1. …for beginners
Class #1

2. Logistics 7-9pm MEB 243: Tues 4/16-4/30 or Wed 4/17-5/1
WiFi user: event0209, pass: 49Kv/67Po/72Kw
Recommended read: WordPress for Dummies (5th ed.)
Quick survey:
Who works in IT? Other fields?
Programming experience?
Built a website before? Using what?
Ever used WordPress or another CMS?
Brought a laptop today? Tablet? (next time if can)
Purpose of the website(s) you want to build?

3. Disclaimers, etc I…
am a programmer & a consultant; WP is one of the many tools in my toolbox
am not all-knowing or perfect; I’ll tell you what I know, and tell you when I don’t know
am available for consultation (cost varies), but my goal is to make you able to run your own site
You
should ask me lots of questions!
will get occasionally frustrated/lost; that’s normal, but tell me if you do
will get the most out of this course if you build a site while we’re learning (even if you scrap it later)

4. Course Roadmap Internet Basics Header & Background img
Dashboard, Administration
User management
Posts vs Pages
Import/Export
Editing: rich- vs HTML; Drafts/Visibility/Pubdate
Widgets
Themes: find, customize
Navigation, Parents, Order
Plugins
Custom Menus, sub-menus
SEO, videos, music/audio
Media library (& links to)
E-Commerce, PayPal
Links (& Blogroll)
shortcodes, inserting PHP
Other ways of posting
Comments
Settings: title/tagline, etc
bookmarklet (“press this”)
Permalinks
iOS/Tablet apps
Homepage / posts page

5. WordPress is a Content Management System… but what can you do with it?
Class listings, calendar, shopping cart & payments
Online courses, profession-based social networking
E-zine, event listings, advertising
Corporate website w/ design showcase
Photo & video gallery
more at
wordpress.org/showcase

6. Why WordPress? NOT JUST BLOGS!
Easy to add/edit content
Edit from anywhere via web browser
Lots of plugins (extensions) & themes (templates)
Easy to change look while retaining content
Very flexible and constantly improving
Why not WordPress?
Complexity (but not as bad as you might think)
Need slightly better server (but still cheap/free)
Takes a little getting-used-to

7. Case Study Conversion from plain-old-HTML to WordPress
Addition of SEO and other tools
Immediate and dramatic improvements:
twice as many visitors over last 6 months
8x increase in length-of-stay during first week, settled down to 38% permanent improvement
40% decrease in bounce rate (visitors who leave) in first week, settled down to 7.5% decrease
the real benefit: 35% increase in gross income

8. Case Study

9. Internet Basics What is the Internet? What is a Webserver?
IPs & Domain Names
jonpeck.com=
cutoncefilms.com=
google.com=
yahoo.com=
} same!

10. Hosting dedicated vs shared (VPS, cloud) jonpeck.com jonpeck.com
index.html
one.html
cutoncefilms.com
…..
two.html
…..
art.gif
…..

11. Static content Dynamic content (text & files) (code & databases) VS
transient
pages
-request
-request
somewebsite.com
index.html
WordPress
or other CMS
code (PHP)
one.html
two.html
database (MySql)
art.gif

12. WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
WordPress.org: provides software that you put on your own server (aka “host”); more complexity but also more extensibility (plugins, etc)
WordPress.com uses a modified (crippled) version of that same software, but running on their own servers: you use their server
Both are free, but…
WordPress.org: you need server (usu. $9-10/month)
WordPress.com: $30-100/yr to remove ads, allow custom domain, enable theme editing, etc
For anything more than basic blogging, I’d recommend WordPress.org

13. Set Up a Test Site! OK for now: http://seemeroar.com/wp-admin
these will be SLOW and are TEMPORARY
some features (add themes, plugins, etc) not available
Username
Password
Public Website
one
one!site
two
two!site …
twelve
twelve!site
Better: 2-weeks* FREE at DreamHost (*always if 501c3)
go to > “Get Hosted”
solid, reasonably fast
usually $120/year but I’ve provided some discounts
Better: 2-weeks* FREE at DreamHost (*always if 501c3)
go to > click “Sign Up”
on second page of signup, pick “already have”, enter a domain name ending in ______.dreamhosters.com
or: register a new domain name of your choice (in this case, if you cancel, you must pay for the domain)

14. The left-Navigation provides access to specific features of WordPress.
The Dashboard
The administration panel (“dashboard”) is usually at
The Content Pane has info about your site’s status… how many pages you have, etc.
This Pane changes depending on what part of the left-Navigation you have just clicked on.
The left-Navigation provides access to specific features of WordPress.
Each one has its own sub-menu… we’ll get into the specifics in just a bit.
The “admin bar” tells you what site you are editing, and who you are (rollover your name to logout)
A different version of this bar appears when you are visiting your own site (if you are logged in).
“Screen Options” changes which items are shown on the current screen of the Dashboard.
“Help” is context-specific, providing info about the current Dashboard screen.

15. Course Roadmap (Tues) Internet Basics Header & Background img
Dashboard, Administration
User management
Posts vs Pages
Import/Export
Editing: rich- vs HTML; Drafts/Visibility/Pubdate
Widgets
Themes: find, customize
Navigation, Parents, Order
Plugins
Custom Menus, sub-menus
SEO, videos, music/audio
Media library (& links to)
E-Commerce, PayPal
Links (& Blogroll)
shortcodes, inserting PHP
Other ways of posting
Comments
Settings: title/tagline, etc
bookmarklet (“press this”)
Permalinks
iOS/Tablet apps
Homepage / posts page

16. Course Roadmap (Wed) Internet Basics Header & Background img
Dashboard, Administration
User management
Posts vs Pages
Import/Export
Editing: rich- vs HTML; Drafts/Visibility/Pubdate
Widgets
Themes: find, customize
Navigation, Parents, Order
Plugins
Custom Menus, sub-menus
SEO, videos, music/audio
Media library (& links to)
E-Commerce, PayPal
Links (& Blogroll)
shortcodes, inserting PHP
Other ways of posting
Comments
Settings: title/tagline, etc
bookmarklet (“press this”)
Permalinks
iOS/Tablet apps
Homepage / posts page