Making websites with WordPress

A workshop by Dan Phiffer for Trade School

1. How to begin

2. A tour of wp-admin

3. Finding your WordPress theme

4. Keeping things running smoothly

5. Where to find help

First, what is WordPress?

Software for publishing websites

Free Software(also open source)

Huge community of developers & users

Assumptions

1. You are not a “technical person”

2. You are willing to learn new things

3. You have something you want to put online

4. You don’t mind a trade-off of convenience for more control

Welcometo the internet

What do you need?

1. Hosting service

2. A domain name optional

3. A WordPress theme

Web hosting

• For a small website, shared hosting is what you want

• I recommend Dreamhost disclosure: I get a kickback if you sign up via this link

• There are many options bluehost.com, 1and1.com, mediatemple.com are popular choices

wordpress.com

• The official WordPress hosting service

• It’s free to start + paid upgrades

• Some limitations can’t install plugins, only officially-supported themes

• No domain required e.g., you.wordpress.com

Domain name

• You might get one free with hosting

• Most web hosts also register domains

• Try instantdomainsearch.com to brainstorm possibilities

Ok, let’s start

• We’ve already purchased hosting

• I’ll show the next steps in the Dreamhost web panel

• Other hosting providers have a similar process

You enter your payment info...

! Domain name

! Site configured

! WordPress

! Ready to use!

wp-admin

Demo

WordPress Themes

wpfolio

Oulipo

Grid Focus

Sandbox

There are many choices

• WordPress official theme directory

• ThemeShaper theme-making tutorial + Thematic framework

• Make your own or hire somebody

• Commercial themes

Upkeep

Back up your shit

• Make a zip file of your entire site

• Learn how to make MySQL dump files

• Download to a different computer

• Automate this so you don’t have to remember

No seriously,back up your shit

Upgrade aggressively

• Always run the most recent version of WordPress or you will be hacked

• Use your host’s one-click installer or the built-in automatic upgrade

• Also keep your plugins and themes current beware compatibility issues

Required plugins

• WP-Super-Cache will save you when you get a big spike in traffic

• Akismet makes it possible to turn on comments without getting spammed

Customization

• Try poking around inside wp-content/themes/theme-name

• Keep track of changes you make to your theme

• If/when your them gets updated you may need to reapply your changes

Run your site locally

• Test out changes on your own computer

• wpbeginner’s video tutorials

• Beau Lebens’s Advanced WordPress Development Environments

Yes, things will break

Remember those backups?

Practice restoring from a backup

How to fix this

• Put up a new replacement site

• Excavate your hacked site

• Reclaim your URL with Google’s webmaster tools

• Get help from Badware Busters

The first thing to try

• If you have odd problems, it may be a compatibility issue

• Try testing with the ‘default’ theme

• Disable all of your plugins

• Re-enable them one at a time

Where to find help

• Google for your error message, problem description, etc.

• WordPress forums

• IRC chat go to channel #wordpress

How to find coders

• Ask your friends if they know anyone

• Know what you want to do in general terms

• Be flexible about the technical approach

Thanks!http://phiffer.org/