1.
Shelley Keith and Stephanie Leary
The WordPress University

2.
New book coming Fall
2014!
Content Strategy for WordPress
demonstrates how to build structured
content for higher ed sites.
Sign up to be notified when it’s out:
http://sleary.me/list

3.
Who we are
Shelley (@sk140)
Lone web geek on a campus
of ~3500 students and 400
faculty/staff.
HEWEB program committee
since 2006. Chaired regional
HEWEB 2010 & 2011 events.
Launched WPMU in May
2009. Alone.
Stephanie (@sleary)
Lone web geek in an office of
6 (+45 student tutors)
serving 50,000 students.
HEWEB program committee,
2005-2009.
Launched single WP sites in
2008; consolidated network
August 2010.
17 plugins on Extend.

4.
We
made
this

5.
Why WordPress?

6.
Why WordPress?
Shelley, 2005
• Zero dedicated web
staff
• No budget
• 16,000 html files
• Rampant
duplication
• Headers and
navigation files
(template)
• Images
• 4700 broken links
• No search
• No site map
• No analytics
• No remote access
• No process
• No hope
• MS FrontPage

7.
Why WordPress?
Stephanie, 2008
• Creaky Mambo site precariously
upgraded to Joomla 1.15
• 1.5 wasn't out yet, beta broke our
theme and all our plugins
• Confusing divisions of content in admin
screens
• Comments required plugin, [mxc] code
inserted into content

8.
Why WordPress?
Stephanie, 2008
• No RSS feeds. My predecessor had a
desktop app to generate them by hand.
• No podcasting. Uploaded MP3s to FTP
server, inserted links, did RSS by hand.
• Terrible search... also plugin-based.
• No budget.

9.
The Drupal Detour
(a 17-month mistake)
• 6 was out, but plugins hadn't been
updated.
• Emulating WP's simple editing UI -- rich
text editor, media upload/insert --
required 3 plugins meant to work
together. They didn't.
• Post editing UI overwhelmed by
taxonomies and podcasting module.

10.
The Drupal Detour
(a 17-month mistake)
• Clean URL module flaky, self-
contradictory; couldn't stabilize.
• "View" creation required master's
degree in HCI.
• Couldn't create multiple blogs without
tying them to users.
• Recommended upgrade process
documented at 18 hours.

11.
Advantages
• UI for posts and pages: EASY
• Scheduling: EASY
• Clean URLs
• feeds for everything (feed table handout)
• One-click upgrades
• widgets and menus
• Free in the repository: 16k plugins & 1,400
themes

12.
Weaknesses
• Lacks native reusable content & network-
wide internal linking system
• Requires caching plugin, not included, to
optimize speed
• Critical plugins can fail as WP advances
• Disjointed and incomplete advanced
documentation
• Heavy use of pages can be problematic
• Lacks robust native workflow

13.
Multisite and Child
Themes
• Setup options
• site.domain.edu
• domain.edu/site
• Theme Frameworks
• Genesis
• Thematic
• Headway
• Whiteboard

14.
Compared to other
CMSs
• Fast development cycles
• WP 3.0 to 3.1: 8 months
• Drupal 6.0 to 7.0: 3 years
• Joomla 1.5 to 1.6: 3 years
• Cohesive, disciplined core developer
group
• UI focused on ease of use

15.
Compared to other
CMSs
• Core features work very well
• Comments
• RSS and Atom feeds
• Permalinks
• Nonessential features relegated to
plugins

16.
Making the Case for
WordPress

17.
LAMP vs. IIS 7
• mod_rewrite
• .htaccess
• URL Rewrite 1.1
• PHP running as
FastCGI

18.
Open Source vs.
Commercial
Open Source
Low or no initial budget
outlay
Premium support
options available
Variety of custom
development options
--------------------------------
Shelley launched in 2009
with $2k
Commercial
High startup costs
Enterprise support
contracts available
Often contracted to the
CMS company
for customization
-------------------------------
Texas 2yr launching
OmniUpdate this year:

19.
WordPress Tour

20.
5 Minute Installation!
Unless your campus infrastructure sucks.

21.
Basic Installation
• Gather database information: name,
username, password
• Unzip files to server
• View in browser
• Fill in values
• Pass Go, collect $200

22.
Network Setup
• Decide: subdirectories or subdomains?
• Wildcard DNS is not required if you are
not letting people sign up for new sites
on their own.
• Users already in the system can be
added to the new site.
• http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_N
etwork

23.
Domain Mapping
• snoopy.wordpress.com ->
snoopycorp.com
• snoopy.webserver-1.school.edu ->
snoopy.school.edu
• WordPress MU Domain Mapping

24.
Migrating Single Sites
to Networks
• Import from single WP install or other
supported CMS
• Import from RSS
• HTML Import

25.
Troubleshooting
• define('WP_DEBUG', true);
• Debug Bar plugin
• View hooks
• See Nacin on debugging WordPress

26.
Themes

27.
Basic Theme Setup
• styles.css and index.php
• More specific files for each archive type:
• Single post, page, or custom post type
• Category and tag archives; custom taxonomies
• Date-based archives (day, month, year)
• functions.php turns on feature support; works
like mini-plugin
• header.php, footer.php, sidebar.php -- basic
includes
• comments.php

28.
How this comes
together...
• You click a category link on a post.
• Based on your permalink structure, WordPress
knows you are requesting a list of posts in that
category. It queries the database.
• It finds 53 posts. Your Reading setting says 20
per page.
• WordPress assembles the first 20 posts' data,
plus links to two more pages.

29.
Which template?
• Which theme file is used?
• category-slug.php
• category-id.php
• category.php
• archive.php
• index.php
• See Show Template plugin

30.
More Advanced Themes
Page templates
Multiple sidebars
Widget areas
Using get_template_part()
and specialized loop files
Theme options
Editor styles
Tips:
handling subcategories
without tons of files
conditional sidebars

31.
Child Themes
/*
Theme Name: UWC 2011
Description: Child theme for the Writing Center
Version: 1.0
Author: Stephanie Leary
Author URI: http://uwc.tamu.edu
Template: US2011
*/
@import url(../US2011/style.css);
/* Overrides: */

32.
Other Child Theme Files
• If template is present in child theme,
use instead of parent file
• BOTH functions.php files will be used

33.
Theme Frameworks
• A complete theme with many options
• Page templates
• Specific archives
• Many widget areas
• SEO features
• custom fields for keywords
• title filters
• Genesis Google snippet preview
• Can be overridden by child themes

34.
Building a Theme
1.Craft your HTML structure
2.Drop in WordPress template tags
• the_title()
• the_content()
• etc.
3.Move common elements into include
templates
• Header
• Footer
• Sidebars
• Search form

35.
Building a Theme
4.Create widget areas
5.Handle comments and comment
forms
6.Don't forget 404.php!

36.
Creating Your Own
Widgets
• WP_Widget class
• constructor
• specify widget title & make it go
• widget
• generate output
• update
• handle form input, save options
• form
• display form fields
• See /wp-includes/default-widgets.php
for examples

37.
Theme Q&A

38.
Break

39.
Performance and
Security

40.
Backing Up
• WP DB Backup (single sites, database
only)
• Backup Buddy (network, database and
files, $$)

41.
Upgrading
• Do it! (But back up first.)
• If the FTP Settings screen appears, add to wp-
config.php:
• //Force direct upgrade/install without making
Apache the owner
define( 'FS_METHOD', 'direct' );
define( 'FS_CHMOD_DIR', 0775 );
define( 'FS_CHMOD_FILE', 0664 );
• (Assuming you and Apache are in the same
group)
• Upgrading via SSH

42.
Permalink Settings
• For best performance, use the built-in
options
• Verbose rules to be fixed in 3.3
(Thanksgiving-ish)
• /%category%/%postname%/

43.
Caching
• WP Super Cache
• W3 Total Cache
• Hyper Cache
• Batcache

44.
Security Precautions
• Make sure WP files are group-writeable,
not world
• Set permalinks and caching, then make
.htaccess not writeable
• No admin user
• Change database table prefix from wp_

45.
Security Precautions
• Move wp-config.php up one directory
• Prevent bogus login attempts with Login
Lockdown
• Run WP Security Scan and Exploit
Scanner
• Monitor filesystem with File Monitor Plus

46.
Security Plugins
• Login Lockdown or Limit Login
Attempts
• Force SSL
• WordPress Firewall
• WP Security Scan
• Exploit Scanner
• File Monitor Plus
• Audit Trail

47.
Evaluating Themes
and Plugins
• Search code for:
• base64()
• eval()
• include(../../w
p-config.php)
• Does it use
updated libraries?
• Are wp_head()
and wp_footer()
missing?
• Does it insert
links you can’t
remove?
• Does it pester you
for commercial
upgrades?

48.
Writing Secure
Themes and Plugins
• Use the Settings API
• Check user capabilities
• Check nonces and referrers
• Validate user input
• Escape output
• Mark Jaquith on WP security
• Professional WordPress Plugin
Development

49.
More With WordPress

50.
BuddyPress
Social Network Layer

51.
BuddyPress
• Good Uses:
• Campus wide social network
• Company-wide internal communication
tool
• Niche social network for interest topic
• Benefits
• Own the content
• Long-term relationship maintenance
• Timely integration and removal of popular

52.
BuddyPress Plugins
• Welcome Pack
• Achievements
• BuddyPress Share It
• Group Suggest Widget
• Simple Google Map Plugin

53.
CollabPress
Task Management for WordPress

54.
CollabPress

55.
eCommerce Plugins
$$

56.
ScholarPress
A Learning Management System for
BuddyPress

57.
Content Audit
"Now we’re talking real CMS capability!"

58.
Custom Fields,
Taxonomies, and Post
Types

59.
Custom Fields
• Adding more information to posts.
• Default input vs. custom meta boxes
• Examples: content audit notes,
professor contact info

60.
Taxonomies
• Extra sets of categories and tags
• People
• Movie DB
• Taxonomy Tools
• Scribu's Query Multiple Taxonomies
widget
• Otto on complex taxonomy queries

61.
Custom Post Types &
Taxonomies
• Default post types:
• Posts, Pages
• Attachments
• Revisions
• Menu Items
• Potential uses
• Course descriptions
• Media database
• Seminar series
• Employee Directory
• Default Taxonomies
• Categories
• Post Tags
• Menus
• Link Categories
• Potential Uses
• Video
• People

62.
Post Types
• Things that are not posts OR pages:
• products
• books
• courses
• Anything that needs to be cataloged and
displayed separately.
• Course Post Type: sample plugin code
• Custom fields: professor name, email, phone;
course code
• Taxonomies: college, department
• Create your own: register_post_type()

63.
Custom Post Type
Resources
• Custom Post Types in WordPress
• Custom Post Types in WordPress 3.0
• Custom Post Types and Custom
Taxonomies
• Introducing WordPress 3 Custom
Taxonomies
• Custom Post Types and Taxonomies in
WordPress

64.
The WordPress
Community

65.
Development Philosophy
• 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 are all major
releases.
• 3.2.1 is a bugfix and security update.
• Old releases do not get security
updates.
• Core developers set feature agenda for
major releases based on Trac tickets,
known problems, and user surveys.

66.
Development Philosophy
• Development schedule kept on
wpdevel.wordpress.com.
• Meetings once a week in #wordpress-
dev.
• If it can be covered by a plugin, let it.
Core is for features most people need,
or frameworks developers can build on.
• If you want it fixed sooner, patch it
yourself.

67.
Documentation
• Codex
• Forum
• WP StackExchange
• Trac
• Developers’ blogs

68.
Support
• Contract available from Automattic (core
creators)
• Third party vendors such as
MUSupport.net.
• Active user forums on
www.wordpress.org, wpbeginner provides
some paid support options
• Individual plugin & theme developers
• Groups on LinkedIn, huge Twitter
population

69.
Discussion
IRC channels
• #wordpress
• #wordpress-dev
• #buddypress
• #bbpress
Listserves
• WP-Hackers
• WP-Edu
wp-edu.org
Development blogs
• wpdevel
• make/ui
• make/themes
• make/accessibility
• wppolyglots

70.
News Events
WordCamps
• San Francisco
• New York
• local:
central.wordcamp.org
• WP Candy
• Planet WordPress
• wpMail.me
• wpBeginner
• wpTuts

71.
Q&A

72.
Demos?
• Network administration?
• Plugins
• BP
• Collab
• Scholar
• Edit Flow and/or Editorial Calendar
• Content Audit
• HTML Import, if there's interest