designing for wordpress

Designing for WordPress

Turn an idea into a reality

Who Am I?

I am a self-taught designer and programmer with over 5 years of experience working with a variety of businesses, non-profits, and individuals.

While I specialize in WordPress themes and CMS development, I also do all levels of Web Design and XHTML/CSS coding.

I freelance some through my personal brand, Tammy Hart Designs while also working a full time gig at blr | further as a UI Developer.

TammyHartDesigns.com

tammy@tammyhartdesigns.com

@tammyhart

WHERE TO STARTBlank canvas

Sitemap

Wireframe

What to Think About

NO:

YES:

What can WordPress do?

How do I make WordPress do x-y-z?

LIMITATIONSThink “sky”

WordPress Can Do Anything

Anything is:

Brochure sites

Ecommerce

Magazine

Social Community

Knowledgebase

Invoicing and time tracking

Facebook application integration

Anything isn’t:

Your laundry

Fix the economy

Climb Mount Everest

Explain the meaning of life

WordPress Fundamentals Blogging and pages are built in

Media manipulation has a foundation

Everything is in a database, so you can access the content as much as your programming skills will let you

Remember: There is probably already a plugin for that!

You Know WordPress is only as limited as you

Know when to say “no” or have a better idea

Keep your “enemies” close, know about other CMS’s and alternative plugins to your favorites

Do your research - the answer is probably already out there.

Pre-built Themes

Pros

Tons of features and settings

A good base design to start from

Already designed

Cons

Too many features and settings

Too locked into a design layout

Already designed

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKEFunctionality with style

SouthernIdahoLiving.comMagazine style publishing

KurdishRights.org/prisoners/Simple application

FlowerMag.comCustom content types

VancouverConventionCentre.comNow that’s what I call beyond the blog!

HOW IT WORKSTemplates and code

The Loop

Basic Loop

<?

if (have_posts()) :

while (have_posts()) : the_post();

?>

... Do Stuff Here ...

<?

endwhile;

endif;

?>

Basic Functions

the_title()

the_author()

the_permalink()

the_time()

the_content() & the_excerpt()

the_category()

comments_popup_link()

Get Posts by Category<?

$categories = get_categories('exclude=16');

foreach ($categories as $cat) {

if($cat->parent == 0) {

?>

<div class="catgroup">

<?

$counter = 0;

$catID = $cat->cat_ID;

$sections = new WP_query(

array('cat' => $catID,'monthnum' => $month,'year' => $year)

);

while ($sections->have_posts()) : $sections->the_post();

$counter++; $currentposts[] = $post->ID;

?>

... Do Stuff Here ...

<? endwhile; ?>

</div>

<? } } // end if parent and foreach ?>SouthernIdahoLiving.com by Tammy Hart

What to Think About

NO:

YES:

What can WordPress do?

How do I make WordPress do x-y-z?

RESOURCESThat’s not all, folks!

Resources

In depth look at Site Design and Layout from WordPress.orghttp://bit.ly/wpdesign01

Using Dreamweaver Sites: How to sync your local directory, with a WordPress themes directoryhttp://bit.ly/wpdesign02

Tutorials, videos, and other articles about Freelancing and WordPresshttp://www.wpmethod.com

Thanks!

Questions?

TammyHartDesigns.com

tammy@tammyhartdesigns.com

tammyhart