WordPress for Beginners

by Rob Marlbrough

For WiFi, connect to: bcenter

Logging In to WP● Always remember: /login or /admin

Security Concerns● Strong passwords, don’t get hacked● Use LastPass.com or 1Password.com● Avoid using “admin” as username● Limit Login Attempts plugin minimum● All in One WP Security and Firewall

The WordPress Admin Screens● Toolbar on top● The Dashboard● Posts● Media● Pages

● Comments● Appearance● Plugins● Users● Tools● Settings

Admin Dashboard “At a Glance”

● Posts are dated blog posts○ Sorted by date, or category, or tags○ Excerpts or Full output options○ Permalinks sets the web address style○ Used for blogs, news, articles, updates

● Pages are static web pages○ No dates, no categories, no tags○ Used for About, Contact, Team, Support

Posts vs. Pages

Categories● Large bucket of collected content● Useful for menu navigation● No more than 10-20 main categoriesTags● Small drops of content tags● Useful to form tag clouds● Hundreds of tags

Categories vs Tags

● Upload photos, PDFs, other media● Upload & embed from a post or page● Drag/drop files for easy bulk uploads● Editing, scaling, and cropping online● Library of all images to share site-wide

Media Library

● Manage comments made on blog posts● Comment spam is a big concern● Use Akismet for comment filtering● Switch to Facebook Comments or

Social Comments (Disqus)● Comments can be moderated,

manually approved before they appear - but slows engagement.

Comments

● Themes (Upload custom themes*)● Customize● Widgets● Menus● Optional: Header & Background

(Theme dependent)● Editor* (edit/break theme files

directly - dangerous) *self-hosted only

Appearance Section

● Extend functionality of WordPress● Search and install from the WordPress

Free Plugin Repository● Upload plugin .zip files (premium)● Activate/Deactivate plugins● Keep plugins updated at all times● Breaking the site vs. site being hacked

Plugins* (Self-hosted Only)

● Add, Edit, Remove users● Default Roles, levels of permissions

○ Subscriber: Read-only○ Contributor: Create content, Submit for

Review - cannot publish○ Author: Create and Publish own content○ Editor: Create and Publish all content○ Admin: Editor + all site config, themes,

plugins

Users

● PressThis browser bookmarklet● Categories & Tags converter● Import (Blogger, Tumblr, WP, etc)● Export (Full w/ images, or Partial)

Tools

● General: Site title & tagline● Writing: blog posts options● Reading: Posts or Static Front Page,

Syndication (RSS) options● Discussion: Comments & moderation● Media: Default sizes● Privacy: Search engine visibility● Permalinks: Blog post address format

Settings

Questions and Answers- Yoast SEO- Photography themes- e-Commerce / Digital Content- Selecting themes and plugins

Don’t Be Afraid Of Clicking Around!Bad things have confirmations. There is a trash.Posts and Pages have revisions/history. Holler for help.

Thank You for Attending!Take a business card, email me with any follow-up questions or want help with your site.

Robrob@wpwebwizards.comhttp://wpwebwizards.com/