USING WORDPRESS AS A
TRAINING TOOL
Reno-Tahoe WordCamp 2009
Michelle Montoya
http://michellereno.com | @michellereno

WHAT IS WORDPRESS?
WordPress is an open source package

that can complete the same tasks as a
high budget commercial Content
Management System (CMS).
Easily handles search engine optimization, portal

development, content management, response
systems, permissions-based reading, and more.
Plugins help customize WordPress and communicate

with other websites, business applications, and news
services.

HOW TO CREATE A WORDPRESS WEBSITE
Seven ( 7) Simple Steps

Create domain name: http://www.domaintools.com/
1.
Register domain: http://register.com, http://NetworkSolutions.com,
2.
http://www.domjax.com/
Find hosting provider: http://www.thehostingguide.com/
3.
Install WordPress: Use Fantastico to automatically install
4.
Upload WordPress theme: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/
5.
Modify the theme: Edit images, fonts, etc.
6.
Add plugins: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
7.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POSTS & PAGES
Posts

Listed in reverse chronological order

on the blog home page or on the posts
page (if you have one)
Can be found in the Archives,

Categories, Recent Posts, and other
widgets and are also displayed in the
RSS feed of the blog
Pages

Fixed / static and a good option to

publish information that doesn’t
change much (like an “About” page)
Appear in the Pages widget and in

tabs across the top of some themes
and are not associated with a
date/time

USING WORDPRESS TO COMMUNICATE
Many options for sharing

information with others
Create posts and pages for

others to read
 Allow comments to
exchange ideas
Using the various user

profiles (roles and
capabilities), administrator
controls who can post, edit,
reply, or delete posts and
pages

ROLES AND CAPABILITIES
Create multiple users to share information

Administrator - Has access to all administration

features
Editor - Can publish posts, manage posts, and manage

other people's posts, etc.
Author - Can publish and manage their own posts

Contributor - Can write and manage own posts but can

not publish posts
Subscriber - Can read comments, can comment, can

receive news letters, etc.

SITEMAP FOR TRAINING WEBSITE
Home Page – Include select

number of blog posts, archives, search
bar, link to social media applications
(Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
About Page – Explain purpose of

training, mission / vision statement
Project Schedule / Calendar

Page – Show deadlines, important
dates, training details, etc.
Users / Trainers Page – Link to

individual blogs / websites

HOW TO USE PLUGINS
Plugins extend and expand WP functionality

Find additional plugins in WP’s plugin directory

Find, download, rate, and comment on all the plugins the

WordPress community has to offer
Over 4,200 plugins currently available to modify your

website to fit your
needs
http://wordpress.org/

extend/plugins/

PLUGIN: ROLE MANAGER
Role Manager plugin allows administrator to define

and manage multiple subscriber profiles and create
new roles and capabilities.
http://www.im-web-gefunden.de/wordpress-plugins/role-

manager/

PLUGINS: CALENDARS
Several plugins exist for adding a

calendar
Google has a plugin to integrate your Google calendar

http://code.google.com/p/wpng-calendar/downloads/list

Events-Calendar is a plugin that displays a big calendar

but lets you add a small calendar to the main sidebar
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/events-calendar/

Calendar for WordPress plugin lets you manage events

from your dashboard
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/calendar/

WP-Cal is a calendar plugin with “events” independent

from “posts”
http://www.fahlstad.se/wp-plugins/wp-cal/


PLUGIN: SCHOLARPRESS COURSEWARE
ScholarPress Courseware enables you to add and edit

a schedule, create a bibliography and assignments,
and manage general course information.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/scholarpress-courseware/


PLUGIN: CIMY USER EXTRA FIELDS
Allows administrator to modify the

restricted and predefined fields that are
available in the registered users profile
Lets administrators add as many new

fields as are needed to the users' profile
Useful to gather information, including

biography, image, websites, and other
services (Flickr, YouTube, SlideShare, etc.)
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cimy-

user-extra-fields/

A GOOD WEBSITE SHOULD…
Be easy for others to access information

Encourage participation among users

Be easy for administrator to manage


THE END… FINALLY!!
Thank you! Questions?
Connect with me online:
http://michellereno.com
http://twitter.com/michellereno
http://linkedin.com/in/michellereno