For the Arnprior WordPress Community's inaugural meeting September 30 2015, I've created a presentation highlighting the basics of WordPress. Includes: What you can do with WordPress, Difference between .com and .org, what are Themes and Plugins, how does one get started, and a resource list.

1. WordPress 101
ARNPRIOR WORDPRESS COMMUNITY
SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

2. A bit about Meagan!
 20+ years designing websites
 Started using WordPress in 2005
 Works on sites as small as ants and as large as elephants
 Favourite colour: Rainbow!
@mhanes on Twitter

3. What is WordPress?
 NOT Wordpress, not wordPress, not wordpress. WordPress 
“WordPress is an online, open source website creation tool written in PHP. But in
non-geek speak, it's probably the easiest and most powerful blogging and
website content management system (or CMS) in existence today.” – iThemes
“WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog.
We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.” –
WordPress.org

4. What can I build with WordPress?
 Simple personal blog – one author, multiple subjects
 One page website – landing page, Coming Soon page ($)
 Basic 5 page website – About Us, Services, Contact ($$)
 Multi-author blog – with customized author pages
 Complex multipage website – hardware company’s Support section ($$$)
 Online Magazine – many authors, many pages, heavy commenting
 The Ottawa Citizen is on WordPress.com!
 Fully fledged e-commerce website with advanced tracking, remarketing
and automated lead generation process ($$$$$)
 Complex web + mobile applications using REST API (coming soon)

5. What is Open Source/Free Software?
“Everything you see here, from the documentation to the code itself, was
created by and for the community. WordPress is an Open Source project, which
means there are hundreds of people all over the world working on it. It also means
you are free to use it for anything from your recipe site to a Fortune 500 web site
without paying anyone a license fee and a number of other important freedoms.”
““Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community.
Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study,
change and improve the software. Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not
price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,”
not as in “free beer”.” - GNU

6. Components of WordPress
Themes
• Change the look and feel
• Examples of Theme Styles:
• Blog
• Magazine
• Portfolio
• Corporate Website
• One-page
http://wordpress.org/themes
Plugins
• Change functionality
• Examples of Functionality:
• Google Analytics
• SEO Optimizing
• Advanced Image Gallery
• Contact Forms
• E-Commerce
http://wordpress.org/plugins
Core
http://wordpress.org

7. WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
 WordPress.org - “Self-hosted” - is managed by WordPress Foundation
 Hosts the community + forums, the software, themes and plugins, etc
 Can upload plugins, themes, anything you want!
 You must set up web hosting to use the software
 GoDaddy, Bluehost, WPEngine
 YOU must worry about security, updates, backups
 WordPress.com – “Dot Com” - is managed by Automattic
 Anyone can sign up for “myname.wordpress.com” free blog/website
 Premium features available (custom domain name, Google Analytics tie-in) for $
 NO ability to upload plugins or themes! Must pick from their approved ones.
 NO need to worry about security, updates, backups

8. Where Do I Start?
 Sign up for a free blog at WordPress.com
 PLAY with it! Create a blog or site dedicated to your favourite hobby
 Ask help: Google, Support Forums, Arnprior WordPress Community
 Watch videos on Youtube and WordPress.tv
 Migrate to self-hosting when you need to!
 Need more features offered by plugins
 Want to track website traffic using Google Analytics
 GREAT way to learn about the “true” WordPress experience

9. WordPress Dashboard
https://arnpriorwp.wordpress.com/wp-admin/
• Where you manage content, themes,
plugins, settings, etc.
• Setup Sections
• Settings
• Appearance
• Users
• Content Creation Sections
• Posts
• Pages
• Testimonials, Feedback
• Day to Day Operation Sections
• Comments

10. Posts vs Pages
 Post = “blog post”
 Timely content
 Usually viewed in reverse chronological order
 More complex URL: http://www.mysite.com/2015/09/30/my-new-post-here
 Page = “static page”
 Long term content (store location and hours, About Me page)
 Only shows what’s on that page
 Short URL: http://www.mysite.com/about

11. More Resources!
 The Codex  WP’s official documentation
 https://codex.wordpress.org/New_To_WordPress_-_Where_to_Start
 https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Semantics
 https://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Themes
 https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins
 https://wordpress.org/support/  Self Hosted Support Forums (Search first!)
 https://learn.wordpress.com/  Great for getting started with Dot Com
 http://wordpress.tv/  hundreds of WordCamp presentations!

12. Happiness Bar!
Question Time!
Connect: arnpriorwp.wordpress.com