WordPressNot Just For Blogs Anymore:
Build Better Business Websites - Slides
By Nick Armstrong -- IAmNickArmstrong.com -- @ImNickArmstrong
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Hi - I’m Nick!
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ImNickArmstrong
Website: IAmNickArmstrong.com
Ask Questions
2 web design awards in state-wide events
4 years of WordPress experience
13 years web design experience (I’m 25)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
What We’ll Cover1. WordPress 101: Blogs, Business, + Beyond
a. About WordPressb. Installationc. The Dashboard and Controlsd. Blog or Website (or both!)
2. Look and Feela. Themesb. Widgetsc. Menusd. PHP, CSS, and XHTMLe. Tools to Design
3. Managing Contenta. The Two Types of Contentb. Publishing Methodc. Images and other media
4. Managing Usersa. Handling User Accountsb. Managing Updatesc. Comments and Links
5. Connecting to the Worlda. Pluginsb. 3rd Party Tools
Trial and error are vital to learning
WordPress. Be OK with failing a few
times, but try not to do it li
ve.
Always use a test server before you
show your customers!
A Note From Nick
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Spot a WordPress Site
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Spot a WordPress Site
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
How it all works...Your domain is like your Street Address. It describes a place to go.
Your hosting is like your House. It’s a place for things to be put.
WordPress is the shelves/walls/tables/etc, a place to put stuff on.
The theme is the paint on the walls, decor, etc.
Your content is the stuff on the shelves/walls, etc.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
.ORG vs .COM.Org
Self-hosted (you buy hosting)
Self-promoted (no built-in community)
Highly customizable (custom themes, custom plugins)
.Com
WordPress.com-hosted (you can pay for add-ons)
Community-driven (built-in community)
Not so customizable (no custom themes -- only custom css, no custom plugins)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
WordPress: SEO Secret Sauce
Pretty URLs
Pretty Code (XHTML Valid)
Content Structure
Plugins
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
WordPress: Simple CPanel Install
*Assuming your domain is already pointed, to get to CPanel just visit http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel in your browser. Your webhost may not use cpanel.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
WordPress: Simple CPanel Install
Install in a folder or in the rootInstall in a sub-domain
Admin Username - Don’t Use Admin.Really.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
WordPress Basics
The Dashboard
Hub of all action
Reached by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin/
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Google Analytics
Drafts
Recent Comments
Add new blog post
Add new static page
Plugin update available
The Wordpress Menu
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Basic Settings
Blog Title, Tagline, WordPress address, and Blog address all affect SEO. Settings -> General Settings
Static pages and archive width.
Settings -> Reading Settings
Use this option to change whether the blog is the home page or if a
static page is the home page.
How many blog posts appear on the blog page before the
archive starts.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Wait, No Blog?Remove the blog entirely or just move the blog to somewhere besides the front page.
Here are the steps:
1 - Create two pages. One called “Home” and one called “Blog” (or whatever you want them to be named).
2 - Go into Settings -> Reading and set “Home” as the Front Page. Set “Blog” as the Posts Page.
3 - ALWAYS leave the *Page* called “Blog” blank. It’s just a container now - not where you write posts. (You still write posts under the “New Post” menu option).
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Blog TerminologyBlog vs blog post - Be very careful. Your “Blog” is your website. A “blog” or “blog post” is an individual article on that website.
Tag - Key words or phrases associated with this particular post. Pick 3-5.
Category - Think of these as folders to organize the types of posts you often write about. For example, if you’re a vet, and you wrote about dogs, you’d put the post into the Dogs category (as opposed to the Cats or Birds category). A post can belong to more than one category.
Trackback/Pingback - A link to your Blog from another site, which creates a reciprocal link in the comments section. You can delete these like comments (if, for example, the trackback was spam).
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Look and Feel
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Let’s Check Out Some Themes and Customize
Them
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
You probably don’t want to hear this, but...
The -best- way to make sure your site looks and feels like your brand is to have a custom theme designed for you.
For moderately complex designs, expect to spend between $2,500 to $10,000 (depending on your local economy)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Silly question, but...How do I get rid of all that junk in the sidebar?
Click here or here
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Widgets
This is where all that “extra junk” in your theme comes from.
Widgets directly relate to...
...what your visitors see.
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...Widget Be GoneClick here
1
2
Before
After3
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...Widget Come BackTo add a widget to
the sidebar, just click and drag it to the sidebar until a dashed box appears, then drop it there.
You can rearrange widgets the same
way.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Managing Content
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Posts vs PagesPosts are dynamic content that are frequently updated by you.
Pages are for static content that doesn’t change very often.
Think “Today’s News” (post) vs “About Us” (page)
A blog page (created automatically for you, unless you customize) is a special kind of page that shows posts. Newer posts stack on top and push older posts down (into the archive).
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Add a New PostOn the WordPress Menu, click on “Add New” under the Posts menu.
Note that this is a collapsable/expandable menu.
Edit brings up a list of existing posts and drafts.
Post Tags shows you all the “tags” you’ve used.
Categories shows you all the “categories” you’ve used and allows you to edit them.
Collapse the menu
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Minimal Outlines
WordPress recently minimized what they show on each page. Here’s how to fix it.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Enable/Disable comments and trackbacks
Don’t worry about this.
Don’t worry about this.
Excerpts are helpful descriptors of the blog post - I use the single paragraph that best exemplifies the post.
TitleAdd a picture
What you see is what you get view vs HTML view
Add 3-5 keywords or
phrases
Select or create appropriate categories
Post body - write your content here. 300-500 words is the usual guideline,
but write for your audience.
Publish or Update (save)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
More Post OptionsYou can create
Category hierarchies. For example, if you
talk about Dogs, you can create a Dogs
parent category, and Large Breed and
Small Breed child categories under Dogs.
Add as Parent or child of ...
Publish now vs future
Draft/Review/Published
Preview without publishing
Public - visible to anyonePassword - public, with password
Private - must be logged in
Publish or Update (save)
Save without making public
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Adding/Editing Images
Crop = cut
Scale = resize
Title and Alt text can be the same
Aligns with text
Add a link here
Rotate/center
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New Link Options
You can easily link to internal content now (via a
search box or recent posts list)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
PagesExactly the same as posts, but:
No Tags
No Categories
No Excerpt
Pages can be children of other pages
Pages can have templates (advanced)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Title
Page body text
Enable/disable comments and trackbacks
Don’t worry about these
Don’t worry about these
Same as posts
Select a parent for this page
Order for menu purposes
Publish or Update (save)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Delete page
Page and Post Management
Preview page
New page
Edit tags, category, title - not content
Edit page content
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Blogging Best PracticesSEO isn’t magic.
SEO (search engine optimization) happens when you put your ducks in a row.
Focused posts, with well-chosen, appropriate keywords, a well-chosen, keyworded title, and a well-chosen category go a long way to improving your rankings.
Plan - then write!
Your blog should have a definite niche.
Our Vet example continued - know what topics you’re likely to be blogging about and create categories and structure beforehand.
It’s okay if this structure changes over time (it will!)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Content Map
Categories -> Longest Lasting Themes
Sub-Categories -> Smaller Themes
Tags -> Keywords, Minor Themes
Pages -> Static?
Authors -> Oh boy. “Blog Groupies”
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Customizing Menus
Important!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Customizing Menus
1
23
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Customizing Menus
12
3
Mouseover textLink text
Add a link to a page outside
your site
Remove this link
Add a link toa category listing
from your blog
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Customizing Menus
Finally, select your new menu from the drop-down box and
click “save”
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Managing Users
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Users, Subscribers, Etc.Username is the default “display name” - you can change this to the First Name, Last Name, Nickname or combination.
Certain themes link your website/bio info.
Roles:- Subscriber - can access “Private” areas.- Contributor - can write posts but not publish them.- Author - can write posts AND publish them.- Editor - can edit others posts.- Administrator - can edit site.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Best Practices for UsersDo not give a user more permission than they need.
The fewer admin accounts, the better.
STRONG PASSWORDS.- 1 letter- 1 number- no whole words- 1 symbol
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Comment Moderation?“Lefties” say: Let everyone comment.
“Righties” say: Hell no. Sign up first.
Users say: Why the hell are you making me jump through hoops?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The “Best” Answer:
Disqus (no site-specific login)
Akismet (strong spam filtering)
Common Sense
Apologize (Actually, say “Sorry”)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Connecting to the World
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Pretty URLsThis prevents your listing in search engines before you’re ready.
These settings control your “pretty” URLs - and improve
SEO on everything but Numeric and Default.
If you have a lot of pages and posts, starting with a number (like year) is vital.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
PluginsAdd
Update
Click here
Then here
Click here
Search here
Then... (next slide)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
You’ve Got Plugins
RatingMouse-over to see
number of ratings.
Click to install
Compatibility
Last Update
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
How To Pick a Great Plugin
Highest Stars/Most Ratings
Best Features
Up To Date (Works with your version of WordPress - or at least the “family”. For example, 2.8.x is a family, 2.7.x is a family...)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Plug-Ins (Part One)Feedburner - Feedburner.com
Track your RSS stats
Free account and Plugin required
Google Analytics
Track your Site stats
Free account required, Plugin is useful
Google XML Sitemaps
Creates an XML Sitemap of your website
Notifies Google, Ask, Bing, and Yahoo when you update
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Plug-Ins (Part Two)Disqus (Official)
Users log-in and comment to your site w/ a social media profile
Easy comment moderation
All-In-One SEO or Platinum SEO
Keywords and Metatags for individual pages, posts, etc.
Highly customizable
Sociable // TweetThis // whatever
Adds social media icons to your site for easy sharing
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Plug-Ins (Part Three)Widget Logic
Allows you to customize exactly which pages a widget appears on
ExecPHP
Allows you to put PHP code into your pages and posts
PHPCode Widget
Allows you to execute PHP code in your widget areas
Login Lockdown
Prevents most break-in attempts to your site
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Common Add-OnsYouTube/Flickr slideshows
Now able to just throw the URL in a post and WordPress does the heavy lifting for you.
Feedburner - Feedburner.com
Track your RSS stats
Free account and Plugin required
Google Analytics
Track your Site stats
Free account required, Plugin is useful
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
URL Shorteners
I use http://bit.ly because I like real-time stats; there are other URL shorteners that include good stats as well.
HootSuite’s ow.ly links and Google’s goo.gl links are just two more.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
JavaScript Effects
jQuery (javascript) is easy to add.
http://docs.jquery.com/UI/Accordion
Depends on theme, but code goes in functions.php
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Let’s Do Some Quick Modifications
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Best Practices
Do not search for the “cheapest” solution.
Buy hosting, domain, and services FROM ONE PLACE.
Prepare documents with all your log-in and account information.
Search for coupons before purchasing.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Finally
Do not feel “stuck” with one WordPress developer. We all charge different rates, we all have similar skill sets.
The differentiating factor is the care and consideration they give to you as the client.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Free eBook!
For a more in-depth look and explanation on the topics we’ve covered today, I’ve created an eBook.
My eventual goal is to sell it, but you lucky ducks get it for free. Subscribe to my blog to get a notification.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Q+A Time - Thank You!Time to ask and answer specific questions
www.IAmNickArmstrong.com
Twitter: @ImNickArmstrong (say hi!)
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/NickMArmstrong
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
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