This Austin WordPress Beginner’s class goes back to basics. WPATX has seen membership climb and most of our new members are just that — Folks new to WordPress. Those of us who teach and mentor can often forget the level of confusion that comes with learning a new language, and no, I’m not talking about PHP or JS. I have been remembering how difficult it was for me to envision and understand what was happening when I was following the “simple instructions” of setting up and using my first WordPress site. This WPATX Beginner’s class will be devoted to learning the vocabulary of WordPress, understanding the industry nomenclature that describes just how WordPress does what it does when you tap your keyboard. The goal of this class is to help our community of WordPress Beginners really understand what is going on behind the screen when you are entering text into your pages and posts and adding plugins.

1. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
How WordPress
Works
Austin WordPress Beginner’s Meetup
October 17, 2016
Presented by Sandi & Nick Batik

2. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
WordPress is a
Content
Management
System
A Content Management System gives
non-technical folks the ability to publish
their content on the Web

3. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Understanding Some
Content Management
System Basics
A Content Management System (CMS) is a
Database-driven software application
The CMS runs on a computer (server)
connected to the web
Website content is stored in the database
The software queries (Asks) the database
for the content to present on a web page

4. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
How Does It Ask?
Your WordPress theme
A theme is a collection of templates
Each template contains the
programming code to get specific
content from the database
e.g. display the 5 most recent posts

5. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Content vs.
AppearanceWordPress separates the content
(database) from how it appears (theme)
WordPress holds ALL Content in the
Database
How that Information is Presented on the
web is the Job of the Theme
With WordPress You can Change the
Theme without affecting The Content

6. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Hosting WordPress
In order for your site to be viewed / visited on the
web, your site has to be “Hosted” on a Server
The Hosting companies that manage these
website servers charge a monthly fee
The Internet as you know it ,is simply a network
of of interconnected servers which share
information with each other
This interconnectivity gives us the ability to call up
and view sites

7. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
How The Internet
Finds Your Site
Your Site is identified by your Web
Address:
Your URL (Universal Resource
Locator)
Buying and Registering your URL is
Similar To Registering Your Business
Name With The Secretary of State

8. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
How The Internet
Finds Your Site
Some Hosting Companies offer both
Domain Registration and Hosting
Some Just sell and manage Domain
Name Registration and management

9. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
How The Internet
Finds Your Site
Your Hosting Company provides you
an IP Address
The Domain Registrar Connects your
domain Name to your IP Address

10. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
WordPress.Com
vs
WordPress.org
What Are The Differences?

11. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
How To Get Into Your
WordPress Site
To you “Log-in” to WordPress you
type:
https://yoursitename.com/wp-admin

12. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
What is WordPress?WordPress Is an Application
Your Hosting Server Is a Computer,
the same as your desktop or laptop
computer
You have to install applications on your
hosting server the same as on personal
computer
This is typically done with a “Control
Panel”
or a Dashboard

13. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik

14. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
They May Look
Different …But They
Work the Same

15. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Every WordPress Site
Is Unique
Each of the millions of WordPress
Sites has Its Own Address and
Password and it’s own install of
WordPress files.
Your Sites Dashboard is how you
control the Words and Pictures that
are part of your site

16. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Automated Install
The following things happen during the automated
install:
A MySQL database is created
WordPress files are copied to the web hosting server
directory.
A configuration file connects WordPress to your
database.
The installer prompts you for a site title, username,
and password
The installer adds starter information to the database

17. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
What Exactly is a
MySQL Database?MySQL is The Database That Works With
WordPress
Functionally a database is way to organize
information so you can find it when you need it
It also connects related Information such as:
Pictures with Captions
Pictures with their Posts or Pages
Related Posts or Pages

18. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
This Is What
WordPress Does
WordPress is a program
Its written in a language called PHP
It communicates with the MySQL
database to retrieve and display your
content in a web browser

19. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Understanding the
WordPress
“Dashboard”
You Reach Your WordPress
Dashboard by adding the /wp-admin
to your site URL
Working In The Dashboard
is Referred to working in the “Back-
End” of the site

20. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Understanding the
WordPress
“Dashboard”There are Two Parts To WordPress:
The Public Part, and
The Private Part
This is similar to the public area and
back office of any business
The front end of the site is what the site
visitor sees in their Browser

21. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
The WordPress
ThemeThe theme you choose determines the
look of your site.
The theme consists of PHP files with
HTML, CSS, and Javascript all
working together to display your site in
a unique way
You can change your theme without
effecting the content of your site.

22. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Theme Demo
http://www.csszengarden.com/

23. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
WordPress Plugins
WordPress Plugins are bits of code
that extend the functionality of your
WordPress site
WordPress Plugins add functionality such
as e-commerce, scheduling calendars,
and site visitor analytics.
Plugins help you upload, manage or
manipulate images, documents, audio,
video and much more

24. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Looking Under The
Hood of a
WordPress

25. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
WordPress File
Structure Demo

26. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik

27. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Presenter
Sandi Batik
WordPress evangelist, consultant, trainer,
curricula developer, author, unapologetic
geek, unrepentant capitalist, lucky enough
to do what I love everyday. I’ve served as
Austin WordPress Meetup co-organizer
since 2010. With my husband Nick Batik,
co-founded Pleiades Publishing Services
in 1992 and Hands-On WordPress
Training in 2010.
Follow me @sandi_batik / @WPATX
Contact me at: handsonwp.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsandracheva
lierbatik

28. HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Presenter
Nick Batik
Started in web development in 1994 and
have been a WordPress consultant, and
web developer since 2007. A
WordPress evangelist, I’ve served as
Austin WordPress Meetup co-organizer
since 2010. With my partner, co-founded
Pleiades Publishing Services in 1992
and Hands-On WordPress Training in
2010.
Follow me @nick_batik / @WPATX
Contact me at: handsonwp.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasbatik