My lightning talk from the #wpmelb September 2013 Meetup.

1. @AaronRutley
Client-friendly
WordPress websites

2. About me
‣ Co-founder of ‘eleven media’ a small web design agency
‣ I’m a full time WordPress Theme Developer
‣ Coding WP themes for 5+ years
‣ 1 free WP plugin (1k downloads)
‣ 2 free WP themes (100k downloads)

3. Why Client-friendly ?
‣ Less training / support / documentation
‣ Happy clients
‣ Happy developer
“Aim to make the client’s wp-admin
experience as intuitive as possible.”

4. How I create Client-friendly sites:
‣ I customise the wp-admin area to suit the project
‣ I use Pages instead of 3.0 Menus
‣ I use code instead of Widgets
‣ I use CPTs sparingly
‣ I use Custom Fields for everything
* I have a completely different mindset if I’m developing a theme for distribution
* You might not agree & that’s cool !

5. Customising the wp-admin area
‣ Restrict the client to “editor” role
‣ Clean up the wp-admin
(Minimal Admin, Adminimize & Functions)
‣ Tailor the admin experience
(Admin Columns, White Label CMS & Functions)
“I give clients everything they need to
manage content & hide everything they don't.”

6. Powering navigation with pages
‣ Pages are easy to understand
‣ 3.0 Menus can get confusing
‣ Plugin : Simple Page Ordering
‣ Plugin : Admin Collapse Sub Pages
‣ Plugin : Exclude Pages from Navigation

7. Custom solutions over Widgets
Eg : Twitter Feed
‣ Is the functionality even needed / what’s this solving ?
‣ Which widget / plugin to use ? do you need a plugin ?
‣ Can a widget be styled to suit the business / brand ?

8. Use CPTs sparingly
‣ I use Custom Post Types for content that would typically
be shown multiple times & likely have a ‘single’ page:
(Products, Staff Profiles, Testimonials)
‣ I don’t use Custom Post Types for content that is shown once
(Sliders, FAQ’s, Galleries)
‣ I’m guilty of overusing CPT’s in the past ; )

9. Use Custom Fields for everything
‣ Custom Fields / Post Meta is Ideal for complex layouts
(Advanced Custom Fields, Pods, Types & Functions)
‣ I use ACFs to replace ‘post type’ plugins (faqs, sliders etc)
‣ ACF with the ‘Flexible Content Field’ add-on is awesome
for responsive design
‣ Very client friendly (no shortcodes etc)

10. Quick Demo

11. Thanks!
@AaronRutley
www.elevenmedia.com.au