Introduction to WordPressSuzette Franck Front-end Developer at WebDevStudios

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girldevelopit.comThank you!

Meet Your ClassmatesIntroduction to WordPress

Your NameWhy do you want to learn WordPress?

Favorite Non-Computer Hobby

Meet Your TeamIntroduction to WordPress

Co-Founder, GDI LA Chapter: Natalie MacLeesTeacher: Suzette Franck

Teacher Assitant: Alex VasquezTeacher Assistant: Karen McCamy

Suzette FranckIntroduction to WordPress

Front-end Developer & Designer at WebDevStudiosLesson Plan Contributor for WordPress.org

WordCamp Speaker (25 of them!)Teacher at Girl Develop It

Lowbrow Artist and Art Collector

RulesIntroduction to WordPress

Ask questions!No question is stupid!

Grab a teacher’s assistant (TA) anytimeLearn and Return Policy

Meet WordPressIntroduction to WordPress

What is WordPress?• Customizable website creation tool

• Most popular blog publishing and content management system on the web today

• Powers over 74 million websites

Meet WordPress

CMS• Content Management System.

• A computer application that allows publishing, editing, organizing, deleting, and maintaining content.

Meet WordPress

Top 1 million websites

34%

7%6%

53%

WordPressDrupalJoomlaOther

Why use WordPress? • Open source

• User friendly

• Flexible and extensible

• Easy to find support

• SEO friendly

• Own your own content

• Community

Meet WordPress

What types of sites can you build?

• blog

• business

• informative

• review

• personal

• photo gallery

• portfolio

• community

• ecommerce

• membership

• …and more!

Meet WordPress

The WordPress Showcasehttp://wordpress.org/showcase

.com vs .orgIntroduction to WordPress

WordPress.com• Like renting an apartment

• Limited with what you can do

• Maintenance and backups included

• Customer service available to handle issues

.com vs .org

WordPress.org (self-hosted)• Like buying a house

• Can do anything you’d like

• You do maintenance and backups

• You’re responsible for handling any issues that arise

.com vs .org

Installing WordPress• WordPress.com: done for you

• Managed WP Hosting: done for you

• Other hosting: nearly all have easy installation

.com vs .org

Help and SupportIntroduction to WordPress

Forums & Online Groups• WordPress.org

• LinkedIn

• Facebook

• WordPress Stack Exchange

Help and Support

Hiring Help• Classes and workshops

• One-on-one tutoring

• WordPress consultants, designers, and developers

Help and Support

The ONE Best Thing• Get involved with the WordPress community

• Nicest, smartest, most generous people you’ll ever meet

• 19 WordPress meetup groups in Southern California

• WordCamps - Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix

Help and Support

Site TourIntroduction to WordPress

Admin TourIntroduction to WordPress

WordPress BasicsIntroduction to WordPress

User Accounts• Administrator - all access

• Editor - publish and manage posts of other users

• Author - publish and manage own posts

• Contributor - write an manage but can’t publish

• Subscriber - manage their own profile

WordPress Basics

Posts• Timely content

• Social content

• Categories: Table of contents

• Tags: Index of keywords

• Syndicated via RSS

WordPress Basics

Pages• Permanent content

• Nesting

• Included as the site’s menu by default

WordPress Basics

Sidebars or widget areas• Depends on theme

• Add, edit, remove, and move widgets

WordPress Basics

Menus• Available in most themes

• Allow you to organize your content as you’d like

WordPress Basics

Media uploader• Add photos, video, and audio to your site

• Add media to posts and pages

• Create galleries and playlists

WordPress Basics

WordPress ThemesIntroduction to WordPress

What does a theme do?• Changes the way your site looks and works

• Colors, layouts, typography, etc.

• BEWARE: bloated ‘do it all’ themes. They’re often more trouble than they’re worth

WordPress Themes

Where should you get themes?• Free themes ONLY from the WordPress Theme repository

• Paid themes only from reputable sellers

• How to find reputable sellers

WordPress Themes

Installing and configuring themes

• Install themes from the Dashboard

• Using the Customizer

• Theme options pages

WordPress Themes

WordPress PluginsIntroduction to WordPress

What does a plugin do?• Adds some bit of functionality to your site

• Examples:

• Social media sharing buttons

• A new type of widget (instagram feed)

• Image sliders

• Add new capabilities: ecommerce, membership, directory, etc.

WordPress Plugins

Where should you get plugins?• Free plugins ONLY from the WordPress Plugin repository

• Paid plugins only from reputable sellers

• How to find reputable sellers

WordPress Plugins

Installing and configuring plugins

• Install plugins from the Dashboard

• Plugin documentation

• Finding plugin settings

WordPress Plugins

SettingsIntroduction to WordPress

First things first• Settings > General

• Site Title

• Tagline

• Timezone

Settings

WP for a website• Settings > Reading

• Set a static page as the home page

• Depends on theme, may have a special home page template

Settings

Media Settings• Settings > Media

• Define default media sizes

• NOTE: These do not apply to media that’s already been uploaded!

Settings

Permalinks• What are they?

• What’s the best setting?

• Resetting permalinks - fix mysterious issues

Settings

WordPress Site Care & Maintenance

Introduction to WordPress

Back up back up back up back up!!!!!

• Cannot over-emphasize how important regular backups are

• A recent backup is the cure for nearly any ill

• Not a question of if, but when the site will be hacked or corrupted

• How often should you back up?

• Two pieces to back up

• How many backups to keep

WordPress Site Care & Maintenance

Backup Plugins• BackUpWordpress (free)

• WordPress Backup to Dropbox (free)

• BackWPUp (free)

• Backup Buddy (paid)

• VaultPress (paid subscription)

WordPress Site Care & Maintenance

WordPress updates• WordPress tells you when there are updates available

• Simple to do BUT

• BACK UP FIRST!!! ALWAYS!! NO EXCEPTIONS

WordPress Site Care & Maintenance

Keep your site secure• Use secure passwords

• Use least privilege

• Set up salts

• Use a security plugin - I like WordFence

• Themes and plugins from reputable sources only!

• Back up regularly - move backups to another server

WordPress Site Care & Maintenance

ResourcesIntroduction to WordPress

Online• http://wordpress.org/support/

• http://codex.wordpress.org/

• http://wpbeginner.com/

• http://chrislema.com/

• http://problogger.net/

• http://www.copyblogger.com/

• http://www.wp101.com/

• http://www.wpuniversity.com/

• http://www.lynda.com/

• http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/

• http://bobwp.com/

• http://wordpress.tv/

Resources

Offline• WordPress for Dummies by Lisa Sabin Wilson

• Meetups: Find your local group(s) on meetup.com

• WordCamps: Find upcoming camps on wordcamp.org

Resources

Q&AIntroduction to WordPress

Bonus ItemsIntroduction to WordPress

Sticky Posts• Stick a post to the top of the front page

Bonus Items

Scheduled Posts• Set a post to go live at a pre-determined time

• WP Cron warning

Bonus Items

Draft Posts• Posts only you can see

• Not yet live on the site

• Edit until you’re happy before you post

• Can preview

Bonus Items

Page Templates• Availability depends on theme

• Set different layouts for different pages

Bonus Items

Comments• Comment settings

• Comment moderation

• Handling spam

Bonus Items

Thank you!!Introduction to WordPress

Survey: http://goo.gl/3uMJ9h

Introduction to WordPress