WORDPRESS FOR CONSERVATION & LAND TRUSTS Leveraging the leading CMS for your Trust’s website September 2, 2015 WORDPRESS FOR CONSERVATION & LAND TRUSTS About the Author .................................................................................................................... 5 Preface ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6 Why Wordpress? ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Stop editing HTML, Start focusing on your content ................................................................................. 7 Enable more contributors, retain control ..................................................................................................... 7 Respond to each visitor’s screen size and device capabilities .............................................................. 8 Getting started ......................................................................................................................... 9 It’s about the audience ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Marketing and Search Engine Optimization .............................................................................................. 10 Take Inventory ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 Plan, Do, Check, Act ............................................................................................................................................... 10 Now Comes Technology ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Part One: Wordpress Basics ............................................................................................. 13 No, really, what is Wordpress? ........................................................................................................................ 13 Hosting choices ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 Your own domain ................................................................................................................................................... 13 Managed Wordpress ............................................................................................................................................ 14 Good, better or best? ............................................................................................................................................. 14 Installing Wordpress ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Hosting service installers ................................................................................................................................... 15 From Wordpress.org ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Staging and Production Servers ...................................................................................................................... 16 What are AMPPS and MAMP? .......................................................................................................................... 16 Tips for moving from staging to production .............................................................................................. 16 Permalinks ................................................................................................................................................................ 17 Site Title and Tagline ............................................................................................................................................ 18 Choosing a theme ................................................................................................................................................... 18 Free themes .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 Paid themes .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 Key theme features ................................................................................................................................................ 19 Child Theme ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Make it your own ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Wordpress Pages ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Page templates ........................................................................................................................................................ 23 The Visual Editor .................................................................................................................................................... 23 The Text Editor ....................................................................................................................................................... 24 2 © Trail Websites / Lewis Studios, All Rights Reserved. WORDPRESS FOR CONSERVATION & LAND TRUSTS Media in Wordpress .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Wordpress Posts .................................................................................................................................................... 27 Categories .................................................................................................................................................................. 28 Plugins ........................................................................................................................................................................ 30 Useful plugins .......................................................................................................................................................... 30 Shortcodes ................................................................................................................................................................. 31 Sidebars and Widgets .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Part Two: Conservation & Land Trust Website Tips & Tricks .............................. 34 Multiple, Simultaneous Conversations ......................................................................................................... 34 Owned v. earned media ....................................................................................................................................... 35 Feeds on your website? ........................................................................................................................................ 35 Calendar Options ................................................................................................................................................... 36 Categories ................................................................................................................................................................. 36 Google Calendar ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 Event Manager Plug-in ....................................................................................................................................... 37 Donor pages ............................................................................................................................................................. 38 Online Soliciting Regulations ........................................................................................................................... 38 Privacy ........................................................................................................................................................................ 38 Paypal, Network for Good and other payment processors .................................................................. 38 Donation page design .......................................................................................................................................... 39 Attracting donors .................................................................................................................................................. 41 Volunteer pages .....................................................................................................................................................