WordPress 101 for Publishers was presented at the PubWest conference in Tuscon on November 12, 2009. This presentation provides an overview of how book publishers can use WordPress to support their online and digital publishing efforts.
intro: who I am, how long I’ve been working with WordPress, web publisher - web publishing systems
question: how many of you use WordPress - or maintain a blog?
I’m here to give you an overview of WordPress -
I know you’re at different levels - this isn’t a tutorial - I’m not going to show you how to install WP - that would take about 5 minutes, then we’d have most of an hour left and there are only so many questions you can ask about the wp install process.
instead I’m going to give you a big picture view of what wordpress is capable of, how companies and individuals are using WordPress, and I’ll explain what makes WP special - hopefully you’ll be inspired to do something with WP as a result.
when you say WP you think blogs
blogs are just one small piece of what you need to be doing online
social networks like twitter and facebook have lead to speculation that no one reads blogs anymore -- I don’t believe that’s true, but blogs certainly aren’t the only game in town anymore
while these new forms of social media present new challenges they also present new opportunities for publishers
web publishing IS digital publishing ... and since we’re talking about digital publishing today I’ll explain how WP fits in
in the beginning WP was a blogging system.
in 2009 it’s quite a bit more than that. and the development roadmap is very aggressive, we can expect it to evolve rapidly into something even bigger in the coming years.
what we have now is a general purpose web publishing tool.
WP has matured into a content management system
supporting and integrated applications are extending WP beyond CMS and into the social media realm.
as we’ll see in a moment, WP has evolved to be more than just a publishing system. over the last year or so WP has made substantial moves towards becoming a social networking platform.
social media: blogs, podcasts (audio and video), status updates, forums, groups, friends, ... WP is capable of all of this.
we’re talking about digital publishing today - web publishing is not a separate thing - it’s one aspect of digital publishing - web publishing is digital publishing - digital publishing standards derived from web standards (xhtml/css).
Most popular blogging application online.
started by journalists who lost their jobs when the local newspaper went out of business
one of many many university websites running on wordpress
had to put this in. i’m from pasadena. colleen bates is here today. she can tell us why she chose wordpress.
licensed under the gnu public license - gpl
GPL is a viral license - transfers rights to users who modify or adapt the system.
if those modifications are distributed the rights go with them
gpl is free - but what does that mean?
it doesn’t cost you anything - you don’t pay for the software
commercial cms systems can be quite costly -
There’s another kind of free
no one can stop you from using GPL licensed software
You inherit the rights to the creator.
you can do anything you want with the software - as long as you extend the same rights to anyone you distribute the modified software to.
modify the source code, build a commercial system on top of it, there are no restrictions - except that anything you create for distribution must also be licensed under the GPL
Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP
built for the web and web standards
xml, xhtml, css, javascript, rss
support for standards is baked into WordPress DNA
no CMS can do everything
the ones that try to do too much are difficult to use and frustrating
WordPress is modular - can be extended via plugins
if there’s something the core WordPress can’t do, you can create a plugin to add functionality
But chances are, you won’t have to do the hard work
If there’s something the Core WP can’t do, there’s a pretty good chance that someone has already created a plugin to address your need.
Over 7,000 plugins in the WP plugin directory and counting
59 million downloads
you don’t have to visit the WP plugin directory to look for those add-ons
the directory is built right into WP
this is a screenshot from the admin control panel
plugins->add new - search by term, keyword, or tag
once you find what you’re looking for you can download and install right from this screen - no file transfer, unziping, uploading, install. It’s all fully integrated.
wanted to show you an example of some popular plugins
some of these are free and some of these are commercial
If you’re publishing online and accepting comments you know that SPAM is a huge problem
akismet is collaborative SPAM filter - it’s networked and as Akismet users filter spam, the Akismet system gets better about detecting SPAM.
ATD - contextual spell checker, style checker and grammar checker.
you’re probably used to having something similar built into your word processor.
ATD provides WP users with advanced editorial support.
example of a premium addition
simplifies the process of creating complex web forms
administrative features allow you to create interactive applications w/drag and drop
biggest concern most people have about open source software
where am I going to get support.
well, there are hundreds of wordpress blogs, and thousands of wordpress developers and designers - they’re a pretty friend community
wordpress places an emphasis on community
user forums are very active
great place for support
plugins and themes are also an example of community
wordpress is part of the fabric of the social web
wordpress connect with social platforms
wordpress is a social platform
like wp, bbpress is open, standards-based, and easy to use
wpmu is misnamed - regular wordpress is multi-user w/multi-user roles
wpmu is really a multi-blog system - network of blogs
why: imagine setting up a blog network where every author or book has its own blog -- all managed through a centralized installation of wordpress.
buddy press turns WordPress MU into a social network
user profiles, member blogs, member groups, status updates.
Developing into an open source alternative to networks like facebook.
this directory is integrated into the wordpress system.
theme frameworks give you a starting point for creating new themes
sub-themes/child themes
theme clubs - premium themes available per theme, or by all access subscription - many of these are available under the GPL - you can do anything you want once you’ve paid for access
each theme creator has a slightly different style - shop around and find a look that’s right for you.
you can use any of these as a starting point - because they’re all standards based HTML/CSS they can be modified to suit your needs.
repurpose existing book content for a web environment
enhance content from books w/interactive elements
web market is x times bigger than the iphone market - and your investment is compatible with every web-enabled device in the world
WPMU - author blogs / book blogs
engagement
promotion of books
promotion of premium content
we’ve seen publishers invest in expensive home grown or custom systems that don’t have the flexibility, features, or search engine optimization
quick way to get familiar with wordpress
can pay for premium features like domain name
some limitations: plugins, themes, customization
