Avoiding Errors:Troubleshoot WordPress Like a Pro!

October 11, 2014Saratoga Springs, New York

Presenter:River Web GroupOwner, Chief Developer

St. Peter’s Health PartnersInstruction Designer / IT Trainer

Jason Cortes

1 Introductions

2 Common Mistakes

3 Upgrades

4 Plugins

5 Safe Guards6

Where to get Help

7 Wrap Up

8 Q&A

Troubleshooting Like a ProOverview

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So why are you here?What makes you want to be a WordPress Pro?

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Well you are in the right place!Welcome to the community

Common Mistakesoverview

Here we will discuss a bit about the most common mistakes on your path to becoming a WordPress Pro.

Choosing the right PlatformWordPress.org vs. WordPress.com

Think about what you can commit to your site.

What do you really need?

WordPress.comFree Account and Hosting

WordPress.orgSelf Hosted, Highly Customizable

Choose what’s Right for you!

Knowing your way aroundDon’t get in over your head!

Self Hosting requires work!

Falling down the rabbit hole!Hosting WordPress requires work, and involves many common mistakes. • The Basics (Wordpress Install)• Do you know the defaults? (Admin & Sample

Pages)• WordPress updates!• Cpanel and FTP (knowing your way around) • Ever heard of a Favicon (yep your own icon)• Permalink structure (wow those links look funny)• Basic Contact Form (Isn’t this sort of the point of

WP?)• Image Optimization (keep them reasonable >

500kb)• Cost of hosting? (What! This cost money? #!@)• SEO, Analytics, Caching/CDN, Security, Backups• Gravatar… give yourself a face!

The Basics (WordPress 101)You’ve installed this before right?

Download or use Cpanel

The source files for WordPress can be found on the wordpress.org site under downloads, or look for cpanel from your hosting provider.

Review your hosting documentation before beginning.

If you are first starting out I would suggest to make use of Wordpress.com or a tool like cpanel to manager the installation. Just until you get used to it ;-)

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Do you know the defaults?Sample Pages, and default passwords

WordPress has Defaults

A common oversight is leave these defaults in place. Make sure you are aware of them. They include things like same post, and sample pages.They can show up in search results, or make your blog look unprofessional.

Also change that Admin login before you even begin. This opens your sight up to vulnerabilities.

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WordPress UpdatesThe WordPress platform is constantly being upgraded

Don’t Ignore Updates

As the community and versions grow, enhancements are constantly being applied.

The longer you wait the more difficult an update can be to apply.

We’ll get back to this one!

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Cpanel and FTPKey essentials in the world of Hosting WordPress

Cpanel and FTP

Many things can break, and when in need, these are typically your tools for fixing them.

Many hosting providers, have extensive tutorials on using Cpanel to create your databases, and setting up your FTP account.

Also make sure to download a FTP client so you can make use of that account you create!

https://filezilla-project.org/ 12

FavionUse it or lose it!

Favions

If you don’t know what a Favion I have the definition here for you. It’s simply an icon for your website. Many hosting companies will default this icon to their own, if you don’t change it. In keeping with making your site look good, be sure to edit it.

There are many online editors which can generate the file for you! From there it’s a simple update in the WordPress Admin.

http://www.favicon.cc/ 13

Permalink StructuresWow the links look funny…

Permalinks

They are how WordPress keeps your site organized. Ever link and every page is affect by this.

When google crawls your site it looks for something users can understand, and generic ID=? Just doesn’t cut it.

Make sure to review your site settings and configure this to use something more reabable.

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Contact FormsLet your users be heard!

Contact Forms 101

In a social media age it’s important to allow for your users to communicate.

How can they reach you, or how can you reach them?

There are many tools out there for supporting this exchange such as the contact forms 7 plugin which make this a breeze.

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Image OptimizationDon’t load that thing from your phone or camera!

Images

When a picture is taken from a phone or digital camera, the idea behind it is quality.

One thing most beginners miss is that with websites, its all about speed.

A site’s quality can be drastically reduced by slow load times which are a result of oversized images.

Keep an eye out not to make this mistake. 16

Cost of HostingDon’t over do it!

Hosting packages

Yes there is a cost associated to this, both domain and hosting.

But consider the things you will actually use. Often users over pay for hosting packages, as they are worried that a basic package will not do.

Typically you hosting should not exceed $60/year unless you have a very large site. Also you can register Domains for typically $12 via google or usually web host provide domain services.

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SEO, Analytics, Caching/CDN, Security, BackupsLets talk about this…

Analytics: Google

SEO: Plugins

Caching/CDN: What is it

Security: Overview

Backups: Overview

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GravatarGive yourself a face!

Most people over look themselves!Avatars… are not just for movies!

Let people know who you are in the forums and online.

Sign up is simple, and there are so many uses!

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Upgrades

The importance of backups, and plug in compatibility

Upgrades Database and PluginsSeveral things to consider-

Overview

As perfect as we’d all hope things are, occasionally things change. Before any upgrade consider backing up your site!

In a WordPress site, most of your content lives in a MySQL database. Keeping daily backups help to undo or restore when things go wrong.

Plugins should be checked for compatibility prior to an update. Its worth considering changing plugins if you find it’s no being updated.

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Plugins

Safety, and Considerations

PluginsA gateway to new worlds!

The options are Endless!

From contact forms to securing your site, there is a wealth of resources here:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/

If there is something that could be automated it probably has… always check the WordPress Plugin Directory for what’s new.

Things like Ratings and Download ranks help you to find the good ones fast!

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SafeGuards

Keeping your site safe, from the bad guys.

Keeping your site secureboth hosting and WordPress concerns!

Security!

When working with a new site be sure to secure it. They are many resources such as plugins, guides, and best practices! Use them.

Always be sure it only install plugins from the WordPress Plugins sites just to be sure!

http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress

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Where to get help!

Knowing who your online friends are, WordPress.org!

Help is a hyperlink away!The power of Community.

Wordpress Support Forums

https://make.wordpress.org/community/

This link will be your best resource on solving those quick questions or for when you make a mistake.

Also participate in the community! Its not all online. Find your local meetup, or seek training via resources like youtube, or lynda.com

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Thanks!How to see you in the community!

Jcortes@riverwebgroup.com(518) 478-6943www.riverwebgroup.com

www.albanyux.org