Learn some WordPress basics

1. SoCal WordPress Meetup
iWeb to WordPress
a.k.a. WP99
October 2013
Apple Store, Santa Monica
– Third Street Promenade
SoCalWP.org / l@SoCalWP / f/SoCalWP

2. Special thanks
Apple Store –
and a word from our hosts
Our usual sponsors:
WP Engine
WooThemes

3. Who are we?
Noel Saw, Presenter
Founder of Neochrome, Inc.
Natalie MacLees,
Founder of Purple Pen
Productions, LLC +
Lead Organizer, WordCamp LA

4. Who are we?
Both our companies provide WP
design/development services.
Clients with WordPress projects
have included Red
Bull, Vons/Safeway, and Murad.

5. A Disclaimer…
I (Noel Saw) am not a CSS, HTML, or
PHP expert - so if I can do this, so can
you with some practice and research.
I have my designers/developers to do the
technical work for me 
I have been managing web projects since
2006 so I am familiar with web
technology concepts.

6. Some notes…
There’s a lot to cover, so we will only
take questions near the end.
We apologize, otherwise we’ll be here a
long time.
The slides will be available on
SlideShare.net later tonight posted on
SoCalWP.org, Twitter, and Facebook.

7. Questions for the audience…
How many already use WordPress?
How many of you have iWeb sites?
How many of you have have another
web hosting account?

8. Questions for the audience…
How many existing WordPress users
consider themselves as a…
• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Expert

9. Assumptions on our part
We’re assuming you have some
knowledge of:
• Domain name registration
• HTML/CSS code
• How web pages or iWeb works in
general

10. What is WordPress?
WordPress (WP) is a content
management system that can be
installed on a web hosting server
account like on companies like:
• Dreamhost
• MediaTemple
• HostGator
• GoDaddy (we don’t judge)

11. What WordPress needs
Your web hosting provider needs to
support PHP 5+ and MySQL.
You’ll install WordPress usually with a
“one click” installer.
Most web hosts support WordPress.

12. What can WP do for you?
WordPress makes it easy for you to
publish your web pages including the
home page, contact page, and of
course blog pages.
WordPress democratizes web site
publishing and up keep/maintenance.

13. WP’s content - editable areas
1.) Posts: Blog or News but can also be
other information “snippets”.
2.) Pages: Mostly “static” pages that are
not frequently updated. Ex: Contact Us
page

14. WP’s content areas
3.) Widget Areas: Sidebar and Footers
Usually built into the theme
4.) Navigation (Menu) Bar

15. Tonight’s demo site
Example iWeb Site we’re using:
www.nikkialexander.com

16. Tonight’s demo site
We didn’t have access to the iWeb example
site user password.
It was pure/copy paste operation.

17. Tonight’s demo site
Alternatively, you may want to try a WP
plugin to “import” text content into your site
like this one: http://bit.ly/synplugin

18. Tonight’s demo site
We’re not going to be able to make an
exact copy of the site but it will be close
enough for you to see possibilities.

19. Tonight’s demo site
At the end of the demo, I’ll show you what
an exact copy looks like with a bit more
work and different method.

20. Header
Navigation (Menu)
Page
(Body)
Widget area
Footer area

21. Header
Navigation (Menu)
Page
Widget area
Footer area
More thorough “anatomy” - http://yoast.com/wordpress-theme-anatomy/

22. Steps
1. Setup domain in cPanel
2. Setup WordPress and login
3. Install Theme (http://bit.ly/ostheme)
4. Setup header
5. Customize header
6. Setup widget areas
7. Setup pages with Bulk Creator plugin
8. Setup Home page slider

23. Real World
Demo time!

24. WordPress Do’s and Don’ts
Do update WP core, themes, and
plugins frequently
Do run and download frequent backups
– ex: BackupBuddy commercial plugin
Do change “Permalinks” to “Month and
Name” in WP admin settings

25. WordPress Do’s & Don’ts
Do only install themes and plugins from
reputable companies or from
WordPress.org
Buy subscription to WP101.com and
Lynda.com or YouTube (get what you
pay for)
Buy subscription to Akismet.com to
block spam posts

26. WordPress Do’s & Don’ts
And finally, do not edit WordPress core
files via FTP or WP admin editor
otherwise when WP core is
updated, you’ll lose changes.
Editing these files could also crash your
site in seconds.

27. Demo links
• OpenStrap theme:
http://bit.ly/ostheme
•
•
•
•
•
PageLines theme
Google Fonts plugin
WordFence plugin
Bulk Creator plugin
Anatomy of a WP theme:
http://yoast.com/wordpress-theme-anatomy/

28. Learn more links…
• WordPress.org – themes and
plugins
• WP101.com – training videos
• Lynda.com – general HTML/CSS
learning videos
• “Firebug” extension – Google it!
• Other awesome WP plugins:
http://bit.ly/wwlakb

29. Thanks for Listening to Me!
The End!
Follow me:
l@wpverse

30. Thanks again to:
Apple Store
And our other sponsors:
WP Engine
WooThemes
SoCalWP.org / l@SoCalWP / f/SoCalWP