your wordpress freelance business site

Your (WordPress) Freelance Business

Site

Brian Hogg@brianhogg

brianhogg.com

Working with JavaScript and WordPresshttps://brianhogg.com/jswp

WordCamp Hamiltonhttps://hamilton.wordcamp.org/

Pluginshttps://brianhogg.com/plugins/

Hamilton Freelancershttp://freelancermeetup.com/

Video of this Presentation

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/your-freelance-business

Terms• Domain Name: yourbusinessname.com

(.org, .ca, …)

• WordPress: The code and content management system for your website

• Hosting: So clients can see your WordPress site

Relationship Between Domain Name, Hosting and WordPress

Domain Name

Relationship Between Domain Name, Hosting and WordPress

Domain Name

Hosting

Relationship Between Domain Name, Hosting and WordPress

Domain Name

Hosting

WordPress

Relationship Between Domain Name, Hosting and WordPress

Domain Name

Hosting

WordPressEmail

Registering Your Domain Name

• Go to namecheap.com

• Search for your desired domain name

• Add to cart

• Make sure Auto-renew enabled during checkout

Setting Up Hosting

Why WP Engine?• WordPress installed/configured with no other

steps• Fast, reliable, secure, 24/7 support

• Faster site = higher rankings + less user frustration

• All they do is WordPress• Nice intuitive interface

• ie. restoring a backup if you make a mistake

Why WP Engine?• Automatic WordPress core updates

• Will automatically restore/rollback if error• (Usually) alerts you if there is a major

security issue with a plugin/theme• Easy to configure SSL certificate (https://)• You get what you pay for.

• WP Engine gives 2 months free if you pay annually

https://brianhogg.com/wpengine

Access to Hosting Account

Manage settings, view backups, billing information, etc

Access to Hosting Account

Manage settings, view backups, billing information, etc

WordPress SiteWP Engine creates it for you automatically

WordPress SiteWP Engine creates it for you automatically

Demo: Setting up your

site!

Basic Settings

• Settings > General

• Settings > Discussion

• Settings > Permalinks

Installing a Theme• Appearance > Themes

• Add New

• Need to go to wordpress.org/themes to see last updated date and supported version

• Delete themes you aren’t using (security)

Homepage

1. Pages

2. Add New

3. Appearance > Customizer

4. “Static Front Page”

Theme Customizer• Different themes will have different options

• Change things like site title, logo, header image, layout

• Widgets (or Design > Default Layout in Spacious)

• Say no to sliders

Point Domain to WP Engine

1. my.wpengine.com then Domains

2. Add Domain

3. Go to namecheap.com and Account

4. Domain List then Manage button

5. Advanced DNS

6. Copy IP address from my.wpengine.com Overview

Can take up to 24-48 Hours

You have a site!

Staging Site:Safe Way to Test

Things

What’s Next?• Add other page(s)

• Keep plugins/theme up to date

• Additional backups with VaultPress

• Free SSL certificate

• Store with WooCommerce?

• WordPress Tutorials

Questions?