Introduction to WordPress - WordCamp Ottawa 2019

r3df.com
Rick Radko Christie Witt
Twitter: @r3designforge
creativechristie.ca
Instagram: @creativechristabelle
Introduction to WordPress
for Beginners
July 9th, 2019
Slides: slideshare.net/r3df

© 2019 Rick Radko, r3df.com
We are:
Rick Radko – R-Cubed Design Forge
 Software, web and app designer/developer, trainer, speaker.
 Creating custom web sites and web applications since 1996,
and WordPress sites since 2008.
 WordCamp Ottawa and Ottawa WordPress Meetup Founder.
Christie Witt - Creative Christie
 Lead designer for the Canadian Physiotherapy Association in
Ottawa.
 Member of the WordCamp Ottawa organizing team since
2017.
 Speaker at WordCamp Toronto, WordCamp Ottawa and the
1

Introduction to WordPress: Goals
Goals for this session:
Get familiar with WordPress:
 Terms
 Features
 Concepts
 Visual aspects
 Hidden gems
2

Contents - Part 1
1. About WordPress
2. WordPress site orientation
3. Posts and pages
4. The settings panel
5. Menus
6. Resources
7. Plugins
3

Contents - Part 2
8. Themes
9. Widgets
10. Users
11. Maintenance
12. Page Builders – if time
Break – Around 8:30 for 8-10 min
4

About WordPress
5

What is WordPress?
WordPress:
Is a Content Management System. (CMS)
 A tool to help you build a website.
Displays web pages (HTML) dynamically.
Users need no knowledge of: HTML, PHP,
JavaScript etc. (for basic content)
Visual editor to help create content easily.
6

WordPress Visual Editor - Gutenberg
7

What is WordPress continued…
WordPress:
The first version of WordPress was released
May 27, 2003
It is currently the most popular CMS
 Runs millions of websites.
 Stats suggest that WordPress sites represent:
Around 34% of the worlds websites.
Almost 60% of CMS based websites.
WordPress - capital_P_dangit()
8

WordPress versions
3 different WordPress versions:
1. Hosted on wordpress.com
- Often referred to as “.com” WordPress.
2. Self Hosted – Single site (default version)
- Get from wordpress.org, or your website host.
3. Self Hosted – Network or Multisite
- Extra steps to setup.
Need to be aware of which one we are using,
as there are some differences.
9

WordPress types: wordpress.com
wordpress.com – online service (by Automattic)
All you need to get online, but free has limits:
 Restricted to what is provided on the network
 Ads (wordpress.com not yours)
 Costs to add:
Own domain instead of
<something>.wordpress.com)
Customizations (even css changes)
Fewer options/less control than wordpress.org
Some things covered in this presentation can’t10

WordPress types: wordpress.org
Open Source
 WordPress software is free!
 Download a copy to host on your own server
Full control – do anything you want with it
Customize – by adding plugins and themes
 Never alter the code of WordPress, plugins or
themes!
BUT: Will need some skill or help to setup!
11

WordPress Setup
Needs hosting:
 A web server with PHP and MySQL to run.
Hosting service for public sites.
Local server to run it on your pc/laptop
Needs to be installed
 Hosting installers
 Install from scratch “5 Min Install”
 Lots of install guides – not going to cover installing
here, it’s a whole session in itself.
wordpress.org/support/article/how-to-install-wordpress/
12

wordpress.org - networks or multisite
The third version of WordPress is multisite
(network).
Was once a separate version known as
WPMU.
 Will still see references to WPMU
Allows multiple websites on one install.
 Looks like separate sites to visitors
What wordpress.com runs.
Needs some knowledge to set-up.
13

WordPress - Is it really free?
WordPress is free to download
BUT…
Some things you will need may not be free:
 Web hosting (sever)
 A domain (your website address)
 Some WordPress / web design knowledge
 Add-on themes and plugins
 Customization
14

WordPress Costs
wordpress.com
Subscriptions:
 Free – limited – personal site/blog
 $10 - $12/mo basic business site
 Up to $60/mo ecommerce sites
15

WordPress Costs
wordpress.org
Domain: $15 - $40 (could be 100’s)
Hosting: $4 - $20/mo shared, $50+ VPS &
dedicated
Plugins: $15 - $100’s (typical $50-200/yr)
Themes: $45 - $100’s (typical $50-200/yr)
16

Minimal Annual WordPress Costs
1 DIY WordPress Website
(.org or .com)
$150+/yr
17

wordpress.org - customizing
You can add plugins to make your site:
 Multilingual. (numerous techniques & plugins)
 A social site like Facebook. (BuddyPress)
You can add plugins to add:
 Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr connections.
 A forum. (bbpress + others)
 Much, much, more. (1000’s of plugins available)
Add themes to change the look and
sometimes add function. (1000’s of themes 18

wordpress.org - customizing caveat
The more extensive the customization, the
more WordPress knowledge that is required.
 Many free online resources to help, including:
wordpress.org (more later)
 Some low cost resources:
WordPress meet-ups.
WordCamps.
Books.
 More costly: Hiring a WordPress expert.
19

Custom WordPress Costs
WordPress customization:
Themes
 Child Theme “Adjusting things” - $100’s+
 Custom theme - $1000’s
Plugins
 Overriding default functions - $100’s+
 Custom plugins - $1000’s
Custom work - $100’s - $10,000’s
20

Learning about WordPress
Ask questions!!!
WordPress is the easiest CMS to use.
21

WordPress site orientation
22

WordPress front-end
23
WordPress has 2 interfaces for users:
1) The front-end
 The "public" part of the site that your site visitors see.

WordPress back-end, admin or “dashboard”
2) WordPress back-end or “dashboard”
 This is private space where
you manage the site.
To see the dashboard:
login at:
<your-domain>/wp-login.php
24

Back-end Tour
Dashboard “Welcome to WordPress”
message
Screen options tab
Help tab
Admin toolbar
Front end toolbar
 Edit page/post
Left side - Main Menu
Post/Page lists 25

Posts and pages
26

Posts and pages
Posts and pages are the basic content holders
for a WordPress site.
Posts:
 Individual pieces of a collection of content.
Usually used for blogs or similar types of
content.
 Each content piece is associated with a date:
URL: your-domain/2019/06/30/post-title.
 Posts have categories and tags.
27

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, or collections of
posts indexed in various manners.
28

Pages
Pages:
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/
29

Posts and Pages - Demo
Create a page/post
 Add title
 Add text
 Add images and video
 Add other cool content.
 Publishing options
 Featured image
Post Categories and Tags “taxonomies”
Custom post types and taxonomies 30

Settings & Customizer
31

Site title and tagline
How do we change the site title or tagline?
32

Settings
Settings Panels
 General
 Writing
 Reading
 Discussion
 Media
 Permalinks
 Privacy
33

Settings – Customizer
Left Menu: Appearance -> Customize
Newer, and not all settings here, but visual
34

Key Settings - Demo
General
 Site Title and Tagline (customizer)
 Admin Email
 Membership and default roles
 Time zone, format and week start
Reading
 Home page (customizer)
 Blog page show setting
 Search engine visibility
35

More Key Settings
Discussion
 Comment Settings
Permalinks
36

Settings - permalinks
 Here, month and name is set - common choice.
 There is also a custom box where you can edit the
permalink
if you need
something
unusual.
37

Permalink also shows in editor
You can override permalinks
edit in right site meta boxes
If you change your title, you should check the
permalink.
Note: if you change the permalink, you may
want to add a redirect for the old url.
38

Menus
39

Menus
For some themes, default menus are created
from the page list.
 Hierarchy and order are taken from the page list,
with home added at the start.
For better control, see Menus under
Appearance or in the customizer
 Options for where to show menus
 Order and hierarchy
 Display options (css etc)
40

Menus - Demo
Manage Menus
Create, Assign
Add/Delete items
Move items
Hierarcy
41

Resources
42

wordpress.org
wordpress.org - official source for WordPress.
Theme repository – get free and commercial
themes.
Plugin repository – get plugins.
Support forums – get help.
The “codex”. (documentation)
wordpress.tv - WordCamp and other videos
43

WordPress Help
WordPress icon - top left of the admin bar
 Dropdown for links to WordPress help resources.
44

wordpress.org – theme repository
1000’s of
themes
available.
Themes are
reviewed
before
release.
45

wordpress.org – plugin repository
1000’s of
plugins.
Plugins are
reviewed
before
release.
46

wordpress.org – Support
The support pages & forums.
 Seek help with
WordPress,
theme and
plugin issues.
47

Other help
Google WordPress + some topic
Caution, many articles are out of date and
may no longer be relevant.
Books:
Lots of books, make sure it’s current.
 Print editions are usually not current.
Tao of WordPress is a great ebook for
beginners.
Digging into WordPress is a also great ebook,48

Other help
WordCamps:
 “WordCamp is a conference that focuses on
everything WordPress.” – WordCamp Central
Montreal: Aug 10-11, 2019.
Toronto: ?? Usually late fall.
All sorts of WordCamps world wide:
central.wordcamp.org
WordPress Meetup Groups:
 Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and other cities.
49

Plugins
50

Managing Plugins - Demo
 Backup first!!!
 Plugins page
 Active/inactive/recently active counts
 Add plugins (search examples)
Evaluating plugins
 Activate/deactivate
 Settings
 Add plugins (sideload)
 Updates – Update page/plugins page
 Delete 51

Beware of unknown plugins
There are many plugins not on the
wordpress.org repository.
Many of those plugins are very good.
 Most good plugins not on the repository are
commercial ($).
Many are not good, and may even contain
malware.
 blog.sucuri.net/2012/02/new-wordpress-toolspack-
plugin.html
52

Plugin final notes
Remove all unused plugins from your site,
they can be a security issue.
 The Timthumb vulnerability did not need to have
the plugin be active in order to be exploited.
Keep plugins, even inactive ones up to date!
Install a backup plugin AND USE IT!!!
53

Themes
54

Themes
A theme defines the look and feel of your site.
Sets the graphics, colors.
Sets the widget locations.
Defines column layout.
Can be changed relatively easily.
 Beware lock-in.
Cannot add themes when using
wordpress.com. 55

Managing Themes - Demo
 Backup first!!!
 Themes page
 Installed themes
 Add a theme (search examples)
Evaluating themes
 Customizer preview
 Activate/deactivate
 Settings – custom panels like Divi/Beaver
56

Managing Themes continued…
 Add Themes (sideload)
 Updates – Update page/themes page
 Delete
57

Themes not on wordpress.org
Many good commercial themes are not on
wordpress.org.
 iThemes
 Studiopress
 Elegant Themes
 Freelance themes on Theme Forest
 and more….
58

Themes not on wordpress.org
Beware free themes not from wordpress.org
 Google “Free WordPress Themes” and you are
guaranteed to find yourself some malware.
59

Final notes for themes
If you need to modify a theme's code:
You should use a child theme to modify
themes.
If you alter the theme files without a child
theme:
 You will loose your changes if the theme is
updated.
 Can't update to get security fixes.
60

Final notes for themes
Not too hard to create a child theme:
 Write your own from examples.
codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
OR
 Add a plugin - there are several on wordpress.org.
61

Widgets
62

Widgets
Widgets are tools or
content items that
you can add,
arrange, and
remove from the
widgetized areas of
your theme.
The most common
widgetized area is
63

Widgets can be anywhere a theme defines them
Widgets started in sidebars…
Now themes can have many areas for them:
 Sidebars
 Headers, footers
 Special page spaces.
AND now, with the visual editor – Almost
anywhere!
64

Widgets Demo - Demo
Add/Remove/Reorganize widgets
65

Users
66

User levels
Standard WordPress User Levels
Least to most powerful:
Subscriber
 Can not edit or change anything
 Comment only
Contributor
Author
Editor
Admin - can do anything! 67

User roles
Subscriber
Can only manage their profile and comment.
Contributor
Can write and manage their posts but not
publish them + all Subscriber capabilities.
Author
Can publish and manage their own posts + all
Contributor capabilities.
68

User roles
Editor
Can publish and manage posts and pages as
well as manage other users' posts, etc. + all
Author capabilities.
Administrator
Access to all the administration features + all
Editor capabilities.
69

User security issues
Remove any user called "admin" if you have one.
Subject to brute force attacks
Do not use your administrator account on public
wifi if possible.
Use a lower level account
70

Maintenance
71

Maintenance
Keep 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!
Can’t emphasize this enough.
Often neglected.
72

Page Builders
73

Page Builders - Demo
Quick tour of Page Builders
74

The End
75

Contact
Rick Radko
email: wpinfo@r3df.com
twitter: @r3designforge
Christie Witt
website: creativechristie.ca
instagram: @creativechristabelle
76

Introduction to WordPress - WordCamp Ottawa 2019

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