maui wordpress 101 workshop february 16, 2011
DESCRIPTION
Presentation slides from High Tech Maui WordPress 101 workshop presented on February 16, 2011.TRANSCRIPT
WordPress Basics
Jeff Bennett
www.DigitalSplashMedia.com
An Introduction to the WordPress Publishing Platform and
WordPress.com
Introductions
• Name & Company/Business
• WordPress Experience
• What do you hope to get from this workshop?
WordPress Basics
WordPress BasicsLearning Objectives:•Signing up and activating a WordPress.com account•Basic settings•Defining the look of your site with themes•Creating posts and pages•Adding photos and videos •Menus•Adding additional functionality to your sidebars with widgets
Agenda
Conceptual Overview
Guided Tour & Demo
Hands-on
Agenda
Conceptual Overview
Guided Tour & Demo
Hands-on
Every Business NEEDS a Website
But historically, to build a website, you
needed to know how to code
... or hire someone who did
But with the advent of free Internet
publishing tools like Wordpress
Geek-speaknot required!
You don’t have to know how to code
Though it started as a blogging platform,
Wordpress is now a very rich online
publishing tool used for building entire websites
So, why is this good news for you?
You can build this...
without knowing this
Create a website using only your browser for FREE
$0
You just use a simple text editor to create
and edit pages
The Basic Process
Sign-up/
Install
Choose theme
Adjust settings
Write a page Publish
The Basic Process
Sign-up/
Install
Choose theme
Adjust settings
Write a page Publish
The Basic Process
Sign-up/
Install
Choose theme
Adjust settings
Write a page Publish
theme.wordpress.com
The Basic Process
Sign-up/
Install
Choose theme
Adjust settings
Write a page Publish
The Basic Process
Sign-up/
Install
Choose theme
Adjust settings
Write a page Publish
The Basic Process
Sign-up/
Install
Choose theme
Adjust settings
Write a page Publish
If you’re familiar with Microsoft Word or another word processor,
you should be able to get the hang of Wordpress
Before we jump in...
.com .org
vs.
Flavors
This workshop is focused on
WordPress.com
WordPress.org will be covered in a follow-up
workshop
.com
Things to prepare before you get sign up
What’s your blog/site about?What kind of content will it have?What will it be called?Who is your audience?What kind of a look or feel should the site have to match its content and your audience?
Agenda
Conceptual Overview
Guided Tour & Demo
Hands-on
Wordpress Guided
Tour
Wordpress Guided Tour
Wordpress Guided
Tour
Wordpress Guided Tour
For this part of the workshop, just watch rather than trying to
follow and create. We’ll do some hands-on later.
WordPress Basics•Signing up and activating a WordPress.com account•Basic settings•Defining the look of your site with themes•Creating posts and pages•Adding photos and videos •Menus•Adding additional functionality to your sidebars with widgets
Sign-up and Activation - A Brief Video
http://learn.wordpress.com/get-started/
The Dashboard
Customize Layout
Expand/Collapse Menu
http://wordpress.tv/2009/01/05/the-wordpresscom-dashboard-introduction/
Settings
GeneralWritingReadingDiscussion
http://learn.wordpress.com/get-started/
Themes
Search
Appearance
Browse
Preview
Activate
Options - not all themes created equal
Hint: Use Your Browser’s TabsOne tab for viewing the public view of the site
One tab for the “back end” / admin section
Other tabs for documentation, reference, etc.
Creating Posts
Title
Type or paste content
Insert imagesFormatting icons
Click for all icons
Publish options
Categories
Tags
Creating PagesSimilar layout as posts
Attributes instead of Categories and Tags
Posts vs Pages
Posts PagesTime-based content displayed in reverse chronological order - more “bloggy”
Pseudo-static pages used to create web pages for non-changing information like contact, about, products, services, etc. Not listed by date, and they don’t use categories and tags
Editing Posts & PagesSelect Edit under either Posts or Pages
Select item to edit
Categories & Tags
Categories - helpful for organizing your posts by topic
Tags like keywords
Custom Menus
Managing Comments
UnapproveApproveSpam
Static Home Page
First create a page that will be your home page
Under Settings > Reading click on A static page in the Front page displays section & select the new home page for Front page and new blog page for posts page
Create another new page that will be for blog posts
Links
Optional if you want to have a set of links in your sidebar
Media Library
Upload and manage photos, video and other media
WidgetsContent for your sidebar & footer
Drag-n-drop widgets with your mouse
Find it under Appearance menu
Useful Widgets:Recent PostsArchivesCategoriesRSS
Some themes include extra widgets
Polls & Ratings
Ratings - people can rate posts
Polls - requires account with PollDaddy.com
Wordpress.com Upgrades
Your own domain name - $9.97/year
Custom CSS (extra flexibility for changing your theme) - $14.97/year
Applies to .com, not .org
Agenda
Conceptual Overview
Guided Tour & Demo
Hands-on
Let’s Get You Signed Up & Started
Wordpress.orgMuch the same as .com as far as interface goes
Lots more themes
Lots more options via plugins
Tons of flexibility
You have to sign up with a web host
BlueHost.com - very affordable ($6.95/month), good options, easy Wordpress installation
WordPress Resourceshttp://learn.wordpress.com/
DigitalSplashMedia.comMauiWP.comWordPress.tv
codex.wordpress.orgTwitter.com/DigitalSplash
Twitter.com/MauiWordpress
Wordpress 201WordPress.org
What is WordPress.org - self-hosted WordPressFinding a web hostSimple installation of WordPress with BlueHost Review of dashboard, posts, pages and menusThemes - lots more and their customizablePlugins - need some additional functionality? There's a plugin for that!SecurityBackupsMigrating from WordPress.com to WordPress.org Transferring from one WordPress.org site to another WordPress.org site