Content Architecture - WPDurham April 2018

1. SHANTA R. NATHWANI - @SHANTADOTCA - HTTP://SHANTA.CA PROJECT DATE CLIENT MAY 27, 2017 AKA. PAGES VS. POSTS & CATEGORIES VS. TAGS HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR CONTENT 1

2. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca Main Idea Posts vs. Pages & Categories vs. Tags. There is so much confusion about what types of things should be put on a page and what should be in a post. Static vs. Dynamic content is the best way to tackle this. When creating a website, you can edit a menu to include not only pages, but also category archives that can create a more complete experience. 2

3. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca AGENDA INTRODUCTION PAGES & POSTS CATEGORIES & TAGS LIVE DEMO Q & A’S 3

4. FIND ME! TWEET ME: @SHANTADOTCA WEBSITE: HTTP://SHANTA.CA 4

5. ABOUT ME Instructor, Sheridan College Web Design and Capstone Project Graduate, BrainStation FT Web Dev Serial WordCamper. 24 talks in 27 WordCamps Including Co- organizer, WordCamp Hamilton, 2015-18, Toronto in 2015 and Milwaukee 2016 Contributor, The WPCrowd “Lead Dudette” deﬁned as: "a young woman or girl who is very popular or admired by her peers”. Thanks @modmatt! 5 Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca

6. DISCLAIMER WE ARE JUST DEALING WITH THE DEFAULT WORDPRESS POSTS HERE. FOR MORE INFO, TAKE A LOOK AT CPT’S 6

7. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca 1. WRITE DOWN ON POST IT NOTES ALL THE MAIN TOPICS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE ON YOUR WEBSITE. Events ServicesRecipes Contact Products Portfolio Blog 7 About Us

8. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca POST-IT NOTES Used to put down all the pieces of information that you want to put on your website Later on, you may want to colour code them into categories and pages During the presentation today, start ﬁlling in those post-its with your ideas of what you want on the site. You may not ﬁnish it today, but it will give you a start. 8

9. AN EXAMPLE FROM CHAOS COMES ORDER 9 Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca Step 1 (below) Step 2 (right top) Step 4 (right bottom)

10. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca FOLLOW ALONG! WE ARE GOING TO PUT TOGETHER OUR MENU BASED ON CONTENT WE’VE ALREADY GOT. FOLLOW ALONG AT: HTTP://TANTIENHIME.COM 10

11. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca 3-5-7 PRINCIPLE • No more than 5-7 items in a list. • This includes menus and lists 11 • 3 Clicks to where you need to be • Few (very few) exceptions

12. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca PAGES VS POSTS PAGES Static information for the most part “About Us” is a great example Does not use Categories Can have sub-pages Dynamic information Time sensitive Uses Categories & Tags “Upcoming Events” or “Events Attended” are good examples 12 P0STS

13. Pages Categories Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca 2. FIGURE OUT WHICH ONES WILL BE CATEGORIES AND WHICH ONES WILL BE PAGES About Us Events Services Recipes Contact Products Portfolio 13

14. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca 3. CHANGE THE COLOUR OF EITHER ONE OR THE OTHER SO THAT YOU CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE Events Recipes Portfolio 14 Pages Categories About Us Services Contact Products

15. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca CATEGORIES VS. TAGS CATEGORIES • Major classiﬁcations for information • “Events” is a great example • Can have sub-categories (much like pages) • Describes the content using keywords • WordPress recommends 5-7 per post 15 TAGS

16. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca WORDPRESS MENUS Menus can contain: • Categories (sometimes called “Category Archives”) • Pages • External Links • The number of menus that are supported depend on the theme you choose, so do that ﬁrst!Since 3.6, you can now choose what menu goes where (main, sidebars). Again, dependant on the theme. 16

17. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca 4. KEEPING THE 3-5-7 RULE, START TO STRUCTURE YOUR MENUS ACCORDING TO THE TOPIC, NOT WHETHER OR NOT YOUR CONTENT IS A POST OR A PAGE. About Us EventsServices Contact Recipes Portfolio 17 Products

18. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca 5. CREATE YOUR MENU IN WORDPRESS USING PAGES AND CATEGORIES! 18

19. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca GO LIVE! HTTP://TANTIENHIME.COM/WP-ADMIN (FOR ME) HTTP://TANTIENHIME.COM (FOR YOU) 19

20. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca Resources How to create your menu: https://learn.wordpress.com/get- published-30/#lecustommenu (Created for .com, but still applicable) Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web: http:// www.amazon.com/Information-Architecture-Blueprints-Christina- Wodtke/dp/0735712506 (until last year, used by our course) Don’t Make Me Think: http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think- Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515 (one of the books that replaced IA) Evil By Design: http://evilbydesign.info/book/ (the other new book) WordPress.tv: http://shanta.ca/posts-vs-pages-and-categories-vs-tags- video-at-wordcamp-montreal-2015/ (my earlier talk, including creating the menu) 20

21. Shanta R. Nathwani - @ShantaDotCa - http://shanta.ca QUESTIONS? TWEET ME: @SHANTADOTCA MY WEB SITE: HTTP://SHANTA.CA HIRE ME: SHANTA@SHANTA.CA 21

Content Architecture - WPDurham April 2018

Shanta Nathwani

Content Architecture - WPDurham April 2018