Creating Custom 'Snow Fall” Designs in WordPress

Creating Stunning "Snow Fall" Style Articles in WordPress with Advanced Custom Fields

This tutorial demonstrates how to build captivating, custom "Snow Fall"-style articles in WordPress, mirroring the design of the New York Times' iconic John Branch piece. We'll leverage the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin and its Flexible Content Fields add-on to achieve this.

Key Concepts:

• This method uses ACF's Flexible Content Fields to create dynamic layouts. This allows for various content blocks (text, hero images, pull quotes) in any order and quantity.
• A custom page template (snowfall.php) is essential to render this dynamic content.
• ACF provides functions to loop through and display the content of each block.

Inspiration:

The New York Times' "Snow Fall" article, along with similar pieces from The Chicago Tribune and The Verge, demonstrated the power of breaking from standard layouts to create immersive, visually engaging long-form content. This tutorial lets you replicate this approach in WordPress.

Standard WordPress Article Structure vs. "Snow Fall":

Typical WordPress articles follow a predictable structure: featured image, headline, body text, sidebars, comments, etc. "Snow Fall" articles prioritize visual storytelling with full-screen images, custom text layouts, and more.

Building Your "Snow Fall" Article:

We'll create three content block types: standard text (WYSIWYG), hero images (with optional text overlay), and pull quotes.

1. Advanced Custom Fields Setup:

Install and activate the free ACF plugin and the paid Flexible Content Fields add-on. Create a new field group named "Snow Fall Template Fields." Add a "Flexible Content" field called "Content Block."

Within "Content Block," add three layouts:

• Standard Text: Contains a WYSIWYG sub-field.
• Hero Image: Contains an image sub-field and a text overlay sub-field.
• Pull Quote: Contains a quote sub-field and an author sub-field.

2. Custom Template Page (snowfall.php):

Create a new template file named snowfall.php in your theme's directory:

<?php
/*
Template Name: Snow Fall Template
*/

get_header();

if ( have_rows('content_block') ) {
    while ( have_rows('content_block') ) : the_row();
        printf('<div class="%s">', get_row_layout());
        switch (get_row_layout()) {
            case 'standard_text':
                if (get_sub_field('wysiwyg')) {
                    echo get_sub_field('wysiwyg');
                }
                break;
            case 'hero_image':
                if (get_sub_field('image')) {
                    $image = get_sub_field('image');
                    echo wp_get_attachment_image($image['ID'], 'full'); // Use full-size image
                }
                if (get_sub_field('text_overlay')) {
                    echo '<h3>' . get_sub_field('text_overlay') . '</h3>';
                }
                break;
            case 'pull_quote':
                if (get_sub_field('quote')) {
                    echo '<p>' . get_sub_field('quote') . '</p>';
                }
                if (get_sub_field('author')) {
                    echo '<p>' . get_sub_field('author') . '</p>';
                }
                break;
        }
        echo '</div>';
    endwhile;
}

get_footer();
?>

3. Associating ACF Fields with the Template:

In the ACF field group settings, under "Location," select "Page Template" equals "Snow Fall Template." Hide unnecessary sections in the Options tab.

4. Creating and Using the Page:

Create a new page and select the "Snow Fall Template." You'll now see the ACF interface to add and arrange your content blocks.

5. Styling:

Add CSS to style the output to match your desired "Snow Fall" aesthetic.

This detailed guide provides a robust foundation for creating visually stunning, dynamic articles in WordPress. Remember to consult the ACF documentation for further customization options.

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