WCSD: Taking Your WordPress Site to the Next Level

From WordCamp San Diego 2016

You’ve set up your blog with WordPress and you’re pretty happy with how easy it is to add new posts, add images to those posts, and publish them to your site.

But now what? You might think that it would be nice if you could notify your Twitter or Facebook followers when you make a new post on your blog. What about selling your cooking e-book to your readers? What to do with all this spam and how do you make sure your site is backed up in case anything happens?

There’s an answer to all these questions (and even more you didn’t ask): use plugins!

Transcript

1. plugins.
   taking your WordPress site to the next level
   

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2. info.
   Happiness Rocketeer at Automattic
   Support for the Jetpack plugin

   Find me online:
   Twitter: @carolynsonnek
   Web: carolynsonnek.com
   Carolyn Sonnek
   

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3. your website.
   

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4. plugins.
   

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5. Plugins are ways to extend and add
   to the functionality that already
   exists in WordPress.
   what is a plugin?
   

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6. 44,207
   

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7. how to choose.
   Choose plugins from reliable sources:
   • WordPress.org Plugin Directory
   • Community Recommendations
   • Trusted Authors or Companies
   

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8. how to choose.
   Recently
   Updated
   Good
   Support
   Is It
   Necessary
   Downloads
   & Ratings
   

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9. now what?
   

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10. spam.
    

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12. Filters out your comment spam.
    Catches an average of 7.5 million 

    pieces of spam per hour.
    Most used WordPress plugin.
    Free.
    

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13. i want it all!
    

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14. • Install over 30 popular plugin features with one click.
    • Engage millions of WordPress.com users, allowing

    them to interact with your site.
    • Boost your site’s performance by taking the load of

    certain features off your servers.
    

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15. • Get regular updates, enhancements, and

    troubleshooting from the same folks who build

    WordPress.com.
    • Work seamlessly with Akismet to stop spam from

    your comments and contact forms
    • Customize your site using CSS without affecting your 

    theme files.
    

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16. • View/Visitor Statistics
    • Site uptime monitoring
    • Beautiful galleries/slideshows
    • Comments using social media
    • Extra sidebar widgets
    • Social media sharing
    • Auto-publish to social media
    • Brute force security monitoring
    • Plugin/update management
    • Subscriptions
    Plus amazing support!
    

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19. VaultPress protects and backs up your site with:
    • Automated backups with easy restores.
    • Daily security scans with one-click repairs.
    • Help from the WordPress experts.
    

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20. hello?
    

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21. • Edit .htaccess + robots.txt file
    • Social Integration
    • Multi-Site Compatible
    • Import & Export functionality
    • Multilingual support
    • Great documentation + support
    • Page Analysis
    • Advanced WordPress SEO 

    configuration
    • Meta & Link Elements
    • XML Sitemaps
    • RSS Optimization
    

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22. moar speed.
    

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23. WP Super Cache
    Creates static HTML files from your site.
    Saves your server from processing heavier PHP files.
    Helps protect your site from spikes in traffic.
    

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25. Easily sell your digital content.
    No license restrictions.
    No expensive hidden costs.
    Free.
    

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26. Perfectly integrates into your WordPress site.
    Free for the basic version.
    Free & Premium extensions to do even more.
    The sky’s the limit!
    

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27. get in touch.
    

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29. Drag and drop form builders
    Simple, Advanced, Post, and Pricing field options
    Conditional Logic
    Customization via API
    Works with your theme and with custom CSS
    Shortcodes, Functions, Widgets, and more
    

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30. “Gravity Forms is the best
    WordPress plugin ever because it
    never stops getting better.”
    ~ Chris Lema
    

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31. photo.
    there’s more?
    

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32. extra credit.
    

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33. Regenerate Thumbnails
    

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34. Editorial Calendar
    

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35. Edit Flow
    

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36. CMS Tree Page View
    

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37. Featured Image Column
    

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38. i am not
    the expert.
    

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39. questions?
    

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40. thanks!
    Carolyn Sonnek
    @carolynsonnek
    carolynsonnek.com
    speakerdeck.com/csonnek
    

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