WordPress and Website Basics Mississippi Mills Festival Consortium February Brent Eades

Three components of a website 1. Domain name YourEvent.com. 2. Web host Where your content lives. 3. Website content Text, images, video.

Three ways of publishing content 1. From scratch on your own host For experts only. Rarely necessary. Almonte.com 1998.Almonte.com Install publishing software on your own host GoDaddy +WordPress, e.g. 3. Use ‘dedicated’ hosting service WordPress.com, e.g.

WordPress beginnings Began in 2003 as ‘blogging’ software For people writing regular posts on various topics, arranged chronologically. ‘Posts’ and ‘pages’ were two main kinds of content (still are) Post: “Latest News” (has a date and a category.) Page: “About Us” (static.) 2005: introduced first ‘theme’ Template that controls ‘look and feel’ of website. Hundreds of thousands available for every possible purpose. Free and paid.

2005: ‘Kubrick’ theme

2015: ‘BE’ theme collection ($60)

WordPress is free, ‘open-source’ Open-source software is community-driven No one ‘owns’ it. Anyone can contribute improvements, change the underlying code. There is also a commercial component of WordPress. Plug-ins Add functions and features to core WordPress software. At least 30,000 available, free and paid.

Who uses WordPress? Has come a long way from its blogging origins: New Yorker BBC Best Buy New York Times Sony National Post eBay 75,000,000 sites use it world-wide.

How to start with WordPress? 1.HOSTING PROVIDER: Purchase domain name and monthly hosting, install WordPress software. 2.WORDPRESS.COM: Dedicated WordPress hosting service.

WordPress via hosting provider Register a domain name: Most hosting services include domain name registration. Cost may be included in hosting fee, or extra $12-20 a year. Select a host: GoDaddy, HostPapa, many more. As little as $3 a month, $7-8 more typical. Local companies more expensive, but better support. Installing WordPress is usually ‘one-click’.

WordPress via hosting provider Log in to new installation, select a theme:

WordPress via hosting provider Start adding content

WordPress.com Commercial arm of WordPress: dedicated hosting. Free service doesn’t include domain name (YourEvent.wordpress.com) Paid version is expensive, $129/yr, and limited: Less control over customizing, plug-ins, etc. The nicest themes cost extra, $75 - $300. BUT: You can build a decent site fast and for free.

WordPress.com Sign up for free account, start creating site.

WordPress.com alternatives? SquareSpace: decent price, small but polished choice of themes.

Basics: Domain Name You own it, or should anyway Make sure you have rights to it! Your name and address should be the ‘administrative contact’. May not be possible to transfer or renew the name otherwise. Worst case: You lose the name..COM vs.CA? Doesn’t really matter. more likely to find a unique name in.CA.

Basics: Other credentials Apart from domain name also ensure you have: Access to the hosting account (user name, password, billing, etc.) Access to FTP and related services. Access to all accounts related to the site.

Web design best practices Content is king! Better to have a bland-looking site with info that’s clear and easy to find than a visually flashy site that doesn’t give users what they want. Start with the content – design is the last step. 5Ws: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY. For events, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE are critical, on first screen. Celtfest.Celtfest Always be current – start next year’s site as soon as this year’s event is over.

Web design best practices Images make an impact Many modern WordPress themes emphasize large images. Plan in advance to ensure you have high-quality photos and imagery available when you build your site.

Web design best practices ‘Responsive design’ is essential Site must work equally well on large monitor and iPhone. Especially true for travel and entertainment sites; people are far more likely to be using a mobile device. (Sitting at home watching TV, in car, etc.) Over 49% of Millstone readers use smartphone; another 18% use tablet. Google penalizes non-responsive sites. Most newer WordPress themes are responsive.

A Facebook page too? Absolutely! Website is for discovery by new visitors Google search: “art show in Almonte”, “when does that event start”, etc. Helps draw visitors who might stumble across you, or have heard your event mentioned. Facebook is for engagement with existing visitors Everyone is on Facebook anyway, make sure they don’t forget about you. They share with friends, draw new visitors.

Get your site found “SEO” - search engine optimization (Google) Not rocket science, never pay for this Responsive design. Use keywords often in content and titles. “Reputation” – more links to your site means higher ranking. Promote your site with related sites and groups, blogs, etc. Small community, will likely be found anyway.

Hands-on session Using WordPress.com to update live MMFC sites.