Making websites with Wordpress
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Transcript of Making websites with Wordpress
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
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
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