WCTO 2012: Beginner's Guide to WordPress with Kathryn Presner and Shannon Smith

This introductory session is geared to bloggers, web designers and programmers who are new to WordPress. Even those who don’t know a Codex from a Cadillac will feel comfortable here. Delving into WordPress from a beginner’s point of view, we use unintimidating plain language to explain the fundamental concepts of WordPress, from themes, to widgets, to plugins. We go spelunking in the admin panel and show real-world examples of what WordPress can do.

The presentation is suited to complete beginners. No coding necessary!

Transcript

1. A Beginner’s Guide
   to WordPress
   with Shannon Smith & Kathryn Presner
   September 2012
   WordCamp Toronto 2012
   

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2. Kathryn Presner
   Automattic Happiness Engineer
   Web Designer
   @zoonini
   

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3. Shannon Smith
   Web developer at Café Noir Design
   www.cafenoirdesign.com
   @cafenoirdesign
   

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4. What We’ll Cover
   Welcome
   Intro to WordPress
   Intro to the Admin Panel
   Resources
   Closing
   Questions
   

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5. Intro to WordPress
   

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6. Diving into WordPress
   What is WordPress?
   WordPress.com vs.
   WordPress.org
   What is it used for?
   http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/
   

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7. Blog
   http://julienchung.com/blog/
   

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8. CMS+Blog
   http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/
   

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9. CMS
   http://mygirlfriend.ca/
   

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10. CMS
    http://www.thewittyoffice.com
    

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11. Magazine
    

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12. Photo Portfolio
    http://www.silviaphotography.com/
    

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13. Video Portfolio
    http://www.presner.com
    

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14. Audio Portfolio
    

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15. Interactive
    

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16. Some WordPress Basics
    Database vs. files
    PHP vs. HTML
    Do I need to know
    PHP?
    Database ➜
    Scripting
    Language ➜
    Markup
    Language ➜
    Structure Presentation
    Dynamic Functions
    Data
    

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17. Posts vs. Pages
    Page
    

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18. Posts vs. Pages
    Post
    

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19. Posts vs. Pages
    Posts
    

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20. Introduction to Themes
    A WP Theme is a collection of Template files -
    (X)HTML + PHP + CSS
    The CSS (aka stylesheet) usually controls the
    layout and design
    Only two template files are required: index.php,
    style.css
    Some are optional: sidebar.php, comments.php,
    etc.
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Stepping_Into_Templates
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy
    

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22. http://www.lonelythebook.com/emily-white-author/
    

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23. Get Started With Blank Themes
    Starkers
    http://viewportindustries.com/products/starkers/
    DIW Blank Theme
    http://themeclubhouse.digwp.com/
    Whiteboard
    http://whiteboardframework.com/
    Roots
    http://www.rootstheme.com/
    _s (underscores)
    http://www.underscores.me
    Bluelime Media
    http://www.bluelimemedia.com/2012/07/14/bluelime-media-stater-theme-
    now-in-3-flavours/
    HTML5 Boilerplate
    https://github.com/iamamused/wp-theme-html5-boilerplate
    

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24. Get Started With
    A Pre-made Theme
    WordPress.org Directory
    http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/
    WooThemes
    http://www.woothemes.com/
    elegantthemes
    http://www.elegantthemes.com/
    Press75
    http://www.press75.com/
    WPswitch
    http://wpswitch.com/
    Smashing Magazine - Free WordPress Themes: 2011 Edition
    http://wp.smashingmagazine.com/2011/07/05/free-wordpress-themes-2011-edition/
    

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25. Introduction to Plugins
    What is a plug-in?
    Where do you get plug-ins?
    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
    

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26. Managing Plug-ins
    

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27. Introduction to Widgets
    What is a
    widget?
    What is a
    widget-ready
    theme?
    http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Widgets
    

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28. Intro to the Admin Panel
    

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29. The Admin Panel
    Let’s go spelunking!
    

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30. WordPress Resources
    

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31. Official
    wordpress.org (of course!)
    The Codex
    http://codex.wordpress.org/
    Support Forum
    http://wordpress.org/support
    wordpress.tv
    http://wordpress.tv/
    

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32. Cheat Sheets
    WordPress Template Tags Reference Guide
    http://www.dbswebsite.com/design/wordpress-reference/V3/
    Optimization Cheat Sheet for WordPress
    http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Optimization/Cheat_Sheet
    Various 3.0-Ready Cheat Sheets
    http://www.webanddesigners.com/11-extremely-helpful-wordpress-
    cheatsheets/
    Remember: Cheat sheets need to be current
    

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33. Theme Development Tools
    Official Theme Development Checklist & Sample Data
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development_Checklist
    Book: Digging Into WordPress
    http://digwp.com/
    Online and In-Person Classes & Resources
    http://zoonini.wordpress.com/wordpress-resources-wcto/
    

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34. WordPress Inspiration
    WP Showcase
    http://wordpress.org/showcase/
    We Love WP
    http://welovewp.com/
    WPInspiration
    http://wpinspiration.com/
    WP Float
    http://wpfloat.com/
    

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35. Kathryn’s Recommended
    Plugins
    WordPress SEO by
    Yoast or All in One
    SEO Pack
    FeedBurner
    FeedSmith Extend
    Subscribe to
    Comments Reloaded
    Obfuscate Email
    Contact Form 7
    DirtySuds - Embed
    YouTube
    Bad Behavior
    WordPress Database
    Backup
    Secure WordPress
    WordPress File
    Monitor Plus
    

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36. Shannon's Recommended
    Plugins
    WordPress Database
    Backup
    Contact Form 7
    Jetpack
    PHPEnkoder
    Limit Login Attempts
    WordPress SEO
    WP Super Cache
    WP Minify
    WP Smush.it
    (feedburner, google
    analytics, wufoo forms,
    microformats)
    

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37. Closing
    

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38. Questions?
    What Next?
    Get the presentation at Slideshare
    http://www.slideshare.net/zoonini
    Find Us
    http://www.zoonini.com
    Twitter @zoonini
    http://www.cafenoirdesign.com
    Twitter @cafenoirdesign
    

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