Structure, style, story: what goes where?

A WordPress site combines three things:

1. the story - which we call the content, like it's this afterthought we plug in at the last minute, instead of the whole reason to build the site.

2. The style, which is our top priority -the look and feel of the site.

3. And the structure: the php files that run the database and pull together pages on the fly.

We talked about those in reverse order at WordCamp STL 2015.

Transcript

1. Structure, style, story: what goes where?
3. Why do we care?
4. When we put the right things in the right places, we make a site Faster. Better for SEO. More secure. Easier to maintain. Easier to update. Easier to redo when the time comes. And just maybe, less likely 
 to bite us in the butt!
5. Anatomy of a WordPress site. Style Structure Story
6. Anatomy of a WordPress site. Style Structure Story
7. Structure.
8. Structure. PHP files. Site architecture.
9. Code. PHP: Runs the Loop. Processes the database. Controls the markup. Does app stuff.
10. Site architecture. My rules: Every piece of material is a post. Organizing the site == organizing posts into: Pages. Widgets.
11. For example.
15. Two roads to the same bar.
16. See?
18. Style.
19. Style. CSS. jQuery. Presentational markup.
20. CSS.
21. jQuery.
22. Presentational PHP. Lays out HTML 
 in a page template.
23. page-pros.php
24. To php or not to php?
25. What if you want to get rid of something?
26. To php or not to php?
27. shame.css display: none; visibility: hidden; !important; ID selectors And … ?
28. Story.
29. Story. Content? To us, maybe – an afterthought. To site owner, the whole point of the site.
30. Story. Every piece, a post. HTML in the WP Editor. Embed media files.
31. About 
 home pages. What’s wrong with this picture? Copy blocks hard-coded into home.php New stuff on the site never shows up here. SEO implications.
33. About 
 home pages. What should happen instead? Widgets. Featured posts, products. front-page.php
34. Style Structure Story CSS PHP HTML
35. Mary Baum @marybaum