This is the original presentation I gave at the WordPress Houston Meetup on 2/21/2011 about a WordPress Case Study.

1. WORDPRESS CASE STUDY
johnritterresearchprogram.org
bit.ly/ritterrules

2. Goals 1 2 Key Features
Lessons Learned 3 4 Implementation
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

3. HOWDY!
Designer/Developer for
Office of Communications at
The UT Medical School at Houston...
a non-profit, full-service creative resource
in the Texas Medical Center.
Office of Communications:
facebook.com/utooc
This presentation: Eric Rasch
ericrasch.com
slidesha.re/estfxq
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

4. 1 GOALS
Provide platform for different types
of content + interactivity
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

5. 1 GOALS
Provide platform for different types
of content + interactivity
Carry design themes over
from supporting organizations.
PURPLE
and a bit of burnt orange
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

6. 1 GOALS
Provide platform for different types
of content + interactivity
Carry design themes over
from supporting organizations.
all within
2WEEKS
Launch before book tour
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

7. 1 GOALS
Provide platform for different types
of content + interactivity
Carry design themes over
from supporting organizations.
Launch before book tour
Stay within budget
DUH!
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

8. 1 GOALS
Provide platform for different types
of content + interactivity
Carry design themes over
from supporting organizations.
Launch before book tour
Stay within budget
Client wants it 'easy-to-update'!
THANK YOU
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

9. 1 GOALS
Provide platform for different types
of content + interactivity
Carry design themes over
from supporting organizations.
Launch before book tour
Stay within budget
Client wants it 'easy-to-update'!
Developer wants it easy-to-update...
code... design... extend... upgrade... THANK YOU
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

10. 2 KEY FEATURES
Homepage Regular pages News & Blog
Featured Post are... Pages pages
Through Categories No need to complicate Again, Posts controlled
(vs. Sticky Posts). things. through Categories.
Footer links Pop-up Forms Plugins
Dynamically displayed Used for reporting Let’s take a look under
from central repository. website errors, etc. the hood...
(jQuery + Gravity Forms).
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

11. 2 KEY FEATURES
Homepage Regular pages News & Blog
Featured Post are... Pages pages
Through Categories No need to complicate Again, Posts controlled
(vs. Sticky Posts). things. through Categories.
Footer links Pop-up Forms Plugins
Dynamically displayed Used for reporting Let’s take a look under
from central repository. website errors, etc. the hood...
(jQuery + Gravity Forms).
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

12. 2 KEY FEATURES
Homepage Regular pages News & Blog
Featured Post are... Pages pages
Through Categories No need to complicate Again, Posts controlled
(vs. Sticky Posts). things. through Categories.
Footer links Pop-up Forms Plugins
Dynamically displayed Used for reporting Let’s take a look under
from central repository. website errors, etc. the hood...
(jQuery + Gravity Forms).
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

13. 2 KEY FEATURES
Homepage Regular pages News & Blog
Featured Post are... Pages pages
Through Categories No need to complicate Again, Posts controlled
(vs. Sticky Posts). things. through Categories.
Footer links Pop-up Forms Plugins
Dynamically displayed Used for reporting Let’s take a look under
from central repository. website errors, etc. the hood...
(jQuery + Gravity Forms).
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

14. 2 KEY FEATURES
Homepage Regular pages News & Blog
Featured Post are... Pages pages
Through Categories No need to complicate Again, Posts controlled
(vs. Sticky Posts). things. through Categories.
Footer links Pop-up Forms Plugins
Dynamically displayed Used for reporting Let’s take a look under
from central repository. website errors, etc. the hood...
(jQuery + Gravity Forms).
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

15. 2 KEY FEATURES
(Plugins in-use)
Gravity Forms Don’t forget...
+ MailChimp add-on
Broken Link Checker
Security
Exploits
W3 Total Cache Anti-spam
Google Analytics [Yoast’s] Backup
Analytics 360
SEO Ultimate
Custom Sidebars
WP No Category Base
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

16. 3 LESSONS LEARNED
Have a game-plan on the
Have content ready before who/what/how regarding
anything else content & features.
Make sure the system is Be prepared to react when
easy to teach someone else. news events & opportunities
mirror your mission.
Client hasn't caught on to
News vs. Blog Don't wait on management
(remove/simplify confusing features)
to make decisions.
Educate your client on (unless you'll get fired for it)
modern web design practices The project push doesn’t end
(the click 'here' issue)
when the website launches.
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

17. 4 IMPLEMENTATION
!"#$%&'()*+
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

18. 4 IMPLEMENTATION
Coding Framework
Content Management Layout Framework
(a CMS? Gasp!)
!"#$%&'()*+
Cool Stuff Framework
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

19. “[Choosing jQuery] is like choosing WHY?
the guitar. If you’re going to pick an
instrument to play, the guitar’s a cool
one to choose, because there’s so much
information about it out there. There’s
a lot more [Google] results for guitar
Chris Coyier
tabs and jQuery tutorials than there are css-tricks.com
for banjo tabs and MooTools tutorials.”
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

20. WHY?
Flexible platforms
for coding/design/hosting
Updated often
Easy to update/upgrade
Easy to understand Results...
Trusted & Proven
Tutorials galore
Strong communities
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

21. WHY?
Flexible platforms
for coding/design/hosting Built 9 Days
Updated often
90+ contacts
Easy to update/upgrade
7 submissions
Easy to understand Results...
170+ signups
Trusted & Proven
Tutorials galore
80% spikes
Strong communities 0 downtime
WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH

22. THANK YOU!
John Ritter
Research Program @EricRasch 8 8 @TheOOC
Twitter
8
qr
Codes 8
http://bit.ly/ritterrules http://ericrasch.com/ http://med.uth.tmc.edu/comm/
at work 8
8heck it out!
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WORDPRESS HOUSTON MEETUP on FEBRUARY 21, 2011 WORDPRESS CASE STUDY by ERIC RASCH