WordPress Tips & Tricks

Jared Atchison / jaredatchison.com / @jaredatch

Wait, who?

Wait, who?   2008 Texas A&M Graduate (Technology Management)   M-‐F, 8-‐5pm: Texas Transportation Institute   WordPress!   Independent WordPress Developer/Consultant   Genesis!   ThemeGarden Author http://www.themegarden.com/jared-‐atchison/   Featured StudioPress Developer http://dev.studiopress.com/developers/jared-‐atchison   Theme frameworks++

Common Mistakes

Adding JavaScript to themes wp-‐content/themes/YourTheme/header.php

Adding JavaScript to themes wp-‐content/themes/YourTheme/functions.php   Still not ideal   Can be useful (e.g. TypeKit)

Adding JavaScript to themes wp_enqueue_script() -‐ http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_enqueue_script wp_register_script() -‐ http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_register_script

Adding JavaScript to themes

WP packaged jQuery   WordPress ships with jQuery (1.4.2)   /wp-‐includes/js/jquery/jquery.js   wp_enqueue_script(‘jquery’);   Most often replaced with copy from Google CDN   https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.4/jquery.min.js

WP packaged jQuery WHY REMOVE?   Wants/needs the newest version (e.g. 1.4.4)   Wants to be on CDN (content delivery network)   “decreased latency, increased parallelism, and better caching.”   http://encosia.com/2008/12/10/3-‐reasons-‐why-‐you-‐should-‐let-‐google-‐host-‐jquery-‐for-‐you/   WTFBBQ!! jQuery.noConflict(); -‐ no conflict mode   http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_enqueue_script#jQuery_noConflict_wrappers   http://docs.jquery.com/Using_jQuery_with_Other_Libraries   Doesn’t understand/use wp_enqueue_script();

WP packaged jQuery WHY NOT REMOVE?   Adding JS the wrong way (ﬁrst point) can cause chaos.   Duplicate jQuery includes, OH NOES!   ThemeForest.net … *face palm*   Public CDN not always “be all and end all”.   Relying on Google   Look into W3 Total Cache   Cross library compatibly often lost (no conﬂict)

WP packaged jQuery IF NEEDED, DO IT CORRECTLY :) http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_enqueue_script#Load_a_default_WordPress_script_from_a_non-‐default_location

WP packaged jQuery WORKING WITH NO CONFLICT   Virtually all popular jQuery scripts work in NC mode   Yours can too! Use long-‐hand document ready…

Including ﬁles   Can be done many diﬀerent ways (successfully).   Certain methods for certain situations   include();   require_once();   get_header(); get_sidebar(); and get_footer()   get_template_part(); Since 3.0

Using Permalinks   WordPress gives great permalink control   You can do almost anything – but should you?   ZOMG! BUT SEO!!!!!   Lies.   http://www.weberz.com/blog/2009/06/seo-‐experts-‐give-‐wrong-‐advice-‐wordpress-‐permalinks   Do not start permalinks with %category% or %postname%   Pages + non-‐numerical starting permalinks = tons extra rules   Custom post types excluded

Using Permalinks “Use a permalink structure that does not start with a text based variable. By doing this you will drastically reduce your risk of the problems listed above. Here is a list of variables you can use that are not text based:” %year% – The year of the post, four digits, for example 2004 %monthnum% – Month of the year, for example 05 %day% – Day of the month, for example 28 %hour% – Hour of the day, for example 15 %minute% – Minute of the hour, for example 43 %second% – Second of the minute, for example 33 %post_id% – The unique ID # of the post, for example 423 Further Reading: http://ottopress.com/2010/category-‐in-‐permalinks-‐considered-‐harmful/ Thanks to Josh and Bill

Building a theme   Don’t start from scratch unless you must   Build on top of something proven!   “Blank” themes: Whiteboard, Sandbox, Starkers, etc   Frameworks: Genesis!, Canvas, Builder, Hybrid, Headway, Thematic   On top of popular themes: Twenty Ten   Beware of Kubrick!   http://wpcandy.com/presents/wordpress-‐theme-‐framework-‐comparison

Troubleshooting (do it)   Errors? Warnings? Notices? White-‐screen-‐of-‐death?   DON’T PANIC. Deep breaths. Debug!   Most problems you can debug yourself.   deﬁne(WP_DEBUG, true);   Deactivate plugins   Deactivate themes

Getting Help   Know where to go for help. All sources are not equal!   Codex ( http://codex.wordpress.org)   WordPress forums/support (http://wordpress.org/support/)   Twitter e.g. #wordpress (hit or miss)   IRC, #wordpress on irc.freenode.net   http://codex.wordpress.org/IRC   “3rd party” WP Tavern, StudioPress forums, Google, etc

Staying informed   Twitter, #wordpress   http://twitter.com/#!/jaredatch/wordpress   Mailing lists, wp-‐testers, wp-‐hackers – with caution!   Follow weekly developer meetings (IRC)   http://wpdevel.wordpress.com/   Read developer blogs

Helpful WordPress sites   WP Candy   Dougal Campbell   WP Tavern   Lorelle   Bill Erickson   Scribu   Stephanie Leary   Matt Mullenweg   Yoast   Justin Tadlock   Ottopress   Alex Mills (Viper007Bond)   Mark Jaquith   Andrew Nacin

Jared Atchison / jaredatchison.com / @jaredatch

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WordPress Tips & Tricks

by Jared Atchison on May 13, 2011

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WordPress Tips & Tricks — Presentation Transcript