4/5/19 AGENDA 2 INTRODUCTION TO WORDPRESS ‣ WordPress - WTF? BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE ‣ WordPress.com vs WordPress.org ‣ WordPress Terminology - Themes, Plugins and Widgets WITH WORDPRESS ‣ The WordPress Dashboard - Managing Pages, Menus and Media PHILLIP PEET ‣ Finding, Choosing and Installing Plugins ‣ Recommended Plugins ‣ WordPress Themes – Where to Start INTRODUCTION TO WORDPRESS 3 INTRODUCTION TO WORDPRESS 4 WHAT IS WORDPRESS? WORDPRESS.COM vs WORDPRESS.ORG ‣ WordPress is a content management system and blogging tool ‣ WordPress.com is a hosted service that runs WordPress ‣ WordPress.org is where you can download WordPress for local WHY IS WORDPRESS SO POPULAR? installation and testing ‣ It’s open source PAGES vs POSTS ‣ Intuitive – easy to use ‣ Posts are for dynamic content ‣ Comprehensive documentation ‣ Pages are for static content ‣ Loads of extensions - plugins INTRODUCTION TO WORDPRESS 5 ACTIVITY ONE THEMES, PLUGINS & WIDGETS KEY OBJECTIVES TASKS ‣ A theme is essentially the skin or the way a webpage looks Establish and manage a basic WordPress 1. Log into the WordPress dashboard blog running on wordpress.com 2. Publish three new pages ‣ A plugin is a script that extends the functionality of WordPress 3. Change the home page to a static page 4. Add the new pages to your menu and adjust the order ‣ Widgets are objects that can be dragged into a ‘widgetised’ area 5. Create a gravatar image – gravatar.com PERMALINKS & SLUGS ‣ A permalink is the absolute location [URL] for a file on the server ‣ A slug is the actual post/page/asset name 1 4/5/19 WORDPRESS WIDGETS & PLUGINS 7 WORDPRESS WIDGETS & PLUGINS 8 FINDING A PLUGIN INSTALLING A PLUGIN ‣ Recommended plugins can be found on the WordPress repository ‣ A plugin can be installed via the WordPress dashboard either directly off ‣ Plugins on the repository are free albeit generally have limitations the repository or by uploading a copy to your server ‣ Premium plugins can be purchased/downloaded from a developers site CHOOSING A PLUGIN WORKING WITH PLUGINS ‣ Once installed many plugins have their own menu or otherwise have ‣ Choose a plugin that has good ratings and documentation options under the settings tab inside the WordPress dashboard ‣ Check compatibility and number of downloads ‣ Many plugins use shortcodes whilst some may require basic coding skills ‣ Research and experiment WORDPRESS WIDGETS & PLUGINS 9 ACTIVITY TWO RECOMMENDED PLUGINS KEY OBJECTIVES TASKS 1. Fancybox for WordPress plugin ‣ Ultimate Responsive Slider ‣ WordFence Install a series of plugins to extend on the capabilities of a WordPress blog running on • Insert an image gallery on a new page ‣ ‣ Fancybox for WordPress Backup Buddy* your own server • Link the thumbnails to “Media File” • Publish page and preview ‣ ‣ Gallery Custom Links Ninja Forms • Go to plugins, search and install “Fancybox” ‣ WP Google Fonts ‣ Gravity Forms* • Activate the plugin and preview the page again. ‣ Yoast SEO ‣ WooCommerce ‣ Akismet ‣ Ultimate Coming Soon ‣ WP Rollback & WP Downgrade ‣ Duplicate Posts THEMING WORDPRESS 11 THEMING WORDPRESS 12 FINDING A THEME BEFORE YOU BUY ‣ Similar to plugins, free themes can be found on the WordPress repository ‣ Theme Forest, Theme Trust, Elegant Themes ‣ Premium themes can be purchased/downloaded from reputable sites ‣ View/test the theme on both desktop and mobile ‣ Look for demo (xml) import content WHERE TO START ‣ Read documentation and check for money back guarantee ‣ Don’t get caught up in all the bells and whistles! ‣ Impromptu websites suck - so have a plan! ‣ A website typically needs a logo, content and good images ‣ Draft a sitemap and visualise how you would like the site to look 2.