Getting Started

The screens in the AudioTheme Framework dashboard are customized versions of the default page and post screens in WordPress. Pages and posts function similarly in WordPress, so understanding how they work is important for using AudioTheme. Visit the WordPress Codex to brush up on the default elements of a post. Customizing the default screens allows us to add extra functionality so that you can manage the various aspects of your website that are unique to musicians.

Content Types

The default content types in the AudioTheme Framework consist of Gigs (and Venues), Discography (Records & Tracks), and Videos. Each group is broken out into its own menu in the WordPress dashboard so you can easily view, add, or edit what you’re looking for.

If you have particular questions about what any screen in WordPress does, be sure to check out the easy-to-miss Help tab in the upper right corner of every screen.

Gotchas

Discography

It’s important to understand the relationship between Records and Tracks in AudioTheme. Records are collections of tracks or even just one track, so they represent albums or singles and are typically the object you will link to when promoting your music. Don’t think of them as only being albums. As such, you can’t create tracks without linking them to a record.

For instance, if you want to promote a new digital single called “My Fabulous Song”, you would create a record called “My Fabulous Song” and also a track called “My Fabulous Song.”

Each track in a record will also have its own permalink, so you can also promote the track if your single does happen to belong to an album that has already been released. The design for record pages will typically be more elaborate, allowing for artwork and purchase links to multiple sites, however, you’re free to use the existing functionality in whatever way works best for you.

Venue Timezones

Any time you add a new venue in AudioTheme, you will be asked to select the venue’s time zone. Time zones are represented by locations within them, which can be a confusing concept, so we’ve tried to make it as simple as possible by allowing you to search for the city of the venue and automatically returning the time zone for you. Doing this relies on an outside service, which may go down from time to time or be a little slow while under demand, so you may have to get your hands dirty every now and then and find the appropriate time zone in a list.

Time zones are important so time calculations can be performed automatically and fans in other regions can subscribe to your gigs, especially for shows that span multiple states or even countries while on a tour.