3 sites in 6 weeks? WordPress can do that!

The case for Parent/Child theming has been discussed at length throughout the WordPress community. Discussion points range from the ability to share styles to sharing functionality. While the Parent/Child theme strategy does not fit every use case, there are times when it makes the most sense and provides the greatest possible experience for the client.

In this talk, we will talk about the Parent/Child theme strategy used by the development team at 10up for Harris Publications to launch three sites in six weeks using shared functionality while preparing a scalable framework for future growth.

Transcript

1. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 3 S I T E S I N 6 W E E K S ? WO R D P R E S S C A N D O T H AT !
2. A B O U T M E
3. A B O U T M E • Over 10 years of professional design and development experience.
4. A B O U T M E • Over 10 years of professional design and development experience. • Developing with WordPress since 2005
5. A B O U T M E • Over 10 years of professional design and development experience. • Developing with WordPress since 2005 • Design Engineer at 10up (Yes, we’re hiring!)
6. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H E R E TO F I N D M E Twitter: @creativeallen Personal Blog: http://www.allenmoore.me Github: http://github.com/allenmoore
7. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A full service digital agency that makes web publishing and content management simple and fun. We serve clients such as: A B O U T 1 0 U P
8. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A full service digital agency that makes web publishing and content management simple and fun. We serve clients such as: A B O U T 1 0 U P
9. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 I N T H I S TA L K
10. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 I N T H I S TA L K • Who Is Harris Publications?
11. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 I N T H I S TA L K • Who Is Harris Publications? • Developing a Strategy
12. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 I N T H I S TA L K • Who Is Harris Publications? • Developing a Strategy • Developing a Structure
13. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 I N T H I S TA L K • Who Is Harris Publications? • Developing a Strategy • Developing a Structure • An Example
14. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 I N T H I S TA L K • Who Is Harris Publications? • Developing a Strategy • Developing a Structure • An Example • Thanks/Questions?
15. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14
16. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14
17. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 An American consumer-magazine publisher in New York City, NY, that publishes over 75 titles.
18. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 An American consumer-magazine publisher in New York City, NY, that publishes over 75 titles.
19. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 An American consumer-magazine publisher in New York City, NY, that publishes over 75 titles.
20. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14
21. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14
22. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 D E V E LO P I N G A S T R AT E G Y
23. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W E M A K E C O N T E N T M A N AG E M E N T E ASY. M AY B E E V E N F U N .
24. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 T H E E AS Y WAY F O R T H E D E V E LO P E R I S N OT A LWAYS T H E B E S T WAY F O R T H E U S E R .
25. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 D E B U N K I N G T H E M Y T H
26. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 Q U I C K P O L L
27. – J U S T I N TA D L O C K “The idea of parent/child themes became popular because it allowed the parent theme to be updated while keeping customizations intact within a child theme.”
28. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H AT A R E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ?
29. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H AT A R E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ? • Parent / Child themes best fit a network of sites when the information architecture of a site and its general layout (or at least order of DOM elements) are shared between different sites.
30. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H AT A R E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ? • Parent / Child themes best fit a network of sites when the information architecture of a site and its general layout (or at least order of DOM elements) are shared between different sites. • They share the same base functional requirements and presentation style, and mostly differ in the coat of paint applied to their layout and features.
31. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A N A N A LO G Y
32. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A N A N A LO G Y
33. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A N A N A LO G Y
34. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A N A N A LO G Y
35. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A N A N A LO G Y
36. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H Y U S E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ?
37. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S C A N N OT O N LY B E YO U R F R I E N D B U T YO U R A L LY.
38. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H Y D I D W E C H O O S E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ?
39. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H Y D I D W E C H O O S E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ? • Rapid Development
40. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H Y D I D W E C H O O S E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ? • Rapid Development • Shared elements
41. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H Y D I D W E C H O O S E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ? • Rapid Development • Shared elements • Multisite implementation
42. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H Y D I D W E C H O O S E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ? • Rapid Development • Shared elements • Multisite implementation • Scalability
43. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 W H Y D I D W E C H O O S E PA R E N T / C H I L D T H E M E S ? • Rapid Development • Shared elements • Multisite implementation • Scalability • Ease of updates and bug fixes
44. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 D E V E LO P I N G A S T R U C T U R E
45. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 PA R E N T T H E M E
46. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 PA R E N T T H E M E • Contained all functionality that was common among each design.
47. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 PA R E N T T H E M E • Contained all functionality that was common among each design. • Contained functionality that would possibly be implemented on future sites.
48. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 PA R E N T T H E M E • Contained all functionality that was common among each design. • Contained functionality that would possibly be implemented on future sites. • Independent of design and styles (except for a normalize stylesheet).
49. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 C H I L D T H E M E S
50. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 C H I L D T H E M E S • Contained all styles for each individual design.
51. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 C H I L D T H E M E S • Contained all styles for each individual design. • Custom functionality or hooks/filters of parent theme functions that were unique to a particular design.
52. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 A D D _ T H E M E _ S U P P O R T
53. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 I F ( C U R R E N T _ T H E M E _ S U P P O R T S ( ) )
54. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 E X A M P L E : P U B L I C AT I O N S / I S S U E S
55. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 H OW D I D W E AC C O M P L I S H T H I S ?
56. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 P U B L I C AT I O N S C U S TO M P O S T T Y P E
57. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14
58. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 C U S TO M M E TA F I E L D S
59. Publications
60. Issues
61. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 S H A D OW TA XO N O M Y
62. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14
63. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 S H A D OW TA XO N O M Y
64. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 S H A D OW TA XO N O M Y • Associate an article with a Publication/Issue
65. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 S H A D OW TA XO N O M Y • Associate an article with a Publication/Issue • If an editor creates a Publication or Issue, a mirror image term is created - including hierarchy - in a custom taxonomy that is available only to the standard WordPress post.
66. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 S H A D OW TA XO N O M Y • Associate an article with a Publication/Issue • If an editor creates a Publication or Issue, a mirror image term is created - including hierarchy - in a custom taxonomy that is available only to the standard WordPress post. • We added some JS to the taxonomy metabox to ensure that posts tagged with a specific Issue were always associated with the parent Publication as well
67. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 S H A D OW TA XO N O M Y • Associate an article with a Publication/Issue • If an editor creates a Publication or Issue, a mirror image term is created - including hierarchy - in a custom taxonomy that is available only to the standard WordPress post. • We added some JS to the taxonomy metabox to ensure that posts tagged with a specific Issue were always associated with the parent Publication as well • For more information about Shadow Taxonomies, visit http://eamann.com/tech/wordpress-shadow-taxonomies/
68. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14
69. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 C OV E R S TO RY
70. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 C OV E R S TO RY http://www.allenmoore.me/setting-object-terms-with-a-checkbox-in- wordpress/
75. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 T H A N K S !
76. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 Zach Brown Dan Blaker Chris Marslender D I R E C T O R O F S Y S T E M S E N G I N E E R I N G S E N I O R W E B S T R AT E G I S T S E N I O R W E B E N G I N E E R Matt Gross Brandon Camenisch Michael Phillips S E N I O R W E B E N G I N E E R W E B E N G I N E E R W E B E N G I N E E R # T E A M 1 0 U P
77. Allen Moore • @creativeallen • #3sites6weeks • allenmoore.me/wpyall14 Q U E S T I O N S ?