WHAT IS WORDPRESS? • WordPress is a free (as in beer) and open source blogging tool and a content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL.
• WordPress celebrated its tenth anniversary on May 27, 2013.
• Two flavors: WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
• WordPress.com is the cloud version of WordPress, supported by Automattic and is the simplest, most secure way to start web- publishing immediately.
• WordPress.org sites are self-hosted, running on the site’s own server, and the site has complete control over the code and experience. Anyone can access and download the open source core software.
ADDING MEDIA TO POSTS • Adding images, video, and audio stimulates your readers’ minds, giving them something more than text to dig through, and a reason to come back.
• Media breaks up the text, improves the flow, and makes a long post seem much shorter and more enjoyable to read.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR 1. A design you like. Your design should project the image you want, be it professional or fun. There’s more to a theme than visuals, but it’s the only thing your readers will see!
2. Responsive. Mobile device usage is quickly becoming users’ primary reading device! Don’t lose readers to a bad mobile experience.
3. Functionality. A theme is functional if it does what you want it to do. Do you want to display a lot of images? Are you primarily news/text focused? Don’t think they’re interchangeable!
4. Regular updates. It’s important that designers update their themes regularly to ensure they work with the latest edition of WordPress.
5. Documentation. Should explain exactly how the theme can be used and point out common problems that arise for the theme.
WATCH OUT FOR “KITCHEN SINK” THEMES • It’s tempting to get a theme with scores of great features built-in, but what happens if you want to change themes?
SHARING • Give your readers the ability to easily share your content with Twitter, Facebook, and a host of other services.
• Adding to your Sharing Enabled Services is as simple as dragging the button from the Available Services area.You can configure services to appear as icons, text, or both.
• Some services have an additional option letting you display ‘Official’ buttons that show the number of times the post has been shared in real time.
RELATED POSTS • Keep your readers engaged by showing them more of *your* posts they will be interested in.
• Related content is automatically generated based on the content of the post and any tags or categories if they exist. (Must have at least 10 published posts for related content to appear.)
• A post’s featured image will appear as the thumbnail.
SITE MONITOR • Receive notifications from Jetpack if your site goes offline — and when it returns.
• WordPress.com servers will start checking your site every five minutes. If it looks like something’s gone awry, we’ll fire off an email notification. (This one has no image, so here’s a cool dog drinking a beer)
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