landing Page Layout.

1. From the front-end of your website (while logged in) navigate to the page you would like to add a Note Sidebar(s) to.
2. Once you have navigated to the page you would like to customize click on the Customize button in the admin bar at the top of the page.
3. On the preview portion of the Customizer (the right-hand side) if you move your mouse cursor in between the end of the Header and the beginning of the content or between the end of the content and the beginning of the Footer you will see a horizontal line appear. Click on the horizontal line that appears.
4. A popup should appear prompting you about the widget area you are about to create using a “Note Widget Area” (also known as a Note Sidebar). Click on the button labeled Add Note Widget Area.
5. Click the button labeled Save & Publish in the top-right corner of the left sidebar in the Customizer.

Adding Widgets

Adding widgets to the Baton Landing Page Layout and Note Sidebars follows the same process.

1. From the front-end of your website (while logged in) navigate to the page you would like to customize.
2. Once you have navigated to the page you would like to customize click on the Customize button in the admin bar at the top of the page.
3. In the left sidebar of the Customizer click on Widgets.
4. Now there should be some new widget area(s) (depending on which layouts were added). A Baton Landing Page Layout would be labeled as “(Page Name) – Page – Content”, a Note Sidebar that comes before the page content would be labeled as “(Page Name) – Baton Content Wrapper Before”, and a Note Sidebar that comes after the page content would be labeled as “(Page Name) – Baton Content Wrapper After”. Select which widget area you would like to add widget(s) to.
5. From here adding a widget to would be the same as adding a widget to a regular sidebar. After you have added all of your widgets be sure to click the Save & Publish button in the top-right corner of the left sidebar in the Customizer.

Note Sidebar Shortcut Menu

Note Sidebars have a shortcut menu that make creating certain widgets easier and more efficient. Below is a screenshot of what a Note Sidebar Shortcut Menu looks like and a list explaining what each option does.

• “W” – The “W” is used for adding any widget. When you click on the “W” the Note Sidebar widget area will open in the left sidebar of the Customizer along with the list of widgets.
• “N” – The “N” is used for adding Note widgets. When you click on the “N” the Note Sidebar widget area will open in the left sidebar of the Customizer, and it will automatically add a default Note widget to the widget area.
• “C” – The “C” is used for adding Conductor widgets. When you click on the “C” the Note Sidebar widget area will open in the left sidebar of the Customizer, and it will automatically add a default Conductor widget to the widget area. This option only appears if Conductor is installed and activated.
• “X” – The “X” is used for removing the Note Sidebar. When you click the “X” a prompt will appear asking if you want to remove the widget area. Click on the button labeled Remove Note Widget Area to remove the Note Sidebar.

How to Add Note Widget Displays Above or Below Your Page/Post Content

The Baton Landing Page Layout and the Note Sidebars can be used together to create an organized page full of widgets. Below is an example page that uses the Baton Landing Page Layout and Note Sidebars. The “Recent Posts” title section at the top of the page is a Baton Hero widget that is displayed in the “Before Content” Note Sidebar. The posts section in the middle is a Conductor widget that is displayed in the Conductor Page Content sidebar. The testimonial slider at the bottom of the page is a Conductor Slider widget that is displayed in the “After Content” Note Sidebar.

The Combination of Baton and Conductor

The Baton Landing Page Layout is a unique combination of one of our themes and one of our plugins. This layout can only be used if Baton and Conductor are used together. If you’re interested in Baton or Conductor (or even both) be sure to check our Baton theme page and our Conductor plugin website.