2011 05 word-press-not-just-for-blogging-anymore
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WordPress is not just for blogging anymore. Now it is a dynamic Content Management System (CMS) for sites large and smallTRANSCRIPT
Web Design done rightRudy Duke
202-258-3252
WordPress: Not Just for
Blogging Anymore!
Rudy [email protected]
www.nextiumsolutions.com202-258-3252
Powerful tools at your disposal Relatively easy to build Robust Content Management
System (CMS) Open Source
Why WordPress is Amazing
Static versus Dynamic Sites Which Flavor of WordPress? Key Components of a WordPress
Site Pages, Permalinks and Posts…
Oh My!
What is WordPress?
Which Flavor of WordPress?
“Free” Professional
WordPress.com Hosted at
WordPress.com blogging service
WordPress Domain: “yoursite.wordpress.com”
Less control: can’t use plugins, your own ads
WordPress.org Self-hosted Your Domain:
“yoursite.com” Total control of
your site Download / install
latest version Discussion forums Browse the Codex
(documentation) “Real”
designers /developers
No usage restrictions at all.
Domain Name Web Host Text / Code Editor File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Program Image Editor Webmasters Tools Kit [http://
www.leveltendesign.com/wtk ]
Tools of the Trade
Register a domain name such as rudyduke.com
www.Hostway.com or www.Godaddy.com or www.HostGator.com are good choices for registering domains. ◦ Cost is around $10 per year. ◦ At such a low price, consider purchasing
the “yoursite.com”, “yoursite.org” and even “yoursite.net” versions.
Select a domain name that:◦ Represents what your site is about; ◦ Is as short (25 letters or less) as possible,
and ◦ Contains real words that are easy to spell.
Tools: Domain Name
Owning a domain name is half of the equation. Now you need a web server to “host” your domain.
Hosting is more expensive than domain names, but for low to medium traffic sites, even basic hosting plans are adequate.
HostGator.com and GoDaddy.com start at $3 - $5 per month.
Don’t ever skimp on hosting:◦ Pick a professional, reliable host that offers
great tech support via multiple media (web/chat/phone) and can usually get all issues resolved via text chat in less than 15 minutes.
◦ You get hundreds of professional email boxes (and can loose that AOL email address)
◦ You can host a WordPress or other CMS site◦ You can host an e-Commerce site
Tools: Web Host
You don’t really need a WYSIWYG editor like Dreamweaver
Use a real Code Editor Several to choose from that are
free of inexpensive (< $60) Notepad++ (
www.notepad-plus-plus.org) is a free source code editor for MS Windows
jEdit is a mature programmer's text editor for MACs
Tools: Text/Code Editor
You’ll need an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software program to connect to your web server and transfer files back and forth from your computer
File transfer is all you need, but some programs offer more
Several to choose from that are free or inexpensive
FileZilla (http://filezilla-project.org/ )is a free program that is all you need whether Windows or MAC
Tools: FTP Program
You’ll need an image editor to prepare graphics for your WordPress site
Although WordPress does a good job of optimizing and resizing graphics, you often need original graphics to be in the right proportion for sliders and such
Free/Inexpensive Image Editors:◦ Color Schemer:
www.colorschemer.com/online.html ◦ GIMP: ◦ Photoshop Elements (<$100)
Premium◦ Adobe CS5.5 Web Premium
Tools: Image Editor
You MUST see what your site looks like in all the major browsers, so it’s a good idea to download them to your system◦ Firefox (FF3.0+)
Most Popular amongst Web Designers for Developers’ add-ons
Latest version is FF4.0◦ Internet Explorer (IE7+) – Latest
version is IE9.0◦ Google Chrome◦ Safari (Mac and iDivices)◦ Opera (prettiest)
Tools: Web Browsers
Webmasters Tools Kit◦ [http://www.leveltendesign.com/wtk
] is a compilation of many of the aforementioned
ColorPix: ◦ http://
colorschemer.com/colorpix_info.php ◦ ColorPix is a neat little app that will
let you grab the color values and screen coordinates at any pixel on your screen.
Tools: Bonus Tools
Setting Up WordPress
Installation in an Instant (well… 5 minutes)Setting the Right settings
Business Requirements & Objectives
Picking the Perfect Theme Picking Powerful Plugins Categories and Tags Permalinks: Your URL Structure Users and Administrators
Planning Your Site
Things to look for in a theme Where to find free themes Where to buy premium themes
Picking a Perfect Theme
Anatomy of a WordPress Theme
There are certain features that all themes should have:◦ Navigation◦ Theme Options◦ Widget Ready◦ The Functionality you need for each
project◦ Source files for customization
Things to look for in a theme
Free themes are normally not as feature-rich as paid/premium themes; but there are many free themes that are better than some paid themes◦ WordPress.org Theme Library -
http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ ◦ Smashing Magazine -
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/wordpress/
◦ http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2010/08/19/100-free-high-quality-wordpress-themes-for-2010/#more-51885
◦ Google - http://www.google.com/search?q=wordpress+themes
◦ Digging Into WordPress Theme Clubhouse http://themeclubhouse.digwp.com/
A sample free theme: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/05/30/free-wordpress-3-1-theme-splendio-with-psd-sources/
Where to find free themes
ThemeForest -
http://themeforest.net/ WooThemes -
http://www.woothemes.com/ ElegantThemes -
http://www.elegantthemes.com/ WPBest - http://wpbest.com/
Where to buy premium themes
The WordPress Plugin Repository
Installing and Activating Plugins
Picking Powerful Plugins
Site Setup
The WordPress Dashboard
300+ Resources to Become an Expert◦ http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/09/300-re
sources-to-help-you-become-a-wordpress-expert/
Book: Digging Into WordPress◦ http://digwp.com/book/
Major WordPress Update (3.2) due out June 30th
◦ http://www.sitepoint.com/seven-things-you-should-know-about-wordpress-3-2/
General WordPress References