1. …for beginners

2. Logistics Sat 5/29, 10-5pm(ish) at UW: LOEW 115 WiFi (UW) user: event0217, pass: 2y4V/5h6U/2k3F class website: http://jonpeck.net/http://jonpeck.net/ Rec. read: WordPress for Dummies (link on website)WordPress for Dummies free eBook: Getting Started with WordPressGetting Started with WordPress 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, wp.org Dashboard, Administration Posts vs Pages Editing: rich- vs HTML; Drafts/Visibility/Pubdate Navigation, Parents, Order Media library (& links to) Comments Settings: title/tagline, etc – Permalinks – Homepage / posts page Header & Background img User management Import/Export Widgets Themes: find, customize Plugins – SEO, videos, music/audio – E-Commerce, PayPal – shortcodes, inserting PHP iOS/Tablet apps

5. WordPress is a Content Management System… but what can you do with it? “WordPress powers 23% of the internet” - w3techsw3techs http://www.washington.edu (yep, really!) http://www.washington.edureally http://classesandworkshops.com (class listings, calendar, shopping cart & payments) http://classesandworkshops.com http://solopracticeuniversity.com (online courses, profession-based social networking) http://solopracticeuniversity.com http://www.hmag.com (e-zine, event listings, advertising) http://www.hmag.com http://zync.ca (corporate website w/ design showcase) http://zync.ca http://www.clouds365.com (photo & video gallery) http://www.clouds365.com 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) Takes a little getting-used-to Potential hacking target (I’ll show how to guard)

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=69.89.7.252 cutoncefilms.com=69.89.7.252 google.com=173.194.33.2 yahoo.com=98.138.253.109 jonpeck.com=69.89.7.252 cutoncefilms.com=69.89.7.252 google.com=173.194.33.2 yahoo.com=98.138.253.109 173.194.33.2 1.2.3.4 5.6.7.8 98.138.253.109 69.89.7.252

10. Hosting – dedicated vs shared (VPS, cloud) 69.89.7.252 jonpeck.com cutoncefilms.com ….. jonpeck.com index.html one.html two.html art.gif

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

12. WordPress.org vs WordPress.com WordPress.org - provides software that you put on your own server (aka “host”); slightly 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. $4-20/month) – WordPress.com: but $99/yr to remove ads, allow custom domain, enable theme editing, etc$99/yr For anything more than basic blogging, I’d recommend WordPress.org

13. Web Hosting – Once, it was hard to set up WP on your own server, connect your domain name, etc – But not there are a lot of hosting companies with turnkey WP solutions: sign up, pick a domain name, select WordPress as your app; they do all the setup! – HOMEWORK: select a hosting provider and set up your first website (or install it on your current host)! Unsure if you’ll stick around? Pick a month-to- month plan or one with a refund policy

14. Getting your own Web Hosting: info at http://jonpeck.net/hostinghttp://jonpeck.net/hosting OK: Dreamhost (infinite disk space, but slow/limited)Dreamhost $4-20/mo (*always if 501c3), free domain name501c3 97-day money-back guaranteemoney-back sign up at http://bitly.com/hostdh2014http://bitly.com/hostdh2014 RECOMMENDED: SiteGround (very fast, 10GB is plenty)SiteGround $4-30/mo, free domain name, free website transfer discounts with this link: http://bitly.com/hostme14http://bitly.com/hostme14 30-day money-back guaranteemoney-back PREMIUM: WP Engine (even faster, fully managed)WP Engine $30-250/mo, version control, staging area, service-level agreement Completely focused on WordPress hosting Some plugin restrictions (things that conflict w/ their own backups, etc) Check them out here: http://bitly.com/hostwpe2014http://bitly.com/hostwpe2014

15. The Dashboard The administration panel (“dashboard”) is usually at http://[yourwebsite.com]/ wp-admin 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. 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 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.

16. Do This Now / Demo: Get hosting and have them set up WordPress On your site: – Turn off Comments (demo) – Change your PermaLink style (demo) – Add the plugin called “WordFence” (demo) – Start looking at Themes (demo)

17. Course Roadmap Internet Basics, wp.org Dashboard, Administration Posts vs Pages Editing: rich- vs HTML; Drafts/Visibility/Pubdate Navigation, Parents, Order Media library (& links to) Comments Settings: title/tagline, etc – Permalinks – Homepage / posts page Header & Background img User management Import/Export Widgets Themes: find, customize Plugins – SEO, videos, music/audio – E-Commerce, PayPal – shortcodes, inserting PHP iOS/Tablet apps

18. User Management Generally, these are people who contribute to and/or manage your site Unique usernames & email addresses Can have one, or many Users, of various levels – Subscriber: has a profile but can’t contribute Useful for knowing your reader base and/or with plugins – Contributor: create posts, but not publish An Editor would approve (publish) their drafts – Author: can publish their own posts – Editor: can create/manage any post or page – Administrator: can do everything (& add/del Users)

19. Android/iPhone/iPad app

20. Export: text content only, not images/themes/etc (for better exports, use BackupBuddy)BackupBuddy

21. Import: from other Blogs, or from an Export

22. WordPress Multisite (WPMU) Allows many sites on one WordPress Installation Adds a ”Network Admin” user level to manage sites Individual sites can have their own Admins, but have some features removed (can only install Plugins/Themes the Net Admin has approved, etc) A little complex to set up, should do when first install WordPress on your host: see this guidesee this guide

23. Course Roadmap Internet Basics, wp.org Dashboard, Administration Posts vs Pages Editing: rich- vs HTML; Drafts/Visibility/Pubdate Navigation, Parents, Order Media library (& links to) Comments Settings: title/tagline, etc – Permalinks – Homepage / posts page Header & Background img User management Import/Export Widgets Themes: find, customize Plugins – SEO, videos, music/audio – E-Commerce, PayPal – shortcodes, inserting PHP iOS/Tablet apps

24. eCommerce in 3 not-so-easy steps 1.get a PayPal account (or a full Payment Processor) – For most purposes a “Personal” account is fine – they accept payments for you (incl Credit Cards), then you transfer $ to your bank account on a regular basis – view, refund, manage payments at http://PayPal.comhttp://PayPal.com 2.install/configure a PayPal plugin (there are lots!): – single “buy now” buttons: Easy PayPal Custom FieldsEasy PayPal Custom Fields – single w/ custom forms: CP Contact Form with PaypalCP Contact Form with Paypal – cart: WordPress Ultra Simple Paypal Shopping CartWordPress Ultra Simple Paypal Shopping Cart for custom forms w/ Ultra Simple, also install cforms II (complex)cforms II – full shopping setups: WooCommerce, WP e-Commerce, Easy Digital Downloads (not just for digital goods, AFAIK)WooCommerceWP e-Commerce Easy Digital Downloads 3.sell stuff!

25. or PayPal standard = annoying!

26. or PayPal Pro +plugin = stay on site!

27. MUST-HAVE Plugins Security: WordFenceWordFence – …and maybe Captcha tooCaptcha Backups: – Online Backup for WordPress: full schedulable file & database backup; requires a professional to restore Online Backup for WordPress – Better (but not free / $80): BackupBuddy easy backup, restore, and migrate without a programmer’s helpBackupBuddy Editing pages: TinyMCE AdvancedTinyMCE Advanced Analytics: Google Analytics by YoastGoogle Analytics by Yoast Search Engine Optimization (SEO): – WordPress SEO by Yoast: complex but great WordPress SEO by Yoast – Google XML Sitemaps (also hits Bing, Yahoo) Google XML Sitemaps Comment antispam (preinstalled): AkismetAkismet {

28. Useful Plugins Social: AddThis or Sharexy or Social Media WidgetAddThisSharexySocial Media Widget Sliders: SlideDeck2 Lite or PaidLitePaid Automatic LightBox for images: Easy FancyBoxEasy FancyBox Image Gallery w/ LightBox: NextGen GalleryNextGen Gallery Hide pages from nav: Exclude Pages from NavigationExclude Pages from Navigation Make nav menu items go elsewhere: Page Links ToPage Links To Turn off automatic Page Titles: Toggle the TitleToggle the Title Fonts: WP Google FontsWP Google Fonts Favicon: All-in-One FaviconAll-in-One Favicon Broken Link Checker Reordering Pages: CMS Page OrderCMS Page Order Categories for Media Library: Media Category LibraryMedia Category Library

29. Useful Plugins eCommerce: WooCommerce, WP e-Commerce, Easy Digital Downloads WooCommerceWP e-CommerceEasy Digital Downloads Membership: BuddyPress or s2Member (adds paid members, protected downloads, membership levels, etc)BuddyPress s2Member Show Posts on multiple pages: TPG Get PostsTPG Get Posts – Shortcodes: [name param1=“value1” param2=“value2”] Calendar: – All-in-One Event Calendar or My Calendar All-in-One Event CalendarMy Calendar – Google Calendar Google Calendar Forms: – Contact Form or Contact Form 7 Contact FormContact Form 7 – Google Forms (surveys, etc) Google Forms Advanced Audio: MP3-jPlayer or HTML5 jQuery Audio Player MP3-jPlayerHTML5 jQuery Audio Player Advanced Video: Smart YouTube PROSmart YouTube PRO

30. Want to know what theme & plugins a site is using?: try the WP Theme DetectorWP Theme Detector If you want to contact me in the future: admin@jonpeck.com admin@jonpeck.com