Hey Ann,

For this you would need to use the ‘visited’ selector in the CSS. For example, if you wanted to mark read topic titles with a different colour, you would do:

#spMainContainer a.spRowName:visited,
#spMainContainer .spRowName:visited {
    color: red;
}

Note the :visited after the class. This can be applied to pretty much anything that’s a link of sorts. There are a couple of catches here so for full details take a look at the w3schools Definition.

I don’t want to flog a dead horse because I’m pretty sure you are running a child theme, but if not take a look here to get started as you’ll need one for such a change.

Hope that helps!

That’s great – I am going to have to do a lot of reading as I know nothing about Simplepress / WordPress. I’m afraid my tech life is years back but I’m certain I’ll sort it out.

Many thanks for your help!

I may be back with more inane questions at some point.

No problem, was I wrong in assuming you had a child theme in place? It’s not easy to remember who has.

Any questions be sure to ask, we’ll be here.

Yes, completely wrong! lol We haven’t got that far! 

Thanks for your support 

Ah apologies.. Definitely worth doing. Follow the tutorial I posted above, and make sure to grab the child theme framework from the store (free). And once done it will mean that when you next update you wont loose any changes made.

Have fun!

OK, I’m making a little progress although I have to learn a lot of syntax!

I have downloaded the Child Theme Framework and have uploaded it as a theme to our site. 

I assume I have to activate it to enable me to edit it in situ or is that entirely the wrong approach?

Also, the part of the screen I want to change is the list of recent topics down the side. What name is used to refer to that in the code?

Sorry for all the questions. If there is another way I should approach this then let me know. We run a small charitable site on a shoestring so have zero funds to get experts in.

Really appreciate your help!

BY THE WAY, I did NOT rename the Child Theme Framework!

I’m really sorry but I don’t understand a couple of things there so let’s start at the top:

Yes you should activate the child theme framework before editing. As standard it doesn’t contain any changes so you should still see regular old Reboot. I don’t understand what ‘edit it in situ’ means though, what’s situ?

You would typically edit the child theme stylesheet in a code editor like Notepad or Notepad++ which is a good free place to start. Any editor will do as long as it’s not rich text. You can also use the SP theme editor (Forum > Themes > Theme Editor) although with Reboot you can only edit the stylesheet here, not templates. Should do you for now at least if nothing else.

I’m also not sure where this ‘recent topics down the side’ is.. Could you take a screenshot and upload here highlighting the part you’d like to change?

It’s no problem, we can guide you through the process of making a change in a child theme, it’s pretty straight forward.

Just read this and assume the reference is to the recent posts widget/template tag. If that is the case (and we will see from a screenshot) then the change will need to be in the WordPress theme CSS.

Wow,  this is a lot of support I’m getting!

My mission is to darken the text in this column (light blue is too light) and change the colour of it after the link has been clicked.

My reference to in situ (maybe doesn’t translate too well across the pond? Whoops – just realised you’re in Staines!) referred to using the theme editor although obviously I know realise I can use OS X text editor.

Can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help. Our site is free and we make nothing …. yet our lovely members grumble at the slightest glitch. Sometimes feel like offering to refund all the fees they’ve paid but maybe the sarcasm would be lost! haha

Here’s a screenshot :

Isn’t it a shame that sarcasm is lost on so many! It’s definitely my favourite type of humour.

This is a quick fix and doesn’t involve using the Reboot child theme at all. You don’t have to run it, but it might be worth hanging on to in case you want to make any forum changes in the future.

Open your WP themes style.css, either in the WP theme editor or in OSX editor whichever you prefer.

At the bottom of style.php you have the choice of adding any or all 3 of these rules:

#spRecentPostsTag .spLinkTag {
    color: blue;
}

#spRecentPostsTag .spLinkTag:hover {
    color: green;
}

#spRecentPostsTag .spLinkTag:visited {
    color: red;
}

#spRecentPostsTag .spLinkTag:visited:hover {
    color: yellow;
}

• The first is in it’s default state.
• The second is when the cursor hovers over.
• The third is after it’s been clicked.
• The fourth is when the cursor hovers over a visited link.

Of course you can change the colours to suit your theme using HTML hex colours.

Unfortunately, the forum links themselves underneath the topic link also use the same class, so if you or anyone uses the recent post list to jump to the forum instead of the topic, the forum name will show up as being recently clicked too. I’ve had a look at the function and can’t figure out any way of getting around that without removing the forum line completely – unless Andy or Steve know of a way.

That should do the trick!

Will give that a go – after a hectic weekend! Thank you!

please let us know how it goes…