1. WordPress: More Than Just Blogs
Paul Mueller (UserAid)
www.useraid.com
@Paul_UserAid

2. Why WordPress?
 Free content management system
 Many free sources of plugins (added features)
 Easy to customize and maintain
 Good SEO support
 Automated content listing, sorting, categorizing
 Allow users to comment/augment content
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3. What Will We Talk About?
 Sample WordPress Sites
 Setting up WordPress
 Understanding user access
 Common elements: themes, plugins, widgets
 Adding features (custom code)
 Resources to see and use
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4. WordPress Samples - Blog
 Part of Epiphany (www.epiphanyinc.net/newsandnotes)
Main site uses
custom php
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5. WordPress Samples - Blog
 Part of Epiphany (www.epiphanyinc.net/newsandnotes)
Blog is in
WordPress and
matches the
design of the
main site
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6. WordPress Samples – Whole Site
 STC Houston (www.stc-houston.org)
Whole site is in
WordPress
and can use
blog elements
throughout the
design
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7. WordPress Samples – Whole Site
 Data Dynamics (www.datadynamicsinc.com)
Whole site can
use purchased
themes to
implement
design
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8. WordPress Samples – Whole Site
 Cutting Room Salon (www.cuttingroomsalon.com)
Whole site can
have custom
design to
match your
brand
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9. WordPress Samples – Whole Site
 Paul for STC Vice President (www.stc-paulmueller.com)
You can
quickly create
personal web
sites
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10. WordPress Samples – Support & More
 SmartVault Support (smartvault.com/support)
Integrated
main site,
support center,
learning center,
knowledge
base, help, &
more
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11. WordPress Samples – Social Network
 metroPUP (www.metropup.us)
Facebook for
dogs & owners
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12. WordPress Is Flexible
You can do anything you want…
once you know the basics
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13. Setting Up WordPress
 Use WP provider, such as wpengine.com
--- OR ---
 Use your ISP automated install
--- OR ---
 Create database (MySQL)
 Copy WordPress files into place
 Edit wp-config.php file for database connection info
 Open /wp-admin (displays login page)
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14. Working with WordPress
 Open /wp-admin (log in)
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15. Understanding User Access
 Administrator
 Editor
 Author
 Contributor
 Subscriber
 Can customize the permissions model
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16. Common Elements
“But I don’t see <?php ?> in the periodic table.”

17. Common Elements
Pages & Posts
 Pages – Fixed (fairly static) content
 Posts – Fluid, periodic content
 Other types of content? (can create custom types)
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18. Common Elements
Themes
 Define the overall appearance (look & feel)
 Get a free theme
 Buy a theme you like
 Use a framework theme, such as Thesis or Genesys
 Use child themes (some call them skins)
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19. Common Elements
Plugins
 Many Sites
− Akismet (spam comment protection)
− Google XML Sitemaps (SEO support)
− WP-DB-Backup (database backup)
− Simple Mail Address Encoder (protect email addr from spiders)
− Easy Fancybox (DIV for links - images/iframes/swf)
− AddThis Social Bookmarking (help people share your content)
 Extras
− Gravity Forms (manage forms and related response data)
− Blog in Blog (custom pages listing some posts per categories)
− Mingle (social networking)
− oQey Gallery OR PhotoSmash (photos & slideshows)
− PHP Execution (custom content on pages – be careful!)
− WP125 (advertising management)
− …the list is endless…
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20. Common Elements
Widgets
 Modules in sidebars are called widgets
 Plug-ins can provide widgets
 Standard modules
− Archives: Months, Authors, Categories
− Popular Posts (Popular Posts plugin)
− Recent Posts
− Recent Comments
− Twitter Feed
 Text – anything you want
− Links
− Sponsors (STC Houston – uses JavaScript)
− Events (Google calendar)
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21. Common Elements
Widgets
 Widget areas can be included anywhere on a page
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22. Common Elements
Widgets
 Widgets define the sidebar for this page
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23. Common Elements
Menus
 Easy UI to create lists of links
 Can be navigation menus
 Can be lists in other parts of page
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24. Adding Features (Custom Code)

25. Adding Features
Lightbox, Fancybox
 Lightbox to display full-sized graphics
 Fancybox to display graphics, iframe, video, swf
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26. Adding Features
Fancybox Example
<html><head><script type="text/javascript"
src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.
4/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="fancybox/jquery.fancybox-
1.3.4.pack.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="fancybox/jquery.fancybox-1.3.4.css"
type="text/css" media="screen" /></head>
<body>
<a class="iframe" href="http://www.google.com">Open
iframe</a>
</body></html>
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27. Resources

28. Resources
w3schools.com provides tutorials & reference info
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29. Resources
dynamicdrive.com provides samples and code
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30. Resources
msdn.microsoft.com provides reference & samples
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31. Thank You