This document provides an overview of building a website using WordPress. It discusses the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, and recommends using WordPress.org for self-hosted sites to have full control. It also lists the basic tools needed like a domain name, web hosting, code editor, FTP client, and image editor. Additionally, it covers installing WordPress, selecting themes, plugins, and settings as well as resources for learning more about using WordPress for websites.

1. Rudy Duke
rduke@nextiumsolutions.com
www.nextiumsolutions.com
202-258-3252

2. Rudy Duke
rduke@nextiumsolutions.com
www.nextiumsolutions.com
202-258-3252

3.  Powerful tools at your disposal
 Relatively easy to build
 Robust Content Management
System (CMS)
 Open Source

4.  Static versus Dynamic Sites
 Which Flavor of WordPress?
 Key Components of a WordPress
Site
 Pages, Permalinks and Posts… Oh
My!

5.  WordPress.com  WordPress.org
 Hosted at  Self-hosted
WordPress.com  Your Domain:
blogging service “yoursite.com”
 WordPress Domain:  Total control of
“yoursite.wordpress. your site
com”  Download / install
 Less control: can’t latest version
use plugins, your  Discussion forums
own ads
 Browse the Codex
(documentation)
 “Real” designers
/developers
 No usage
restrictions at all.
“Free” Professional

6.  Domain Name
 Web Host
 Text / Code Editor
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Program
 Image Editor
 Webmasters Tools Kit
[http://www.leveltendesign.com/
wtk ]

7.  Register a domain name such
as rudyduke.com
 www.Hostway.com or
www.Godaddy.com or
www.HostGator.com are good
choices for registering domains.
◦ Cost is around $10 per year.
◦ At such a low price, consider purchasing
the “yoursite.com”, “yoursite.org” and
even “yoursite.net” versions.
 Select a domain name that:
◦ Represents what your site is about;
◦ Is as short (25 letters or less) as possible, and
◦ Contains real words that are easy to spell.

8.  Owning a domain name is half of the
equation. Now you need a web
server to “host” your domain.
 Hosting is more expensive than
domain names, but for low to
medium traffic sites, even basic
hosting plans are adequate.
 HostGator.com and GoDaddy.com
start at $3 - $5 per month.
 Don’t ever skimp on hosting:
◦ Pick a professional, reliable host that offers great
tech support via multiple media
(web/chat/phone) and can usually get all issues
resolved via text chat in less than 15 minutes.
◦ You get hundreds of professional email boxes
(and can loose that AOL email address)
◦ You can host a WordPress or other CMS site
◦ You can host an e-Commerce site

9.  You don’t really need a
WYSIWYG editor like
Dreamweaver
 Use a real Code Editor
 Several to choose from that are
free of inexpensive (< $60)
 Notepad++ (www.notepad-plus-
plus.org) is a free source code
editor for MS Windows
 jEdit is a mature programmer's
text editor for MACs

10.  You’ll need an FTP (File Transfer
Protocol) software program to
connect to your web server and
transfer files back and forth from your
computer
 File transfer is all you need, but some
programs offer more
 Several to choose from that are free
or inexpensive
 FileZilla (http://filezilla-project.org/ )is
a free program that is all you need
whether Windows or MAC

11.  You’ll need an image editor to
prepare graphics for your
WordPress site
 Although WordPress does a good
job of optimizing and resizing
graphics, you often need original
graphics to be in the right
proportion for sliders and such
 Free/Inexpensive Image Editors:
◦ Color Schemer:
 www.colorschemer.com/online.html
◦ GIMP:
◦ Photoshop Elements (<$100)
 Premium
◦ Adobe CS5.5 Web Premium

12.  You MUST see what your site looks
like in all the major browsers, so
it’s a good idea to download
them to your system
◦ Firefox (FF3.0+)
 Most Popular amongst Web Designers
for Developers’ add-ons
 Latest version is FF4.0
◦ Internet Explorer (IE7+) – Latest version
is IE9.0
◦ Google Chrome
◦ Safari (Mac and iDivices)
◦ Opera (prettiest)

13.  Webmasters Tools Kit
◦ [http://www.leveltendesign.com/wtk
] is a compilation of many of the
aforementioned
 ColorPix:
◦ http://colorschemer.com/colorpix_inf
o.php
◦ ColorPix is a neat little app that will let
you grab the color values and screen
coordinates at any pixel on your
screen.

14. Installation in an
Instant (well… 5
minutes)
Setting the Right
settings

15.  Business Requirements &
Objectives
 Picking the Perfect Theme
 Picking Powerful Plugins
 Categories and Tags
 Permalinks: Your URL Structure
 Users and Administrators

16.  Things to look for in a theme
 Where to find free themes
 Where to buy premium themes

18.  There are certain features that all
themes should have:
◦ Navigation
◦ Theme Options
◦ Widget Ready
◦ The Functionality you need for each
project
◦ Source files for customization

19.  Free themes are normally not as
feature-rich as paid/premium themes;
but there are many free themes that
are better than some paid themes
◦ WordPress.org Theme Library -
http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/
◦ Smashing Magazine -
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/
wordpress/
◦ http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/201
0/08/19/100-free-high-quality-wordpress-
themes-for-2010/#more-51885
◦ Google -
http://www.google.com/search?q=wordpr
ess+themes
◦ Digging Into WordPress Theme Clubhouse
http://themeclubhouse.digwp.com/
 A sample free theme:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2
011/05/30/free-wordpress-3-1-theme-
splendio-with-psd-sources/

20.  ThemeForest -
http://themeforest.net/
 WooThemes -
http://www.woothemes.com/
 ElegantThemes -
http://www.elegantthemes.com/
 WPBest - http://wpbest.com/

21.  The WordPress Plugin Repository
 Installing and Activating Plugins

24.  300+ Resources to Become an Expert
◦ http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/09/300-
resources-to-help-you-become-a-wordpress-expert/
 Book: Digging Into WordPress
◦ http://digwp.com/book/
 Major WordPress Update (3.2) due out June 30th
◦ http://www.sitepoint.com/seven-things-you-should-know-
about-wordpress-3-2/