How to WordPress: the basics, part 1

“How to WordPress: the basics” Part 1Rick Radko WPOTTAWA, Ottawar3df.com November 7th, 2012

Who am I?Rick Radko – R-Cubed Design Forge  Software, web and app designer/developer.  Creating web sites since 1996.  Artistic and creative engineer.  WordPress enthusiast.Slides are posted at:  http://www.slideshare.net/r3df© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 1

What is WordPress?WordPress:  Is a dynamic content management system. (CMS)  A tool to help you build a website.  Like Microsoft Word helps you create documents.  Creates web pages (HTML) dynamically  Requires minimal knowledge of web programming or markup languages (HTML, PHP, JavaScript etc.).  Allows users to create website content easily  WYSIWYG editor© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 7

WordPress is WYSIWYGLooks similar to a lot of word processing applications.  This image shows the WordPress post editor with an extended editor plugin added (TinyMCE Advanced)© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 8

What is WordPress continued…WordPress:  Is currently the most popular CMS in use on the Internet.  Needs a web server with PHP and MySQL to run.  Hosting service.  Local server is needed to run it on your pc/laptop.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 9

Is it really free?WordPress is free:  The core WordPress software is free:  As in open source.  Freedom to use it as you want, even to change it.  As in beer.  But that does not necessarily mean a free website.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 10

WordPress popularity – April 2012Popularity:  Runs 10-16% of worlds web sites depending on who’s stats you believe.Grey bars – % of all websitesGreen bars – % of CMS websites http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management/all© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 11

Some major sites using WordPress  katyperry.com  boingboing.com  thinkblue.vw.com  techcrunch.com  social.ford.com  life.time.com  blogs.nfl.com  venturebeat.com  mashable.com  gigaom.com  piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com  newyork.cbslocal.com  stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com  icanhascheezburger.com© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 15

WordPress versions3 different WordPress’s:  WordPress.com  Often referred to as “.com” WordPress  WordPress.org (Self hosted)  Regular  Network or MultisiteNeed to be aware of which one we are talkingabout or using, there are differences.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 16

WordPress.comWordPress.com is a service (by Automattic)  They provide WordPress AND hosting  Free for basic site: somename.wordpress.com  WordPress.com, is not at all related to using or not using “.com” domains on a site.  Costs:  Using a your own domain name: $13-$25/yr  CSS changes: $30/yr  To turn off advertising: $30/yr  Customization, VIP service $$© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 17

WordPress.com  Getting Started:  Choose a name  Sign-up  Start using your blog  Optional:  Choose a theme from those available  Enable some plugins from those available© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 18

WordPress.com continued…  Limitations:  Limited to what WordPress.org offers for themes and plugins  Limited ability to customize  Many things covered in this presentation you can’t do on WordPress.com  Can’t monetize (can’t run Google ads etc)  WordPress.com runs advertising on your site  No custom analytics© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 19

WordPress.orgWordPress.org  Home of the open source version of WordPress.  Free! – Just download it  Some things you may need that may cost:  A web host (self-hosted)  Usually $80-150/year for basic shared hosting  A domain  $0-20/year for a domain  Some WordPress /Web knowledge  Hire an expert?  Site maintenance/updates and backups© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 21

WordPress.org continued…  Getting Started:  Choose a domain name (and purchase)  Sign-up for web hosting – Get a domain if free  Set-up WordPress  Download from WordPress.org and install. OR  Install from hosting control panel.  .org is what you get with installers like Fantastico, and Simplescripts etc.  Start using your site© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 22

WordPress.org  Optional: Customize WordPress completely  Add and/or customize/alter:  Themes  Plugins  Widgets  Even alter the code! (not recommended)  Limitations:  None!© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 23

WordPress.org customizing  Can add plugins to make your site:  multilingual - Numerous techniques & plugins  a social site like Facebook (BuddyPress)  connect to: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr  Auto publish content  a forum (bbpress + others)  a wiki  much, much, more (1000’s of plugins available)  Add themes to change the look and sometimes add function (1000’s of themes available)© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 24

WordPress.org customizingCaveat:  The more extensive the customization, the more WordPress knowledge that is required.  Many free resources to help  WordPress.org  Other online resources  Some low cost resources  WordPress meet-ups  WordCamps  Books  May need to hire a WordPress expert.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 25

WordPress.org networks or multisiteWith the WordPress.org download you can also setit up as a “network” of sites or “multisite”.  Was once known as WPMU, a separate program.  Multiple sites on one install.  That it is one install may not be obvious to users.  Limited version of what WordPress.com runs.  Needs some knowledge to set-up.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 27

wordpress.comThis presentation is based on a self hostedwordpress.org install.  Some of what we do will still work on wordpress.com but many things may look/be different.  Things like installing plugins and themes will not work.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 28

Installing WordPressInstalling WordPress  Lots of install guides – not going to cover installing here, it’s a whole session in itself.  http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPressMany hosting companies have “one click” installscripts for WordPress.  Fantastico, Simplescripts etc.  OK for your first installs, but beware there can be issues.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 30

WordPress native vs scripted installsGetting and installing WordPress fromwordpress.org is more complicated than using thescripts, but it allows you to correct the securityissues associated with a scripted install.  Installer applications:  May add files to your site for “internal” tracking.  May not install the latest version of WordPress.  Usually use default database settings for names and table prefixes – this reduces security.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 31

Screen optionsSelect what you want to see, un-tick the rest.  You can bring back the welcome screen here.Look for screen options on many admin pages:  Options change for each page.  Check here if you seem to be missing stuff on a page, a lot of things are off by default.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 39

Posts and pagesPosts and pages are the basic content holders fora WordPress site.  Posts:  Collection of static content blocks.  Associated with a date:  URL: your-domain/2008/11/30/post-title.  Only posts in RSS feed.  Posts have categories and tags.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 51

Posts  Can be displayed many ways (dynamic):  Usually listed in reverse chronological order.  Sticky posts. (show at the top, need theme support)  Archives, by date, by author.  Categories and tags.  Many different sidebar widgets can be used to create lists and indices to posts.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 52

Posts and pagesPages:  Are individual static stand alone content blocks.  Good for things like an About page. (any web site pages)  Usually in site menus.  Do not use tags or categories.  Not tied to date.  URL: domainname.com/page-title/© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 56

Post categoriesLets add a category to our post:  Can select from existing or create a new one.  We only have the default category “Uncategorized” so far.  Lets create a new category.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 62

Publishing options - draftLets look at the publish box in detail  Before the first save – there is a draft button  As long as you hit the draft button it will stay unpublished.  Not visible anywhere on site© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 68

Publishing options - status  Click the edit beside status and the panel expands.  You can change save your post for review.  You can our post status back to draft after publishing.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 70

Publishing options – visibility  Click the edit beside visibility and the panel expands.  This is where the sticky option is hiding.  You can password protect it.  You can save a post as private.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 71

Publishing options – publishing details  Click the edit beside visibility and the panel expands  You can change your publish date.  Why?  Change the display order. (remember they are shown reverse chronologically)  Publish in the future! (vacations)© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 72

Upload from URLUpload from URL: the image is not included in yourpost!  It is loaded from the other site when a page is viewed.  NOT in your gallery.  Gallery functions don’t work.  YouTube does not work .here© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 79

Pasting from Word/ExcelYou can edit in MS Word or Excel and paste intoWordPress, but:  There can be issues with formatting – Word adds a lot of junk to it’s HTML.  Use the paste from Word button.  May loose formatting, tables, lists etc – do final layout/formatting in WordPress.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 91

Settings - permalinksPermalink settings change the way the URL isdisplayed.  Default sample page:  http://your-domain/?page_id=2  Default child page:  http://your-domain/?page_id=36  Default post:  http://your-domain/?p=4  Not very “pretty” or readable, Google does not like them either! No hierarchy for child page.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 97

The URL’s with permalinksThe sample page is now:  http://your-domain/sample-pageThe child page is now:  http://your-domain/sample-page/sample-child- page  It shows the hierarchy.Our post is now:  http://your-domain/2012/05/hello-wpottawa© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 99

Permalink also shows in editorYou can override permalinks – use edit  If you change your title, you need to update the permalink.  Note: if you change the permalink, you may want to add a redirect for the old url.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 100

MaintenanceKeep your site up to date  WordPress, Plugins and Themes  All have bug updates, security patches and new feature releases.  Not keeping up to date increases the risk of hacking substantially.  Before you update anything – make a backup!© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 102

BackupsBACKUP!!!  Can’t emphasize this enough.  Often neglected.  Backups make the difference between a 10 minute restore and needing days to restore a site.  Hacking.  Finger trouble. (oops!)  Server failure.  Update failures  Conflicts with new plugins/themes© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 103

When to BackupBACKUP!!!  Before any update.  WordPress.  Themes – updates or adding a new theme.  Plugins - updates or adding a new plugins.  Major content changes.  Regular automatic backups.  You don’t need to remember to do it.  Always up to date.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 104

Ignore the “door to door” salesmen – (SPAM)With your own domain and web site you will get:  SPAM emails & WordPress comments to your blog/site telling you:  How “bad” your site looks, and they can fix it for you.  That your site “does not work” on mobile devices.  Your SEO ranking is really low, but they can get you to #1.  In most cases these are automated and they have not even looked at your site, or rankings.  Even the WordPress comments are automated!  Ignore them!© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 105

Mobile – your site may work just fineYou need to zoom and scroll, but my siteworks on most mobile devices – yet itwas never designed for mobile.Pick a theme for your site that works onmobile and effort/cost for mobile = 0.© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 109

Link SPAM - CommentsLink SPAM  Usually black-hat SEO trying to get a clients link posted to your site. (attempt to improve inbound link count for the client)  Cheapfamilyvacations anyone?© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 110

Link SPAM - CommentsLook for:  Link that is nothing related to your site  Comments that sound great (if you ignore the often bad grammar and spelling) but don’t actually say anything substantial about your site. (no ties to your content)© 2012 Rick Radko, r3df.com 111

How to WordPress: the basics, part 1

by R-Cubed Design Forge

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics