This document provides an introduction to WordPress for beginners. It covers the basics of WordPress including the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, posts vs pages, themes, plugins, widgets and resources for learning more. The presentation includes both information slides and hands-on exercises to help attendees understand and use WordPress.

1. WordPress Essentials
for Beginners
November 2015
YES Montreal

2. Alex Ruaux
Web Developer
Molecularcode Web Design
@molecularcode

3. Kathryn Presner
Happiness Engineer
Automattic Theme Division
@zoonini

4. What We’ll Cover
Intro to WordPress
Resources
Hands-on WordPress

5. Intro to WordPress

6. Blog

7. CMS+Blog

8. CMS

9. Product Showcase/Store

10. Video/Image Portfolio

11. Diving into WordPress
What is WordPress?
WordPress.com vs.
WordPress.org
What is it used for?
http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

12. WordPress Basics
Database vs. files
PHP vs. HTML
Do I need to know
PHP?
Database ➜
Scripting
Language ➜
Markup
Language ➜
Structure Presentation
Dynamic Functions
Data

13. Posts vs. Pages
Page

14. Posts vs. Pages
Post

15. Posts vs. Pages
Posts

16. Introduction to Themes
A WP Theme is a collection of Template files -
HTML + PHP + CSS + JS
The CSS (aka stylesheet) usually controls the
layout and design
Only two template files are required: index.php,
style.css
Some are optional: sidebar.php, comments.php,
etc.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Stepping_Into_Templates
http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy

19. Pre-made Themes
WordPress.org Directory
http://wordpress.org/themes/
Elmastudio
http://www.elmastudio.de/en/
Press75
http://www.press75.com/
The Theme Foundry
https://thethemefoundry.com/
Cedaro
http://www.cedaro.com/

20. Modifying a Pre-made Theme
Don’t edit original theme files
CSS tweaks:
custom CSS plugin
(standalone or Jetpack module)
Beyond CSS tweaks:
child theme

21. Introduction to Plugins
What are they?
Where do you get them?
http://wordpress.org/plugins/

22. Managing Plugins

23. Introduction to Widgets
What are
they?
What is a
widget
area?
http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Widgets

24. Managing Widgets

25. Widgets in the Customizer

26. WordPress Resources

27. Official
wordpress.org
The Codex (.org)
http://codex.wordpress.org/
Support Forum (.org)
http://wordpress.org/support
Support (.com)
http://en.support.wordpress.com
wordpress.tv
http://wordpress.tv/

28. Development Resources
Official Theme Development Checklist & Sample Data
http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development_Checklist
Book: Digging Into WordPress
http://digwp.com/
ThemeShaper
http://themeshaper.com/
Online Resources Compilation
http://kpresner.com/wordpress-resources/
In-Person Resources Compilation
http://kpresner.com/wordpress-resources-in-person/

29. WordPress Inspiration
WP Showcase
http://wordpress.org/showcase/
We Love WP
http://welovewp.com/
WPInspiration
http://wpinspiration.com/

30. Questions?
Get the presentation at Slideshare
http://www.slideshare.net/zoonini
Connect with us
Twitter: @molecularcode @zoonini
Join the local community
http://wpmtl.org
Thanks to Shannon Smith at Café Noir Design for work on the original
version of this presentation: http://www.cafenoirdesign.com

31. Let’s go Spelunking!