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Newspapers with WordPress from WordCamp Toronto 2012

Newspapers with WordPress from WordCamp Toronto 2012

How do you build a newspaper with WordPress, what steps do you need to take and how you can avoid some common pitfalls. This presentation came from WordCamp Toronto 2012.

Christopher Ross

October 01, 2012
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Transcript

  1. WordPress for
    Newspapers
    @thisismyurl
    http://thisismyurl.com

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  2. About me
    1990
    1994
    1995
    1996
    1998
    2000
    2010
    2012
    ???

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  3. About me
    - old school printing press operator (web and sheet)
    - worked as a stripper after university
    - 35 plugins in the WordPress repository
    - freelance contract developer / consultant
    ... the rest is pretty boring.

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  4. About Layouts
    Visual vs. Structural

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  5. The basic design layout
    Header
    Content Sidebar
    Footer

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  6. The basic structural layout
    Opening
    Primary Secondary
    Closing

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  7. Layouts change based on device,
    but structure stays the same.
    Opening
    Primary
    Secondary
    Closing
    Branding, navigation etc.
    What you visitor is really
    here to read
    Support the real content
    Site wide support

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  8. Features across the site

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  9. Elements common across the entire site
    Login / Signup to capture
    visitor information
    Easy access to Privacy Policy
    Terms of Use etc.
    Signup
    Newspaper Name
    Clear branding
    Trending tags across the site
    Deep links to categories
    Easy navigation to categories

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  10. Elements common across the entire site
    List of popular stories from
    across the site. Include stories
    that are shared, commented,
    viewed etc.
    Most Popular
    Popular stories from across
    the site
    Shared, emailed, commented
    etc to help build traffic
    Search
    Never underestimate the
    power of a search
    Subscribe
    Offer multiple means to
    generate a dedicated audience
    Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc.

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  11. Canada's privacy watchdog has issued a
    warning to 11 of Canada's leading websites
    to stop handing over their users' personal
    information to third parties without
    permission - or risk public exposure.
    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/websites+warned+privacy+breaches/7299471/story.html

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  12. Brand your content during copy & paste

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  13. Brand your content during copy & paste
    http://bavotasan.com/2010/add-a-copyright-notice-to-copied-text/

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  14. Elements common across the entire site
    Easy navigation to categories

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  15. What categories count?
    Structuring your website for maximum results

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  16. What does Google News want to see?

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  17. Categories, Tags
    Index & Archives
    Guiding visitors to the right content

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  18. Guide visitors and
    search engines
    - Feature content with powerful images
    - Highlight authors, build and brand them
    - Build clicks with easy navigation

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  19. Common to all archive lists
    Archive Title
    Clearly define and describe the section
    RSS
    Article Title
    Include a list of
    commonly requested
    articles to help your
    visitors find the
    content they’re
    looking for.
    Clearly identify the category
    Offer easy subscription
    options
    Featured images to help
    improve clicks
    Subscribe
    Article meta data to identify subjects, dates,
    category and author details
    Brand the author with
    powerful links & meta data

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  20. Branding yourself in Google
    + rel=’author’ + rel=’me’
    - categories, archives, etc
    - article page
    - author page

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  21. Common to all archive lists
    Include ‘drill down’ lists
    to child categories
    • Sub category
    • Sub category
    Show related content from
    this category or related
    categories
    Top Category Stories
    Stories from this category
    and related categories.
    Stories from this category
    and related categories.
    Stories from this category
    and related categories.
    Top Authors
    Related top authors for this
    category
    Twitter Lists
    Integrate powerful Twitter
    lists for this area
    Highlight recent posts by
    other authors
    A focussed social media
    list

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  22. Common to all archive lists
    Site breadcrumbs to provide
    deep linking and navigation
    Featured content placement
    to anchor the category

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  23. Authors Page
    Branding your contributors

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  24. Branding the author content
    Author Name
    Bio for the author
    RSS
    Article Title
    Articles by the author, presenting the
    most recent with proper meta data
    Branding for the author to
    create authority
    Author specific subscriptions
    Articles by this specific
    author
    Subscribe
    Article meta data to identify subjects, dates,
    category and author details
    Articles by the author, presenting the
    most recent with proper meta data
    Article Title

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  25. Branding the author with powerful sidebars
    List of categories this author
    posts in
    • Common categories
    • Common categories
    Popular stories by this author
    Top Stories
    Stories from this author
    Authors Links
    • links to social media etc.
    Twitter Lists
    Integrate powerful Twitter
    lists for this area
    Links to the authors bio,
    social media etc.
    Recent social media posts by
    the author

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  26. Branding yourself in Google
    + rel=’author’ + rel=’me’
    - categories, archives, etc
    - article page
    - author page

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  27. 404 Pages
    Failing gracefully.

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  28. Help visitors
    help themselves
    - Map old URL’s to new URL’s
    - Track the errors and improve your site
    - Suggest new content from popular articles

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  29. Redirecting to the new URL

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  30. Report the error

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  31. Help your visitor
    Not Found
    The content that you’re looking for can
    not be found.
    Search
    Top Articles
    Include a list of commonly requested
    articles to help your visitors find the
    content they’re looking for.
    Clearly identify the error
    Provide an easy to use
    search option
    Offer content suggestions
    to the visitor

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  32. Content not found
    Consider a 404 an opportunity, not an error.

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  33. Traditional Pages
    Not vital to newspapers but still required.

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  34. Traditional Pages
    About
    Adverting
    Privacy Policy
    Terms of Use
    Contact etc.

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  35. Traditional pages in a newspaper template
    Traditional content
    Signup
    Newspaper Name

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  36. Single Posts
    The Articles

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  37. Article pages within the newspaper structure
    Article content
    Signup
    Newspaper Name

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  38. Article pages within the newspaper structure
    Article content
    Article Title
    The excerpt for a story, which is basically a quick
    summary of the important facts to attract readers.
    Article excerpt
    Article meta data such as the author information and date details, categories included in, tags
    (subjects) etc.
    Article meta data
    The content of the story
    itself, along with all the nitty
    gritty details and stuff ...
    The article body
    Featured image
    Social sharing options Article sharing
    Article discussion Article discussion

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  39. The article sidebar
    Drive visitors to related
    content by subject
    Related Stories
    Related stories in the same
    category or by the same
    author
    Author bio
    A brief biography of the
    author
    Twitter Lists
    Integrate powerful Twitter
    lists for this area
    A bio for the author with links
    to their primary page
    Recent social media posts by
    the article author or category
    Subscription options
    RSS and subscribe options
    for the category / author
    Always give visitors the option
    to follow the uers

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  40. RSS Feeds for articles
    WordPress RSS feeds for single.php result in visitors
    subscribing to comments, not articles.
    The fix ...

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  41. Plugins
    Making your newspaper work, better.

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  42. Caching & Speed
    - Caching plugins
    - Minified plugins

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  43. SEO & Deep linking
    - SEO images, links, and urls
    - auto tagging plugins
    - remove /category/ from URL

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  44. Helper Plugins
    - Frame busters
    - Auto copyright
    - External link to new windows
    - Similar, popular, and related posts
    - JetPack

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  45. Publisher Plugins
    - Co-Author Plus (bi-lines)
    - Editflow (editorial workflow)
    - add Thumbnail to RSS

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  46. Publisher Plugins
    - XML sitemap feed for Google news
    - Extra fields for media uploads (credits etc)
    - User photo for authors

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  47. Shortcodes
    Adding content to your articles

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  48. Helpful Shortcodes
    - external content such as Twitter, YouTube
    - lists of related articles
    - common items such as address or site name
    - contact and contest forms
    - stock quote lookups, api integration, etc.

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  49. Examples of Shortcodes
    vs.

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  50. Examples of Shortcodes

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  51. Thank you
    @thisismyurl
    http://thisismyurl.com

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