Topics:
- Student Blog Installation
- WordPress Settings
- Uploads folder
- Permalinks
- Users and User Types
- Adding Content
- Posts vs. Pages
- Using the Text Editor – Visual and HTML
- Uploading Images
- Creating Pages
- Creating Posts
- Categories vs. Tags
- Post formats in WP 3
- Menus and Sidebars
- Site Planning
- Site Definition
- Content Strategy
- Site Map
- Site Design
- Intro to Themes
WordPress Settings
The last item in your dashboard menu is Settings
- General – Blog title and subtitle, time zone, date and time format, registration settings
- Writing – Post editor defaults, alternate methods for editing
- Reading – Front page and syndication settings
- Discussion – Comment and moderation settings
- Media – Image and embedded media, and uploads settings
- Privacy – Site visibility to search engines
- Permalinks – Site addressing
How you configure your settings is going to depend on how you will use your site, and that’s something you can think about over the next week as you do your site planning. There are two things that we should configure for you now, as they are a little bit complicated.
Uploads folder
We need to create this folder and set the permissions on it before you can upload images. You will do this with FTP. The uploads folder will be located in the wp-content directory:
Permalinks
If you want to change the URL structure of your site to be more user friendly, we will need to create an .htaccess file for your WordPress installation.
Users and User Types
The user account that you created when you installed WordPress is an admin account, and so has permission to change or edit any settings or content in the site. If other people will be contributing to the site, you should consider what level of user you will allow them to be. These are the basic user types (click the links for more details):
- Super Admin – Someone with access to the blog network administration features controlling the entire network (See Create a Network). This only applies if you have a network of WordPress sites.
- Administrator – Somebody who has access to all the administration features
- Editor – Somebody who can publish and manage posts and pages as well as manage other users’ posts, etc.
- Author – Somebody who can publish and manage their own posts
- Contributor – Somebody who can write and manage their posts but not publish them
- Subscriber – Somebody who can only manage their profile
Adding Content
Posts vs. Pages
When adding content, you have to decide if it should be a post or a page. The main difference between these is that a page is non-dated content that is intended to be a permanent, top-level part of your site that does not change often. A post is for dated, time-sensitive content, that you will add on a regular basis to freshen the site. Posts are usually the bulk of the site, with pages providing context and background information. On this site, the weekly lessons are posts and the syllabus is a page.
Using the Page/Post Editor
- Visual vs. HTML
- Standard Toolbar
- Kitchen Sink Toolbar
- Uploading and Inserting Images
Creating Pages
Pages are relatively simple. They have the following elements:
- Title
- Content
- Publish Status
- Page Attributes – Template and Parent
- Featured Image
Creating Posts
Posts have most of the same elements as pages with some additions. They do not have parents.
Categories – You can use these to organize your posts. Categories can be added right from the post page or from the Categories item in the left side dashboard menu.
Tags - Tags are a looser way of associating posts with a list of keywords that describe the content of a post. Some themes will show all the tags on a post as hyperlinks, so you can quickly jump to other posts tagged with the same term.
Format – As of WP 3.1, there are a number of options for a post format besides the standard type. The effect of choosing one of these rather than the standard format is going to depend on your theme.
- aside – Typically styled without a title. Similar to a Facebook note update.
- gallery – A gallery of images. Post will likely contain a gallery shortcode and will have image attachments.
- link – A link to another site. Themes may wish to use the first <a href=””> tag in the post content as the external link for that post. An alternative approach could be if the post consists only of a URL, then that will be the URL and the title (post_title) will be the name attached to the anchor for it.
- image – A single image. The first <img /> tag in the post could be considered the image. Alternatively, if the post consists only of a URL, that will be the image URL and the title of the post (post_title) will be the title attribute for the image.
- quote – A quotation. Probably will contain a blockquote holding the quote content. Alternatively, the quote may be just the content, with the source/author being the title.
- status – A short status update, similar to a Twitter status update.
- video – A single video. The first <video /> tag or object/embed in the post content could be considered the video. Alternatively, if the post consists only of a URL, that will be the video URL. May also contain the video as an attachment to the post, if video support is enabled on the blog (like via a plugin).
- audio – An audio file. Could be used for Podcasting.
- chat – A chat transcript, like so:
John: foo Mary: bar John: foo 2
Site Planning
Basic Anatomy of a WordPress Site
- Header
- Menu
- Sidebar
- Page / Post Content Area
- Lists: Archive / Category / Tag / Search Results
- Footer
Site Definition
Before you start designing your site architecture and layout, or planning content, there are some basic decisions you should make about the site and what it’s purpose is. At the very least, you should create a short document stating the following:
- Mission Statement – In a few sentences, state what the purpose of your site is
- Audience – Who is your site intended for? What are they looking for from you?
- Objectives – What are your business objectives for the site? Are you promoting your services? Selling something? Teaching something?
Content Strategy
Once you have a basic definition for the site, you should think about what the static and dynamic content of the site will be.
First figure out what pages will form the basic structure of your site. This is the static content that will be accessible from the menus, and will not change or be added to often. This can include background information about you, your business or services, terms of use, contact information, etc.
Next, determine the post types that will be regularly adding to the content of your type. Think about what categories they might fall into, and how you will want to represent and organize those on the site. Also think about what external sources you might use to pull in fresh content (facebook, twitter, rss feeds, etc).
Based on the decisions you make about the static and dynamic pages, create an outline of the pages and page types of your site. Determine how often each of these will be added to or updated.
Site Map
Use the outline to create a visual sitemap of the pages of your site and the main connections between them.
Wireframes
This is a blueprint for the layout of the pages of your site. Since we are using WordPress for your site, keep in mind the basic anatomy that a standard WP site follows. if you are going to diverge from this, it will mean more customization. Create a wireframe for each distinct page layout on your site.
Intro to WordPress Themes
Your WordPress install comes with two themes installed, but there are thousands of third-party themes that you can install yourself. You can browse them on the WordPress.org site.
Homework
- Create the Site Definition, Site Outline, Site Map and Wireframes for your site. Here’s some examples:
- Browse the theme files, find one that has the basic layout you want for your site. If it also has colors and fonts that you like, that’s a bonus, but keep in mind that these are much easier to change than the layout. We’re going to install this theme in next week’s class. I would recommend choosing a simple theme without a lot of bells and whistles, as those themes can be complicated to modify.