Template updated to v1.4 , per june 17, 2011



Supercharge your Atahualpa WordPress site.

This template is my first attempt in learning some about php, and about the inner working of
Wordpress and Atahualpa. I am proud to say I think I have come up with something very versatile.



This template:

1. Let’s you combine any static page info with any posts of your choice
2. Has fully working pagination (links for next/previous posts) anywhere on your site
   (this template finally solves the pagination problem)
3. Lets you choose to use the “read more” tag or not
4. Let’s you choose to show “no content found” or not
5. Has fully working support for excerpts
   (either manual excerpts or automatic cutoff after X words, as defined under Atahualpa -> Posts and Pages -> Configure Excerpts)
   
   
   And a bit more technically … for the “tech savvy”:
   
   
6. If you have more people writing on your blog, this template allows you to let other people edit the static page info, but disallow them to change the posts .. or vice versa.
7. This template stores the static page info in a global variable. You can use it elsewhere on your page. You can for example retrieve the page author, and have “page author related content” in your sidebar.

Background info
Normally in WordPress you can have
- 1 blogpage with latest post that can’t have any static content.
- all other static pages, that don’t have your posts.

This template lets you have both, and on any page you choose. By using this template, you can turn any page into a page that has the page's 'static page' on top and 'dynamic content with posts of your choice' underneath. You can do this for as many pages you want, and have each page show different static content and different dynamic posts.




How to use?

1. Upload "STBs_Supercharge_Atahualpa3xx_Template_v1_4.php” to your Atahualpa theme directory
2. Edit the page you want to use it on
3. Under “Page Atributes”, set template to: “STB's Supercharge v1.4 for Ata 3.xx”
4. Edit the static page content as you normally would
5. Define the posts you want to show up underneath your static content, as explained below.

Define which posts to show under the static page content

1. While still editing the page, go to the "Add Custom Field" box on the editscreen.
   (Since Wordpress 3.1, this box is hidden by default.
   To show it: click "Screen Options" on top of the screen, and select "Custom Fields")
2. Give the custom field the name: “custom_query”
3. Give it a value as explained below
4. Finally, after you have entered the name and value, don't forget to click the "Add Custom Field" button.

How to the show posts you want to show?
(or .. what to use for “value” in the “custom query field”)
WordPress has a powerfull built-in function called “query_posts()”.
It lets you fetch any list of posts, any type of posts, by any author, in any category, within any daterange etc. etc.

This template lets you fetch these post, by just defining the value for the function.
No further coding needed.

I will give some examples further on, but for a full list of options, see these two pages from the WordPress Codex:
- http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_...ce/query_posts
- http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_...ery#Parameters
This template lets you use all of the values explained on those pages.



Some examples for Custom Field:
Remember, you can use about any combination here, to show whichever posts in whichever order you want.
For full explanation, read the wordpress page (and if you don't understand it, please read it again, it is explained very well there.)
These are just a few examples to get you going:


1) If you want to show:
- All normal “posts”
- that are published (that means, not drafts, and not private posts)
- with the default “posts per page”
(as defined in wordpress admin panel -> Settings -> Reading)

You should use this value for “custom_query”:

post_status=publish

2) If you want to show:
- published posts
- in the category “news”
- and want to show 10 posts per page

You should use this value for “custom_query”:

post_status=publish&category_name=news&posts_per_page=10

3) If you want to show:
- published posts
- of the post type “podcast” (providing you have defined such custom post type)
- alphabetically ordered by the name of the “author”
- show 5 posts per page

You should use this value for “custom_query”:

post_status=publish&post_type=podcast&orderby=author&posts_per_page=5

Category names longer than 1 word:
WordPress has a problem to understand category names that are longer than 1 word.
In other words .... you can not use spaces in category names in this template.

For example:
If you want to show the posts in your category: “my bookreviews” .. then this will NOT(!) work:
category_name=my bookreviews&post_status=publish&posts_per_page=10

Instead you should:

• look up the category number and use that.
  (WordPress admin panel -> Posts -> Categories, then hoover your mouse over the category, and find the ID in your browsers statusbar. Do note that since Wordpress 3.1, the category ID shows up as "tag_ID=x" in the statusbar.)
  If category "my bookreviews" would be category number: 8
  you would use: "cat=8&post_status=publish&posts_per_page=10"
• Or you could rename your categoryname, for example rename “my bookreviews” to “my_bookreviews” or “mybookreviews” or just simply “bookreviews”

This is basically all you need to know to get going.
If you want to know more, read on in the next post…





Downloads:
For Atahualpa 3.5.3 and lower, use "STBs_Supercharge_Atahualpa35_Template_v1_4.zi p"
For Atahualpa 3.6, 3.6.1 and 3.6.4 use "STBs_Supercharge_Atahualpa364_Template_v1_4.z ip"
For Atahualpa 3.6.7 use "STBs_Supercharge_Atahualpa367_Template_v1_4.z ip"

Version history:
Update for Atahualpa 3.6 (january 7th, 2011)
Update for Atahualpa 3.6, version 1.1 (january 30, 2011)
Updated both 3.5 and 3.6 templates to version 1.2 (february 5, 2011)
Updated both 3.5 and 3.6 templates to version 1.3 + added another explanatory link above (march 14, 2011)
Updated templates to version 1.4 (fix for rare bug in right sidebar) + added template for Atahualpa 3.6.7 (june 17, 2011)

Thanks to Alexander for helping making the template compatible with Atahualpa 3.6.

*** Extra options



Read more tag
I set this template to use the “read more tag” by default. That means if you have a "read more tag" in your posts .. this template will (by default) respect that, and show the content of the post until the “read more tag” .. and then show a “read more link” (as defined in Atahualpa -> Posts & Pages -> Read more” tag).

For pages where you don’t want to use the “read more tag” you can add “usemoretag=0” to the value of your “custom query”.

For example:
If you want to show:
- published posts
- from the author Dave
- show 20 posts per page
- and show full posts (ignoring possible “read more tags” Dave put in his posts)

You should use this value for “custom query”:

post_status=publish&author_name=Dave&posts_per_page=20&usemoretag=0

Content not found
When WordPress /Atahualpa doesn’t find any posts, it will show you a “Sorry no content found message”. (Atahualpa -> Center Column -> Content if NOT FOUND )

This makes sense when you try to find posts and there aren’t any posts.
But with his template .. it may looks silly to show this “no content found” message, when you don’t have posts .. yet *do* have static page content. That is why by default, I made this template not show the “no content found message” when there aren’t any posts.

For pages where you want to show the “no content found” message anyway , just add
show_contentnotfound=1 to the value of the “custom query”.

For example .. if you want to show:
- all draft posts
- in the category “cardgames”
- and show the “no content found message” if none is found

You should use this value for “custom query”:

post_status=draft&category_name=cardgames&show_contentnotfound=1

A post is not a post
“Posts” is a bit of a confusing term in WordPress. In Wordpress almost anything is a post .. a post is a post, a page is a post, any custom posttype (like podcasts for example) is a post. A better term for “post” would be “content”.

Some years ago, WordPress started as a simple blogging engine/platform. And all you could do is make posts, and show posts. Today you can have posts, pages and custom post types etc. But internally … WordPress still calls everything a “post”.

This is not very important. As long as you understand that “posts” are not limited to just “posts”. With this template you can just as well show the content (of any selection) of custom post types or the content of (a selection of) other pages. You can filter them (by category, by author, by date etc.) and you can sort them in any possible way you would like, and you can choose for each page how many “posts per page” to show.



Pagination
This template has fully working pagination. Pagination means when you have for example 30 posts, and want to show 5 posts per page.. this would give you 6 pages of posts. Pagination means you will get the next/previous posts links .. so you can browse the pages.

Normally WordPress only does pagination on the homepage. When working on this template, while reading and doing research, I have seen many many many posts everywhere on the net of people pulling their hair out over the pagination problem. This template solves the pagination problem on any page you use it on. (Even when you use it as static homepage).

There is no need for workarounds like renaming the template to home.php or front-page.php. (Yet at the same time, this template still *does* work just the same if you would rename it to home.php or frontpage.php).



How to show page related content in the sidebars?
This templates stores the main content of the static page in a global variable: $STB_StaticPage_post

This means you can retrieve it, and use it in a sidebar. For example, you could have some info about the author, links to his last posts, a link to his bio-page, or his latest announcements in a sidebar.
(Do note that this is not even possible with the default WordPress / Atahualpa latest post page, because the “latest post page” of your blog does not have an author.)

To be precise .. for the left side-bar you don’t need to use $STB_StaticPage_post.
Atahualpa builds pages in this order:
- header
- left sidebar(s)
- center column
- right sidebar(s)
- footer

This means you can retrieve the static page/post info without problems in the left sidebar. But for the right sidebar(s) the $post object will be overwritten by the center column already. For that reason, this template stores the static page $post content in the global variable $STB_StaticPage_post.

You can do anything with that variable you like, see for example here:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Database_...able:_wp_users
http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_...e/get_userdata
I might post some example what you can do with later on.



Do some special stuff if on the frontpage?
If you want to check whether you are on the frontpage of your blog, normally you would use the is_front_page() function in wordpress. Only that function doesnt work since the 2nd loop of posts, overwrites the status of the static page's 1st loop.

As explained right above, the template stores the static page info in $STB_StaticPage_post.
If you need to use a conditional to check whether you are on the frontpage or not, you can use that variable:

PHP Code:

if ($STB_StaticPage_post->ID == get_option('page_on_front')) {do something} 


Just for convenience, and for shorter coding .. with version 1.2 I added this as a new variable to the template: $STB_is_front_page

You can use that to check if you are on the frontpage or not.
It works just the same as is_front_page(), except it is a variable, not a function.

Example:
do something, but only if this is the frontpage:

PHP Code:

if (isset($STB_is_front_page)) {do something} 


Prefixing:
Always properly prefix your code. This template uses proper prefixing.









.

Thank you so much, you make my day!!!
would be nice to embed such a feature in a next Atahualpa update. would also be nice to have the possibility of having 2 featured posts at the first place in the same row, and the others following.

Nice and easy template. Works great !

Now....how would I get two columns on the main page, with each column only specific categories. As in column 1 contains only posts in category 'news', and column 2 contains only posts in category 'sports' ?

Thanks...Rick...

...and another question: there doesn't seem to be a 'read more' link. There are the elipses (sp) which look like this [...] , but there is no link there.

I tried adding this to the query
&usemoretag=1
but that didn't help.

Ideas?

Thanks..Rick...

Originally Posted by Tamara-IT

Thank you so much, you make my day!!!
would be nice to embed such a feature in a next Atahualpa update. would also be nice to have the possibility of having 2 featured posts at the first place in the same row, and the others following.

Ha .. thanks for your kind words Tamara. Very nice to hear

If Flynn wanted he could quiet easily embed this in a next update for Atahualpa.
All code is freely shared under GPL.

If you want to add extra styling, you would have to style this like you normally would in Wordpress/Atahualpa.
This template completely transparantly replaces the default template for Atahualpa.
For custom layouts, you'd need to change "the loop" with your own php.
You can find more info about it in other threads.

About your wish for 2 featured posts on top. This depends on how you use "featured posts".
I have never used "featured posts" so far, but just did a quick research and it looks like it it is just an extra loop that shows posts that you have given a category named something like: "featured" on top of your page above other posts, and gives them bigger/more prominent styling.

The template now uses two loops (See wordpress Codex: the loop):
- 1 for the static page content
- and 1 for the posts as you define them in the custom query.

If you want 2 featured posts on top, you would need 3 loops:
- 1 for the static page content (already in the template)
- 1 new loop for the two posts in the category 'featured'.
- 1 for the posts of your custom query (already in the template).

Basically you would need to duplicate the code for the custom query loop in the template, and make it show 2 posts in the category "featured". Then next you would have to style your featued posts to your liking with some custom CSS.

You need some knowledge of wordpress and php/css.
But you or others should be able to do it without too much effort.
My template fully allows for editing while still using all Atahualpa settings.

Originally Posted by rickheck

Nice and easy template. Works great !

Now....how would I get two columns on the main page, with each column only specific categories. As in column 1 contains only posts in category 'news', and column 2 contains only posts in category 'sports' ?

Thanks...Rick...

Ha .. also thanks for your kind words. Glad to hear it worked great for you rickcheck.

About your question about making 2 columns with different categories.

The template now uses two loops (See wordpress Codex: the loop):
- 1 for the static page content
- and 1 for the posts as you define them in the custom query.

If you want 2 columns with different categories, you would need 3 loops:
- 1 for the static page content
- 1 for the posts in category 'news'.
- 1 for the posts in category 'sports'.

Basically you would need to duplicate the code for the custom loop in the template, and make it use another custom field (f.e. 'custom_query2'). Then next you would have to style your posts with both categories into 2 columns with some custom CSS.

Originally Posted by rickheck

...and another question: there doesn't seem to be a 'read more' link. There are the elipses (sp) which look like this [...] , but there is no link there.

I tried adding this to the query
&usemoretag=1
but that didn't help.

Ideas?

Thanks..Rick...

I suspect you are confusing the "read more" tag of full posts with excerpts.

What do you have set for: atahualpa > configure excerpts > "Posts or excerpts on HOME page?" ?
Do you have it set to Excerpts or to Full Posts?
I suspect you have it set to Excerpts.

The "Read more" tag is only used by Wordpress when you show full posts, but not when you show excerpts.
This is not a bug in the template, this is how wordpress works.
Wordpress uses the "read more" tag for full posts, not for excerpts.

Atahualpa is using an incorrect terminology (custom "read more tag") , adding to the confusion.
(It is under: atahualpa > configure excerpts >custom "read more tag")
A better term in Atahualpa would be: custom "continue reading after excerpt" text.

For the "read more" tag to work in wordpress, you need to show full posts.

That worked. The setting was ATA, Post or Excerpts on Category Page, set it to Full Posts.

All better. Thanks !

Hi, STB! I just installed your new template on a website I'm building, and it does what you says it will do.

I have one issue, though, and I'm not sure how to solve it. I have added a custom widget area that only shows on my home page (which is set at static). I've added it to the Content Below the Loop area. Before I added your template, this showed below any content I had on my (static) home page.

But, now that I have the template, the custom widgets area is showing both below the static text on the Home page, and also below the post that is showing on the home page because of the template. I think - if I understand correctly - that's because your template goes through the loop twice.

Is there any solution, do you think? I prefer the custom widget areas - my plan is to add information with plugins to show recent posts by category (List Category Posts plugin, or something similar).

1) I would like my custom widget area to show up under my selection of custom queried posts.

2) The code I used to create the custom widget was done via the ATO Add New Widget Areas instructions and put into ATO-->Style & Edit Center Column Area-->Content Below the Loop.

<?php if ( is_home() || is_front_page()) { bfa_widget_area('name=Home Page Widgets&cells=2&align=9&width=700&before_widget=<d iv id="%1$s" class="header-widget %2$s">&after_widget=</div>'); } ?>

3) I have also added the plugin WP-PageNavi for page navigation. When the template is not being used, then the page navigation does not show up on the Home page. However, when the template is active, the page navigation shows up twice - just above the custom widget area under the static text and just above the custom widget area under the most recent post.

You've done some great work here, and it should be the perfect solution for my magazine-style website.

Hi talbin!

I'm glad to hear my template is of great help to you. I spend loads of time on it and. And am happy to see it's of use to others.


About your problem with 'custom widget areas' showing up twice. Contrary to what I told you in PM, this is not because the loop is fired twice. I had a closer look at this, and it turns out there were some errors in the 3.6 version that Alexander made of my template.

I am grateful to Alexander for helping and sharing his version, but he missed 2 things in translation. That should be fixed now.

I updated the 3.6 template attachement in my startpost.
I would be happy to hear if that fixed your issue.

Is there someplace to see this template in action so we can tell if we want to use it?

Originally Posted by MtnStreamGroup

Is there someplace to see this template in action so we can tell if we want to use it?

Let me say ..
One of the most common problems with webdesign is thinking to long

sometimes better to just take the bull by the horns and do it ..
all it takes is 2 minutes to download the template .. upload it ... and use it.
then you can see on your own site if you want to use it or not.

Not meant as a lame answer .. but that is really all there is too it MtnStreamGroup.

This is a very powerfull template .. turning wordpress/atahualpa into much more of a cms
what you really want to do with it is up to your own ideas and wishes.

Woo hoo! Version 1.1 for Atahualpa 3.6 works!

Everything is as it should be except for two things:

1. WP PageNavi plug in still doesn't work, but I discovered WP-Pagination, which does. Basically no matter what I do, PageNavi shows the page navigation on the static home page. However, with the code below put into ATO-Below the Loop, WP Pagination works as it should (no navigation on the home page, navigation on post pages)

<?php if (is_home() || is_front_page())
{}
else {
if(function_exists('wp_paginate'))
wp_paginate();
} ?>

Even with the above code, switching to wp-pagenavi, it doesn't work. So, I'm switching to WP Pagination.

2. Here's a weird problem. When there is static text, all works as I would assume. However, when I deleted the static text (above the template-generated post), there was some padding before the post title that I just couldn't figure out. Almost by accident, I change the padding to 0 0 0 0 in ATO-->Style Posts & Pages-->Post Container (default setting has 30px as bottom paddiing). Lo and behold - the extra padding <i>above</i> my template-generated post went away!

So, how do I make this padding work? I would like to use the Post Container padding for all posts, but I don't want the extra space at the top on the home page.

Any ideas?

Thanks again, STB, for all your hard work. This is going to be great!

@talbin
Thank you for your valuable feedback.

1. After a few PM's I understand what you meant and what you want to do now.
Thanks to your post, I found that at this moment is_home and is_front_page dont work in "content below the loop" indeed.
I also do see why. Expect an updated version of the template soon.

2. I cant reproduce your 2nd point. When I delete static content, it is totally gone. Was that just a one time thing? Or can you reproduce it?

STB:

Thanks so much!

As for my issue #2, here is the problem. When the static text is deleted, the bottom margin remains. So, when the static text is present, alignment at the top of the post container is correct. However, when the static text is deleted and the template is only showing a post (no static text), there is still a margin above the post. The result is the post title doesn't line up at the top of the page as it should.

This margin is the margin that is added to ATO-->Style Posts & Pages-->Post Container.

Right now I have it set to: margin: 0 0 20px 0;

With this setting, if there is static text, it looks like this:

This is the static page text.

.

.

.

This the title of the first post

If I keep the setting and delete the static page text, it looks like this

.

.

.

This the title of the first post

I want it to look like this:

This the title of the first post

(no space above the title of the first post)

If I change the bottom margin to 0px, it works fine for the top of the page, but because there is no bottom margin, the posts that follow have no space between them.

I hope this makes sense!

Updated version uploaded.
- this one adds $STB_is_front_page for convenience, see post #2 for explanation.
- 1 small language error "<?" instead of "<?php" fixed
- and more heavy commenting to help others read and understand the code

@talbin
Can you try this with the new template?

Ata > style/edit center column > above the loop
replace this: bfa_next_previous_page_links('Top');
with: if (!isset($STB_is_front_page)) {bfa_next_previous_page_links('Top');}

Ata > style/edit center column > below the loop
replace this: bfa_next_previous_page_links('Bottom');
with this: if (!isset($STB_is_front_page)) {bfa_next_previous_page_links('Bottom');}

@talbin
About your issue with margins. That sounds more like a CSS issue.
But if you want you can delete the first occurrence of this line from the template: include 'bfa://content_inside_loop';
That line is round line 35. Removing it, will totally stop the static content from showing up yet leaving all other functionality in place.

Otherwise .. best open a new thread for the CSS issue please.

Hi, I would very much like to get this working. I am quite a newcomer to webdesign, I have downloaded the php page template for version 3.5 and lower as I have atahualpa version 3.4.9. I have uploaded this to my atahualpa theme folder and gone back to my wordpress site to create a new page to display my post categories (and thus turn a two tier menu system into a 1 tier menu system) (my website by the way is: www thefunnyfarm com )

I created a page for Entertainers, as this was the first post category to move up to the top page menu. I named the page Entertainment, selected the "STBs Supercharge v1.2 for Ata 3.5" and set up a new custom field named it "custom_query" and set the second example code as the value. but when i viewed the page, it had duplicated the home page, even having the "Home" title there, so had obviously loaded the home page. I removed the custom query and tested. still the same. I changed the page title in case of conflict. nothing. I added some content to the "page" part of it... nothing :/ I then took the page template back to default and it showed the page normally. displaying my "test" content as it should.

Do you have any idea why the page template would be loading my "home" page instead of the Entertainment page?

Cheers

Originally Posted by STB

Updated version uploaded.
- this one adds $STB_is_front_page for convenience, see post #2 for explanation.
- 1 small language error "<?" instead of "<?php" fixed
- and more heavy commenting to help others read and understand the code

@talbin
Can you try this with the new template?

Ata > style/edit center column > above the loop
replace this: bfa_next_previous_page_links('Top');
with: if (!isset($STB_is_front_page)) {bfa_next_previous_page_links('Top');}

Ata > style/edit center column > below the loop
replace this: bfa_next_previous_page_links('Bottom');
with this: if (!isset($STB_is_front_page)) {bfa_next_previous_page_links('Bottom');}

STB:

Thanks for the idea, but unfortunately it didn't work for WP-PageNavi - I had the same results as before. I think for now I'll stick with WP-Paginate.

Originally Posted by STB

@talbin
About your issue with margins. That sounds more like a CSS issue.
But if you want you can delete the first occurrence of this line from the template: include 'bfa://content_inside_loop';
That line is round line 35. Removing it, will totally stop the static content from showing up yet leaving all other functionality in place.

Otherwise .. best open a new thread for the CSS issue please.

STB: Thank you - this worked out great! ~Tracy

@Kevstah
I doubt you will be reading this. You registered on feb 8, made 1 post that day, and havent been online since.
But anyway, for what its worth .. thought it over, but I cant think of 1 single logical reason why that happened.
My best best is something else on your site is messing things up. The template code does just display your page + custom posts.
Thats it.

Originally Posted by STB

@Kevstah
I doubt you will be reading this. You registered on feb 8, made 1 post that day, and havent been online since.
But anyway, for what its worth .. thought it over, but I cant think of 1 single logical reason why that happened.
My best best is something else on your site is messing things up. The template code does just display your page + custom posts.
Thats it.

STB: you are a genius for thinking about this. I went through all the work of designing a site then realized I would have difficulty organizing posts onto pages.

Anways, I am having the same problem as Kevstah - I loaded your theme, set the template, set the 'custom_query' to 'cat=5&post_status=publish&posts_per_page=10' and all I got was my home page. I read your instructions on possibly getting messed up on spaces in the category name - removed any spaces and tried stating the category by name -> no good. Then tried changing category to the category ID -> still no good. In all instances, I just get a repeat of my home page.

If you need more info from me, you will have to ask because I am testing on a home server. Keep up the great work, you have probably saved hundreds of hours of beating around the bush amongst amateur web designers like me.

EDIT: Went searching around the Wordpress Codex page you suggested and reread some of your instructions, they didn't exactly help but they led me to my conclusion. There is nothing wrong with the theme. In the settings page in Wordpress under 'Reading', if you select the option for 'Static Page' (then select the page you want as your home page) then do not select any page for your 'Posts Page' (then the super charge atahualpa theme template will not work).

So, for others running into this problem, make sure to set your posts page if you are using a static page for your front page.

Again, STB we are indebted to you - great work and keep it up.

Hi

This is just what I am looking for.

Many thanks.

What would the query be, if I wanted to show the latest posts on my blog.

As at present using the basic custom query = post_status=publish.

And it some how is showing the oldest posts.

Unless there's a setting somewhere I need to change.

Also is there anyway of placing the posts, say in the middle or at the top of the page.

Many thanks

@PcTiruaC
I never ran into the issue you described.
But if understand you correctly, it was a wordpress thing, and didnt really have to do with the template.
Anyway .thanks for posting your feedback and fix up here, so others may benefit from it too.

And thanks a lot for your very kind words!

Originally Posted by jkfly4

Hi

This is just what I am looking for.

Many thanks.

What would the query be, if I wanted to show the latest posts on my blog.

As at present using the basic custom query = post_status=publish.

And it some how is showing the oldest posts.

Unless there's a setting somewhere I need to change.
<...>
Many thanks

Glad to hear the template is just what you were looking for.

About the order ... normally by default Wordpress shows the newest posts on top.
Im unsure why your postorder is reversed.
Perhaps some plugin or something else is messing it up on your blog .. I cant tell.

Anyway .. you can force the order very easily with the template:

post_status=publish&orderby=date&order=DESC

(see also: http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_...ery#Parameters)

Also is there anyway of placing the posts, say in the middle <...> of the page.

Right now the template is like this:
1- logo / banner / menu's etc.
2- static page content
3- your custom posts
4- footer

So ... err .. the posts already are in the middle
Where else "in the middle" would you want them?

Also is there anyway of placing the posts, say <...> at the top of the page.

Do you mean like this?

1- logo / banner / menu's etc.
2- your custom posts
3- static page content
4- footer

If so, yes you can do that.
Edit the template in a texteditor.
And move the codeblock with static page content down in the template to where you want it,
(for example to below the next/previous post links):

PHP Code:

<?php
//    Get main content of static page

.
.
.
move this whole code block to where you want it
.
.
.

//    END of main content of static page
?>

and in that codeblock, replace this line:

PHP Code:

$STB_myPagePost = new WP_Query('page_id=' . $post->ID); 


with this line:

PHP Code:

$STB_myPagePost = new WP_Query('page_id=' . $STB_StaticPage_post->ID); 


This template looks great and does all the things I need!
Only problem I have is that I get the same result as Kevstah and PCTiruac.
I am using Ata 3.6.4 and wp3.1.
I have gone over the thread plenty of times and have tried all the same variations with the same results as those listed.
Have also checked the last suggestion of making sure the posts page is set as well etc..., but still no joy.
Have turned off all plugins etc.... with no change in results

Would appreciate any help, cant really be a problem with the template given the instances of the problem are so few?
Any suggestions on what else to try would be great!