WordPress Basics

A Functioning Blog

By David Beairstohttp://DavidBeairsto.com

Also available at:http://WorkAtHomeBusinessFromAnywhere.com/training

The Dashboard

http://networkfisher.org/

This is where we create and edit Blog posts

For audio and video storage in the Blog Database

A list of links that we can either display or hide

Pages can contain content, plugins and can be hidden

Post and page comments from visitors (must be moderated)

For theme selection and modification depending on the theme

Function, appearance, interaction, SEO and many other uses

Where we assign new users access to Site

Various tools to use for this and other Wordpress Blogs

The details and specific settings for this site

This is a plugin that is used in the sidebar for upcoming events

This plugin is for storing sermon files

For All Updates & Configuration

Clicking on either the ‘Posts’ or ‘Edit’ tab under Posts will display the edit post window.The display shows the title of the post, the author, categories, tags and date it waspublished. The bulk actions to either edit or delete will depend upon your user rights.You can also filter the display by date and category to quickly find older posts or thoserelated to a specific category. If you know the title or part of the title you can search fora specific post at the top.By scrolling underneath the individual posts you’ll be shown a pop up menu that allowsyou to either ‘Edit’ ‘Quick Edit’ ‘Delete’ or ‘View’ the post.

The ‘Add New’ button under the ‘Posts’ tab opens the Post Editor. From here you canadd almost anything that would appear on a website and format either using the Visualeditor or HTML. You can also embed videos, opt in forms, banners or anything elsethat uses HTML code by selecting the HTML tab in the upper right of the editor paneand pasting the code where you want it to appear. You can add tags which are simplythe keywords you include within the text that the public can find through search engines.You can also create links either from keywords in the text or images. You can also listthe post in a specific category. You can then save your draft, preview the post as it willappear on the site and publish it when you’re satisfied. If you need to correct the postthis is the same screen you’ll use for making corrections.

Post Title

Text, pictures, graphics, embedded objects

You can also decide whether you want to make this post publicly visible or private. Ifyou create a post or series of posts that are intended for specific release dates you canalso schedule the date and time the post will be published.

Post Title

Text, pictures, graphics, embedded objects

Publish immediatelyor schedule.

The ‘Post Tags’ tab under Posts will display the most popular tags according to yourposts. It will also list your tags, their description if you’ve provided one, the tag slug ifyou’ve selected one and how many posts contain that tag.

The ‘Categories’ tab is similar to the ‘Post Tags’ tab. In this example we only have twocategories but this will change as more users begin making more posts and pages withdifferent categories.

I skipped over the media tab because even for straight audio files like the sermon filesthis option isn’t as fluid as linking outside of Wordpress or embedding a file which doesthe same thing. Embedding videos from video serving sites utilizes the bandwidth fromservers that are designed to stream video.The ‘Links’ tab allows you to add and edit links to external sites that either you own orrelate to your site. In this example we’ve linked to a site that outlines the entire Bible onone page which is congruent with a church website.

Similar to the ‘Posts’ tab, the ‘Pages’ tab opens the same window as the ‘Edit’ tab belowit. From here you’ll see a list of the pages, their author, the number of comments if thatoption is left available and the date it was published or last updated if it is still a draft.

When you create or edit a page several things need to be addressed. The page title inthe dropdown menu can be different from the page name itself. If you want the page tobe visible in the dropdown menu you must indicate by checking the box. The page caneither be a parent or child of another page. Every page can have a variety of templatesdepending upon the theme chosen. For this example we would encourage members touse the parent page as the main theme behind their ministry and list other pages belowthat page making only the parent page visible in the dropdown menu.

The ‘Comments’ tab displays all of the comments to your posts and pages that have orhave not been approved. If you use filters some comments will automatically raise flagsas potential spam. You have the rights on any post or page to disable comments. Thisfeature gives the Wordpress site a social appeal because visitors can interact and jointhe conversation. On the far right you can see to which page or post the comment wasmade. On the left you’ll see details that people can include such as name, email and aURL to their website or Blog. The comment section in the middle usually contains theentire comment so that you can approve comments from this window. When you placeyour cursor below the actual comment you’ll be given the choice to: (un)approve, markas spam, delete, edit, quick edit or reply.

The edit comment screen allows you to remove any part of the comment that does notmeet your guidelines. If you’re receiving comments from an unknown source you canfollow the URL they provide to visit their site. If you’ve made changes to the commentyou’ll need to click on ‘Updated Comment’ prior to approving.

Update Comment

Depending upon your chosen theme you’ll have certain options under the ‘Appearance’tab to update or modify the visual characteristics of the site. Some themes allow you toupgrade automatically but in this instance our version is too old.

Widgets are constantly being created and updated to provide greater functionality for avariety of specific uses. Some are included in Wordpress while others are added in theform of ‘Plugins’ which is our next tab. In the example above we added the ‘Sermons’plugin although we don’t use it as a widget. Widgets reside and function in the sidebarsthat are available in your theme.

For instance a ‘Text’ widget typically contains the HTML code for a banner or link thattranslates into a graphic like the example above. Most web developers make finding thiscode very easy for people and usually even show them the actual graphics in varioussizes so that they’ll fit in your sidebar.

Cut and paste the code.Click Save and check tosee how it displays in thesidebar.

The ‘Editor’ tab displays the HTML code for each element of your Wordpress Theme. Ifyou don’t know HTML you’ll never have to go here. I’ve never been trained on HTML soI’m very careful when I make changes here. With the availability of themes that have agreat deal of flexibility it would be far better to start with a theme that meets your needsrather than seeking to modify it here unless you’re a computer programer.

This tab is generally where you’ll start out choosing a ‘Free’ theme for your site from theavailable themes. You can search by ‘Term’ ‘Author’ or ‘Tag’ as well as by any featuresyou’d like to include.

In the example above this particular version of this theme has included the setup optionsin the ‘Appearance’ section. I know from experience that newer versions actually open anew section to adjust the ‘Suffusion Theme Options’ below the ‘Settings Tab’ and otherthemes will have their own unique style for making changes. If those settings don’tappear in this section, keep looking down the left hand column for the Theme’s name toaccess the options that theme offers.

Clicking on the ‘Plugins’ tab displays the ‘Installed’ plugins, whether active or not, anysettings or editing features and a description that usually includes the author and a linkto their site for support.Learning about plugins is an endless course because software developers continue toadd new plugins or improve on existing plugins. Plugins either function as Widgets onthe Blog like we’ve shown, or they function in the background like the Google XMLSitemaps.

The ‘Add New’ tab under ‘Plugins’ looks like this. As stated above there seems to be analmost endless capability to expand the functionality of Wordpress. From experience Ican attest that some of them are great while others are not.Most plugins are site specific. Not every site has a need to post ‘Sermons’ but every siteshould have a goal to attract visitors. Plugins to support SEO, enhance social interactionor improve visitor experience are usually recommended for all Blogs. When you knowwhat you want, be prepared to find a lot of choices.

About the only time you’d even consider making changes to the code for a plugin wouldbe with the detailed instructions from the creator. This editor like the others is includedlargely because Wordpress is an open platform and programmers can modify plugins orthemes and share this knowledge with the creator.You’ll periodically see that your installed plugins have an available update. With a clickyou can automatically update your plugin to the latest version.

In our example ‘Akismet’ is the only installed plugin that places a configuration tab in the‘Plugins’ tab. On other Blogs you’ll find plugins will either install a new section like our‘Sermons’ tab or they’ll place the configuration within the plugin section.

The ‘Users’ tab is where the administrator adds new users.We can’t display an example without showing peoples names and emails.This is what you can do if you own or run a Wordpress blog:•Setup new users with user names and passwords•Define their role•Setup profiles for yourself or any user

Wordpress comes with tools that enable you to export information or backup your database. You also have the option to import information from a variety of other sources.

If you have content on other sites these tools make it easy for you to import that contentinto your Blog.

To export the contents of your Blog for the purpose of importing them to another siteyou’ll need to take two steps.1. Save the export file to your computer2. Import that file with the tools contained in the other site

I’ve learned from experience, (means I’ve blown away a Blog once before) that thehosting company we use periodically backs up our database. Using the feature aboveis similar to exporting in that you create a backup file on your computer. I’ve upgradedWordpress many times before without any issues but some good advice would be towait or at least know when your hosting company does backups before upgradingwithout doing your own backup.

While the ‘Settings’ tab is part of Wordpress some ofthe features are Theme specific. We also see thatsome of the plugins add their settings tabs inside thissection.The settings are usually only dealt with by the sitesadministrator. All of the settings are usually setup atthe beginning in conjunction with setting up the themeelements.Knowing what this section contains is important if theneed should arise at a later date to make changes.It’s also important to know how those changes willaffect the functioning and ranking of the site and thepages.

These are all Plugin Settings

http://networkfisher.org/

http://networkfisher.org/

I’m not sure if the ‘Front Page Displays’ was an added feature in Wordpress or the themewe use because I learned about it from the forum within the Suffusion Theme.This feature allows you to build custom pages that can be rotated, or changed from timeto time rather than using the standard Blog front page.For instance we’re currently preparing for Vacation Bible School so when people visit thesite they see that page first.

This is where you make the general rules for the ensuing conversations that will takeplace between the sites authors and visitors. Most of these settings can be adjusted onspecific page and post.

Page 2 of the ‘Discussion Settings’

Whenever you add images into a post or page you’ll be given the option to resize and toput that image on the right, left or center.

You can keep the search engines from indexing your site but anyone who bookmarksyour site as a public book mark or in a directory will enable the search engines to listeither part of your site or the actual URL. If someone searches for a term the publicbookmark with your site can show up in the results.

This is perhaps the most important thing to know if you want to build page or site rankand keep the search engines happy. Permalinks shouldn’t be modified after they’ve beenpublished. That’s why knowing this before hand is so important. There are plugins thathelp if you must make changes but the best advice is to start with this custom structure:/%postname%

‘Uploading Files’ is the only miscellaneous setting for Wordpress. The PDF and PPTviewer settings are part of a plugin.That just goes to show that in an open platform like Wordpress programmers are busyconfiguring their plugins to hide in a variety of locations. If you’re ever confused aboutwhere those settings might be simply refer back to the authors site or the help forumthey’ve established.

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