Bookmark This Site, You’re Gonna Need It

If you’re familiar with Joomla!, then you’re familiar with Module Positions. Before you freak out over these Hooks; take a deep breath, look at the graphics below, then watch this video.

With the use of the WordPress Plugin, Thesis OpenHook, you can take control of Thesis Hooks without stressing!

Want a jump on becoming a true Thesis Ninja? Check out our brand new Thesis Users Guide!

Many thanks to Roberto Gerola for permission to use the images.

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  • http://ackadia.com Paul

    What a really useful guide to hooks. I was going to do it all the ‘old fashioned way’ purely out of habit after buying Thesis the other day. Then I discovered the open hook plug-in and onto this page. Added you to Stumbleupon too.

    ~ Paul

  • Escalatoraccident

    Great Help for Thesis framework hook positions.

    Thanks! I just used it to fix something that has been bugging me on my new Thesis WordPress site.

    Thanks agian.

  • http://www.brainwavesymphony.com Lewi

    Thank you Rick for your awesome plugin and expanding my web design world!

  • http://www.usingwp.com Frank Thomas

    Hey mate, thanks for the graphics. Is there any way to download them so I can print them out? I can only view them in the lightbox window on your site.

    Thanks!

    Frank

  • http://kwamebusia.com Kwame

    Thanks for that, you really made understanding hooks that much easier. I’m tingling with the possibilities now… Cheers!

  • http://www.AskTheWealthSquad.com/blog/ Scott Lovingood

    That rocks. I love the visual. Now to just get them printed out and posted next to my computer :)

    I love being able to use hooks with Thesis. It lets you do some really cool things site wide and play with things.

    Best set up I have ever found for a reasonably non techie person.

  • sharon

    I’m having trouble with understanding hooks. (I don’t see any yellow bars on my screen) so I checked in with Thesis support,
    godhammer, at thesis support said, “OpenHook is a third-party plugin used by some to make on-screen (in WordPress) editing of custom_functions.php and custom.css more accessible. It also has a redundant php area that simplifies hooks, where “simplifies” is an opinion held by many, I do not personally feel it to be of great value, but I’ll note some users feel strongly otherwise.

    As a plugin, OpenHook is not something “Thesis” (DIY Themes) can guarantee will work or upgrade alongside Thesis, and there have been a few recent issues reported with Openhook, though there are workarounds.”
    So now I’m really confused about hooks, what are they? Is it just a way to describe the coding that is added to custom_php, and custom_css files? I’m not a programmer, just wanted to be able to customize a blog (that’s why I paid for Thesis) but perhaps it is much more complicated than I thought. I know html and mid- css, but I never messed with php.

    • http://gregrickaby.com gregrickaby

      A hook is a module position. Actually, a hook is nothing more than a simple PHP Function. It's just code that is left “open”, and placed in specific places in HTML for you to put “stuff” in.

      The Open-Hook plug-in was designed to make it easy for you to drop code into these PHP Functions, AKA “Hooks”.

  • http://www.ostheimer.at/ Andreas Ostheimer

    Just the images I needed right now :-) Thanks

  • SuGih

    I just added the Thesis OpenHook Plugin and having this visual guide definitely helps a lot. Thanks

  • http://benandjacq.tumblr.com Ben (of BenandJacq)

    Thanks for the photos. Very helpful. I wonder if you've done one for full-width framework. It includes hooks like “thesis_hook_before_content_area” that are full-width of the browser page. Thanks for your time.

    • http://gregrickaby.com gregrickaby

      Ben, fortunately, the hooks are the same no matter which framework you choose.

  • http://clearlyenlight.com/ Shawn

    Thanks for the program, it made my deciding factor to using Thesis.

  • Ryan

    I'm curious how you got the ad banner up in the top right corner of this page. Which hook is that tied to?

    • http://gregrickaby.com gregrickaby

      I created a new div and floated it “right” inside of thesis_hook_header.

      <div id=”banner”>
      <!– BANNER CODE HERE –>
      </div>

      Then the custom .CSS would look like:

      #banner {
      float: right;
      }

  • ajsilvers

    Hi, I am trying to control the order of posts in my thesis powered site. I am currently having to fiddle the dates of posts (the site delivers training videos and i need them in a specific order).

    I found http://postmashfiltered.wordpress.com/ and installed the plugin. The admin area allows the movement of posts as per the plugin instructions but thesis does not execute the new order :(

    The plugin in suggests one modify the loop in the template's index.php but of course this does not exist in Thesis.

    Is there a hook I can use to modify the following?

    To make use of this chosen order you will need to modify your template code:
    Open wp-content/themes/your-theme-name/index.php and find the beginning of ‘the loop’. Which will start:
    if(have_posts())
    Then add the following code directly before this:
    <?php
    $wp_query->set(‘orderby’, ‘menu_order’);
    $wp_query->set(‘order’, ‘ASC’);
    $wp_query->get_posts();
    ?>

    Cheers

    AJ

    • http://gregrickaby.com gregrickaby

      If you wanted to manipulate the order of posts; you would need to create a sub-loop, and perhaps a custom homepage. Since it's frowned upon to change Thesis core files, the loop is not in “index.php” per say, but can be found inside /thesis_16/lib/html/

      Still, I wouldn't play around in there unless you absolutely know what you're doing.

  • ScottyWalker

    Greg, I use this site a lot and so lots of tks /r Scotty

  • bokauffmann

    Thank you very much. I'm new to wordpress, but I'm glad my designer put in Thesis Hooks….. this article and the pictures of all the positions is excellent.

  • bokauffmann

    Thank you very much. I'm fairly new to WordPress, but Im happy that my designer Paul McEwan, added Hooks as a plugin. This post with all the positions explained is VERY helpful.

  • lisaangelettie

    Oh my gosh! Where you have been for the past few months? Love the graphics. So useful.

    • http://gregrickaby.com gregrickaby

      We've been right here since April last year :) Glad they are helpful!

  • http://kennykaramo.com/ The sad One:(

    I was follow one of the tutorials and hit the Big Ass save Button and got this msg: (Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING in /home/content/k/e/n/kennywade/html/wp-content/themes/thesis_16/custom/custom_functions.php on line 65) NOW I can't log into my blog….All I get is that damn msg…I'm about to jump! Please somebody help me, everything was going so well.

  • http://thejetsblog.com/ Bassett

    THANK YOU for this! I am not a coder, nor do I want to be, but I appreciate the brilliance of thesis and consider this plugin a BIG HELP to my process of actually implementing it! Three cheers!!

  • http://QuestioningSuccess.com/ C. Spencer Reynolds

    I'm curious, is there a way to put an image file RIGHT IN FRONT of the title text? I would like the text of the file to be there but I have a little icon just before the blog title that I would like to put in and wonder what hook could do that. I see I can replace the whole default header and put the code in there, which may work just fine, but I wanted to see if anyone knew how to do that…

  • cumhurdursun

    Hello there. Thank you very much for all informations here. Bravo. I would like to ask a question though. As I am a real newbie to wordpress and codes and the openhook plugin, would you please tell me where I have to put my google adsense search code in openhook plugin(which box I mean)?
    Thank you for your support.
    All the best.
    CD

  • worldviewpr

    Does the Multimedia box ALWAYS have to appear in the position shown?

    I am using text widgets now to place ads at top of sidebars 1 and 2.

    What I'd like is to have the multimedia box running the 6×125 ads just below the two 250×250 THEN the sidebars.

    Is this possible? What hooks would I use?

    CanI place the Multimedia box with six ads custom code BELOW sidebars?

  • http://www.TeenieCakes.com Cris

    Wow! This is awesome…and just what I needed.

    Is there a way to backup all the changes made on the OpenHook page?

  • 1gn1t0r

    Thanks a lot

  • http://chetinadrecipes.com Dr Senthil Kumar S

    I have no words to appreciate the enormous efforts put in by the author.
    It is simply superb and it takes people like me many steps forward. Thanks.

  • http://www.welcon.de Massagesessel online kaufen

    Thanks… I bookmarked this site now!

  • http://gethuggiescoupons.com/ Christine

    Thanks , this is a great help, pls keep up the good work !

  • http://www.actionbully.com Theo Steward

    It is soooooo easy to do once you start learning your way around thesis it is almost laughable. I mean, it slashes the learning curve by multiple factors and allows one to to almost pretend one is configuring one's site like a real coder.

    The big advantage is you can insert all kinds of third party codes where they become useful, like rotating ad codes and the likes. In short: I like it. A lot.

  • Yumi

    it is very helpful.. tnx

  • tangologix

    nice one, i found it operation on this blog . nice one. thanks for posting.

  • dirkschmid

    Very helpfull!!!

  • Farscape428

    Id like to place ads before and after posts but NOT on the pages of my site. where on openhook can I put the adsense code?
    Joe

    • http://www.facebook.com/OnlineDigitalJunkieDOTcom Keith Bishop

      this is really old but…. use is_post in an if statement.

      if(is_post()) { 
      show some ads
      } 

      • http://eeasywaystoloseweight.com/ Angelo Rinaldi

        Hi Keith – Thaks for helping! I know pretty much zero about this stuff (which is why this plugin is such a godsend!). Just to make sure I understand you correctly, I would put:

        if(is_post()) { copy/paste AdSense code here}

        or do I actually put what you wrote?

        I know this is probably one of those dumb as ….. questions, but all of this stuff is voodoo- (I am learning!)

  • Farscape428

    In openhooks why is there not a separate box for just adding to pages. I only want to put ads on posts but not pages. When I add adsense code to “before post” boxes it also sticks ads on the pages which I don't want. How can I stop this from happening?

    • Harry Potpot

      Hope there’s an option to which page/s it will appear and not just automatically shows in all pages.

  • Farscape428

    In openhooks why is there not a separate box for just adding to pages. I only want to put ads on posts but not pages. When I add adsense code to “before post” boxes it also sticks ads on the pages which I don't want. How can I stop this from happening?

  • Penny Lane Mini

    is there a way in thesis to remove the sidebar on category pages without using css! I really wanted to use a hook but there are no hooks i can find to use to edit the inside of the content_box and sidebars etc for a category page.. this is vital for galleries etc?!

  • http://www.wppluginadvice.com jezabel

    Very helpful, thanks

  • Joe

    I am quite proficient with Joomla and am also becoming more proficient with WordPress. I like the Thesis framework but was struggling with customization and understanding “hooks”. When I watched the video and when the analogy was used to explain that “hooks” are actually “position blocks” on the page, similar to “modules” in Joomla, it all became clear. Thankyou, thankyou. If you haven't watched the video, do so, as it is very helpful. I have downloaded the Thesis Open Hook plugin and have started to play with it. What a great tool for non-coders. Thanks much.

  • http://www.wasabihound.com Heijoshin

    Thanks. This is really helpful – as I lean towards visual learning this helped answer a few questions I had. Useful links too.

  • jasonhobbs

    Very helpful, thanks!

  • Paul

    Thanks for this great resource.
    Are there any hooks that control the spaces to the left and right of the website content area?
    thanks

    • D02

      That is controlled by CSS in your custom CSS file.

  • http://burlyape.com Roomy

    Thanks buddy, explained the hooks perfectly.

  • Tragena

    Does anyone know if there are updated versions of these graphics for later versions of thesis? Or are they necessary? I was wondering if there are more hooks now.

    This is all new to me, but I love the new need for education in php.

  • http://www.johndavidgrow.com John

    Bookmarked!

  • http://www.lapeerwebsitedesign.com Lapeer MI Website Marketing

    These are some great visual tools that can help anyone trying to customize wordpress get a good handle on how to do it and where they need to do it. I've used hooks extensively on a previous WordPress site and it was a godsend. Thanks for this great resource.

    Patrick

  • http://mygreenbucks.net/ Gary

    this is great! i finally understood what hooks are for:D Can you also please help me in putting an html sitemap in thesis theme using the thesis openhooks plugin and what code do i need to run html sitemap and which hooks/position to use:-)

    Thank very much!

  • texwildlifeguy

    I thank you for the info –great resource!!!!.

    Question: If there are 2 items in side bar 1 –example -item 1 socialmedia and UNDER that a signup form.

    Is there a hook for and “inbetween” {I guess the term would be elements} in a sidebar?
    Thanks
    Gregg

  • http://www.moderne-haartransplantation.com Haartransplantation Frauen

    Thank you and its very helpful!

  • http://pageantinterviewquestions.org/ Jean

    this is like translating greek into english for me – thanks! i don't want to go messing inside the thesis files – the plugin just makes life so much simpler & easier – you rock!

  • macmaster

    Does anyone know how Thesis Openhook works behind the scenes? Does it save the HTML/PHP code in the database? Because this would significantly increase calls to the database every time a page is requested — thereby increase pageload times.

    If every change goes to the DB, Thesis + Openhook would end up being very similar to the Atahualpa theme — which is great but slower than Thesis. At this point, I like Thesis alone better, because my changes are loaded directly from custom_function.php which ends up being faster. Please let me know what you guys think of these issues. Thanks!

  • http://twitter.com/tlmarketing_net Tom

    I use WP thesis at the moment (I love the theme!) but the code is so much different from normal WordPress code that it would be impossible to use the theme properly without Thesis Openhooks.

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