i prefer NOT to use plugins for short alterations like this.
but i see what you’re saying.

honestly tho, i’ve got it working already, and that took WAY more time than i really have; so since what i came up with is working, i think it prudent to not start over.

i may have preferred your method tho, if i had it toward the start of this process.

thanks for the effort tho.

WOW!
well, it would seems as tho i figured it out!

after MORE searching, i came across https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/widget-areas

apparently i had to “register” a “sidebar” – which thru me, as i was wanting to modify in the footer. after looking that up, the term “sidebar” is used anywhere the theme allows the user to add widgets in. and since the Enfold footer allows for widgets, i had to “register_sidebar” and THEN modify a line in the template.
i also didn’t understand why i had to “register” the “widget area’s” at all, thinking that just by creating the custom widgets in WP admin > Appearance > Widgets, that should do it, but no. ya gotta create them there and ALSO register them in the child functions too.

so after reading that wordpress page (linked above), i started hunting around in the main Enfold theme files, trying to find something similar. since apparently, some things are named differently than in other themes, which is why my copy/pasting of examples i found elsewhere didn’t work.
i found it in… themes > enfold > includes > admin > register-widget-area.php

so i combined what that wordpress link offered with the footer widget registration and came up with this code that i put in my child functions.php…

add_action( 'widgets_init', 'MYWIDGETAREA' );
function MYWIDGETAREA() 
{
	register_sidebar( array(
		'name'			=> 'Respect Footer - Column ' . $i,
		'id'			=> 'espect_foot_widget_' . $i,
		'before_widget'	=> '<section id="%1$s" class="widget clearfix %2$s">',
		'after_widget'	=> '<span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section>',
		'before_title'	=> '<h3 class="widgettitle">',
		'after_title'	=> '</h3>'
	));
}

in the array, i only changed the “name” & “id”, leaving the rest so the structure matches the original theme.

then i went to my template-custom.php and found this line…

if( ! ( function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) && dynamic_sidebar( 'Footer - Column ' . $i ) ) )

…and replaced it with…

if( ! ( function_exists( 'dynamic_sidebar' ) && dynamic_sidebar( 'Respect Footer - Column ' . $i ) ) )

AMAZING!!!

well hopefully all this may benefit someone else in a similar position some day.

well, after a LOT of more research, i felt i was getting closer, but it just wasn’t working. THEN i found an OLD post of yours here where you answered someone else needing a similar thing. that gave me 2 key pieces i was missing…
instead of $args['theme_location'] yours had $args['menu_id']
and instead of =='primary' yours had == 'avia-menu'
and viola! it works (pasted below).

so, instead of taking days & days & now a week, i would really appreciate a Function to swap which WP Widgets are used in the Footer of this custom template (example: “Footer – Column 1” with “Alt Footer – Column 1”) – there are 3 footer columns for each.

here’s the working Menu swap Function…

add_filter( 'wp_nav_menu_args', 'respect_menu_swap' );
function respect_menu_swap( $args = '' ) 
{
	if(is_page_template('template-respect.php') && $args['menu_id'] == 'avia-menu') 
	{
		$args['menu'] = '16';
	} 
	return $args;
}

@Ismael,

i see you (or someone) removed my combined template code.

that started with the “template-builder.php” and added the “header.php“, “footer.php“, & the latest also included “helper-main-menu.php“.
so in response to your message about needing to use “template-builder.php” – yes, that’s what i’m doing.

and that combined template php file in & of itself, works. i just haven’t figured out how/where to make my needed edits in it (yet).

i DID discover, as mentioned, that the template BODY tag adds the Class of “.page-template-template-custom” to each page using this template. YAY! so that covers everything inside the content area – i can affect via starting my custom css with that class.

the reason i need to find a way to do these remaining items is that they exist OUTSIDE of the content (Body) area.

SO, these needs still stand – my reply to your points about them are under each…
—

1) Logo – where in the code can i replace which image file the logo uses for this template?
i see your FUNCTIONS code to display a different logo, but that is page-specific. can you alter it to be page-template-specific?
i cannot simply use any ABL options for the logo because some pages will have the sidebar turned on & some off. the logo needs to sit above the content area. and the menu, above that.

SCRATCH THAT… after some research, i was able to replace your Functions “is_page” with “is_page_template; instead of a page number, i used the template php filename, and it works!!!
so THIS #1 IS DONE.

—
2) Menu – where in the code can i specify which WP Menu this template should use?
i would prefer not to have to rely on plugins for this. is there not a way to either alter the template code or use a Function to specify which menu should show for this template?

FUNCTION OPTION… i did some hunting for a way to do this via a function instead of a plugin (both those plugins you gave were out of date for current WP), and i found the below pasted functions code (below all my text) – BUT, it’s not working.
can you modify it to work appropriately?

—
3) Background Image – where in the code can i edit to override which image file the HTML background uses?
how can i use a Color Section “OUTSIDE” of the content area? i need to change the whole page/screen HTML background image. would it work if i add a custom class to the html tag in the template, then make my background image css for that (not sure if that would override what’s there – plus i don’t know how to add a class around the php code that’s there)?

SCRATCH THAT… after experimenting, i was able to add a custom Class to the html tag in the template. then using “!important”, i can override the background image.
so THIS #3 IS DONE.

—
4) Footer Widgets – where in the code can i change to specify which custom WP Widgets is used instead of the default?
i would prefer not to have to rely on plugins for this. is there not a way to either alter the template code or use a Function to specify which widgets should show for this template?

EDIT… that plugin (the only one of the two that’s up to date) looks to be way overkill. i searched for a similar Function to simply swap “Footer – Column 1” with “Alt Footer – Column 1” but could not find anything. i have 3 footer widget columns that i need to change which widget is used based on page template.
is that something you can do?

—
thanks again.
i’m guessing we live on opposite sides of the world, given when we reply here.
i REALLY appreciate your time & effort. i didn’t think it would be a big deal (“out of the scope of support”), that you could just show me where in the template php that will do these 4 things. so if you think it would require too much php alterations, then i will look into the plugins you gave.

—
#2’s Function code that doesn’t work…

add_filter( 'wp_nav_menu_args', 'bb_wp_nav_menu_args' );
function bb_wp_nav_menu_args( $args ) 
{
	if( $args['theme_location'] == 'primary' && is_page_template('template-custom2.php') ) 
	{ 
		$args['menu'] = '16';
	}
	return $args;
}

i’ve been thinking a lot about this and am wondering if it would just be better to use the combined template-builder.php & header.php & footer.php (that i combined & posted above), and then just change all the CSS for the pages using that custom template.

which would be better? trying to manipulate all this PHP code feels extremely complex & time consuming.

so is there a way in my WP > Appearance > Custom CSS section (where i have a lot of custom css for the main site),
is there a way here (or perhaps in the “functions” area to say something like…
IF page uses template-custom.php,
THEN use this block of CSS ??

or, what if i put a particular word in the html or body Class,
so then any CSS i write in the Appearance > Custom CSS area, i could just start with that particular class, & that would render instead of any CSS for the main site?
hmmm, maybe that would work better?

needing some expert thoughts here please, asap.

hi Ismael,

so, when i copy that “page.php” over, the page looks like a normal page using the default template.

so i commented out the “header” & “footer” commands. when i preview that, it‘s just blank. it’s not even showing content from the test page.

how do i get it to utilize page/post contect?

also, if i remove the header to build my own, how can i utilize a separate Menu from the Appearance > Menus section?

additionally, i don’t know where to add the usual html/css code in or around the php code. where do i add the html, head, & body sections?
won’t i need those to change the background image, content box size, etc etc?

here’s that “page.php” code for reference…

// https://pastebin.com/PrzbXrUK

sorry, i can’t wait any longer. i have to ditch the lightbox method & take this site live this weekend.

BUT I STILL WOULD LIKE HELP WITH THIS – IT IS STILL UNRESOLVED.

i setup a test page so you can see a demo of this issue @ https://roxologymusic.com/test

would appreciate some thoughtful wisdom if anyone has any on this issue.
thanks!

Thanks Rikard!

i sure hope 1) ya’ll would implement it as a choice, & 2) ya’ll could figure out a way (workaround) to use it in the meantime.

it, along with a few others but mainly hCaptcha looks to be an excellent alternative to Google’s reCaptcha.

please take a look at their website, and their WordPress Plugin & Github info. and DuckDuckGo search reviews if you want. i didn’t find any negatives.

THANKS SO MUCH for at least the consideration.

and, if nobody can think of a workaround, i guess i have no choice but to use reCaptcha (since bots seem to easily get past the mathmatical option).

peace:jason

well, for lack of a better option, i used the page-specific ID’s in my custom CSS to hide what i’ve injected on every page from the homepage…

body.page-id-3662 .myclassname {
	display: none;
}

if this isn’t an appropriate way to do all this, please let me know. otherwise, it seems to be working well.

thanks for your assistance Ismael.
i’ve spent way too much time on this but i THINK i’ve figured it out; or at least figured out a workaround…

perhaps the upgraded jquery/theme/wp/etc is now causing the functions script to fire too soon. i’ve found by adding a short Timeout, it now works as it was :-)

now, i’m no coder; i just hobble these things together as best i can from what i can find, so PLEASE check me on this – have i added the “setTimeout” function into what i had correctly/optimally? i don’t want it to cause any other issues.

here’s the orig script i found:
setTimeout(function(){$('#avia-builder-button').click()}, 100);

i took that & put it inside the same PHP function as above (#1201727 on April 8, 2020),
i’m unclear on whether i should have kept it as “.click()” or like i was using with the “.trigger(‘click’)” – BOTH seems to work as far as i can tell.

	<script>
	(function($){
		$(window).load(function() {
			//$("#avia-builder-button").trigger('click');
			setTimeout(function(){ 
				$('#avia-builder-button').trigger('click')}, 100);
		});
	})(jQuery);
	</script>

PS: i discovered a “Disable jQuery Migrate” option in the theme > performance settings. is that the same thing as the “Enable jQuery Migrate Helper” plugin? i have de-activate & un-installed the plugin version but have left yours enabled.

thanks Victoria,
i’ll try that, but isn’t that just a bandaid & not a real fix?
your thoughts on that please.

this is now at the top of the admin pages…

`jQuery Migrate Helper

Right now, you are using a plugin to support some old code in this website’s jQuery JavaScript library. That code is deprecated, meaning it is basically obsolete and is losing the support of your themes and plugins and WordPress itself.
This plugin, called Enable jQuery Migrate Helper, is not a fix. It is a temporary solution to give your plugin and theme authors time to update.

If you get warnings, please check for updated versions of the plugin or theme that generated the warning. There will very likely be one you can install. When you have updated your plugins and themes, and there are no more warnings, please deactivate Enable jQuery Migrate Helper.

You are currently using a legacy version of jQuery. It has no support and doesn’t receive security updates. Please upgrade as soon as possible. `

…and even with the setting to show it turned off :-(

what version of jquery was enfold using before the big upgrade that caused the need for this plugin? is there a way i can go back to that one? the plugin only allows 1.12.4.

i’ve actually had a few instances lately where it would be great to have the ability to wrap blocks of content. i know i can put an image in a text block and align it right or left to have the text next to it wrap around. but what if i want to have a block of content (like say and image AND some text) to have a border & have text content it’s next to wrap around it. like a pullquote or something other than just an image. so consider this a wishlist item :-)
thanks.