Taking Control of WordPress: How to Build a Better Blog

Taking Control of WordPressHow to build a better blog

Saturday, 26 March 2011

John O’Nolantwitter.com/johnonolan

Who?



I’m a Designer



I’m a DesignerWho likes to take Photos



I’m a DesignerWho likes to take Photos& build Stuff on the web



I’m a DesignerWho likes to take Photos& build Stuff on the web

People tell me I swear at inappropriate moments



WordPressUI Team Deputy

I work for




I work for

I built a travel blog for over at




I work for

I built a travel blog for over at

I built a travelapp for the new

aircraft



The size of my travel pis about 200 cities spread across 25 countries

Size doesn’t matter, it’s not a competition.(But if it was - I would be #WINNING)


WordPressnot Wordpress


Total: 30,000,000 Sites(ish)

WordPress powers around 12% of all sites in the world.


It’s like selling out every seat at every match at every stadium at the World Cup


10 Times


Best blogging platform. EVER.


1. The Basics2. Design

3.Development

4. Performance

Taking control of WordPress:No black magic required, just some easy tips and tricks.


This Stuff is EasyBut you might be surprised at the things younever knew you never knew.


Must Have PluginsDon’t leave home without them. Ever!

- Akismet (Automattic)

- After The Deadline (Raphael Mudge)

- WordPress Database Backup (Austin Matzko)

- Comment Reply Notification (Denishua)

- Google Analytics for WordPress (Joost)

- WordPress SEO (Joost)


The Basics of Better Blog:

1. Create Usable Permalinks

2. Use a Strong Category/Tag Structure

3. Customise Your Screen Options

4. Always Update!

5. Edit Images As You Go

6. Use Some Good Plugins



3.Development

4. Performance



The Good News:There are a lot of travel blogs out there with bad designs. There’s a huge amount of opportunity.

The Bad News:Good design isn’t easy.


A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

— Antoine De Saint-Exupery

“


Stop this.

http://bit.ly/nomorestumblebar

- It’s ugly- It takes up valuable screen space- It’s a distraction from your content- It makes your site load slower- It’s ineffective




This is what the stumble bardoes to poor, innocent cats.


Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

— Steve Jobs

“


Word count: 182


Word count: 95


Word count: 34


Why is this good?


Elephant Toothache

Jimmy The Lama

Michael Schumacher

Designer Jeans

Logitech KeyboardCharlie Sheen


Dinosaur Apron


Every designer’s dirty little secret is that they copy other designers’ work. They see work they like and they imitate it. Rather cheekily, they call this inspiration.

— Aaron Russell

“


Design a Better Blog:1. Cut out the distractions

2. Focus your users on specific content

3. Don’t be afraid to take “inspiration”



3.Development

4. Performance



Don’t Panic.


Files Database


Don’t Panic.


A Website is a Bit Like a Car

Bodywork = HTML

Paint job = CSS

Engine = PHP


A Website is a Bit Like a Car

Bodywork = HTML ➞ Creates Structure

Paint job = CSS ➞ Applies Styling

Engine = PHP ➞ Makes it GO


Want to play it safe?


Don’t fuck with the engine.


CSS is very powerful


Same HTMLDifferent CSS


<a href=”http://example.com”>More</a>


http://example.com

http://example.com

<a class=”more” href=”http://example.com”>More</a>


http://example.com

http://example.com

.more { display:block;padding:2px 10px 1px 10px;font-size:10px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#fff;text-decoration:none;text-shadow:#000 1px 1px 0;background:#f9f9f9;border-radius:5px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;

}


Develop a Better Blog:1. Explore your theme files

2. Play with CSS (a lot)

3. Careful with the PHP



3.Development

4. Performance



PerformanceWhy should you care?



For every 100ms delay in page load, Amazon measured a 1% drop in sales.




1% of $4.3billion a month = $43million




1% of $4.3billion a month = $43million

For every 500ms delay in page load, Google measured a 20% drop in traffic.


Install W3 Total Cache


Get rid of as many big images, social widgets, and fancy animations as possible.


Measure your speed with the YSlow plugin for Firefox


Myself, Rick Nunn, icanhascheezburger.com, chroot.co.uk, gabemac.com

My Name is John O’NolanJOHN

twitter.com/JohnONolanfacebook.com/JohnONolanflickr.com/photos/JohnONolan

This talk is released under the Creative Commons 3.0 license.

All slides and content will be available on john.onolan.org

PHOTO CREDITS:

LICENSING:

My Book, Coming Soon:

DESIGNINGEMOTIONBY JOHN O’NOLANAND ADII PIENAARSPRING 2011http://amzn.to/DesigningEmotion


http://amzn.to/DesigningEmotion

http://amzn.to/DesigningEmotion

Taking Control of WordPress: How to Build a Better Blog

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