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ECUAD Outlines WordPress

Intro to WordPress

Introduction to WordPress

Course Number:       CEDA 150 

Instructor:Kevin  McMillan
Number of Sessions4
Day and TimeSunday / 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Start DateFebruary 29, 2016
Room121

Course Description

An introduction to web design using the WordPress platform, this four-day course offers an in-depth look at the technology and skills needed to develop a web site. Through the production of your own site, you will learn how to install WordPress and make posts, pages, and galleries. In addition, you will learn how to use WordPress templates, plugins, widgets, comment forms, and more. The course will demonstrate a variety of approaches that outline the easiest and most effective ways of designing and managing your personal WordPress site.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES + OBJECTIVES

Students will learn how to set up and maintain their own website using WordPress on their own domain.

SCHEDULE OF INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY

Note: like anything in life, this schedule is subject to occasional change.

  • Day One:
    WP.com vs WP.org vs Static Websites
    Initial Site Setup
    Users
    Posts, Pages
    Categories, Tags
    Bulk Edits
    Images, Galleries
    YouTube, Google Maps
    Feature Images
    Menus
  • Day Two:
    Comments ( and Comment spam )
    Themes From WP Repository & Elsewhere
    WP Security Pt 1
    Widgets
    Plugins
    Backing Up WP
  • Day Three
    Some Exemplary Themes: Parabola, Verbosa, Fluida, Ryo, Hatch, Gridly, Graphene, & others
    WordPress Security 2 & Performance
    Custom CSS
    Domains & Hosting
    Setting Up A Testing Environment: MAMP
  • Day Four:
    Introduction to Child Theming
    Working on your own sites
    Course Evaluation
 

Assignments

Week One: Make A Website

  • delete the posts and pages we have now
  • delete the images
  • make at least five posts
  • add images to posts
  • make an image gallery
  • add two youtube videos to a post
  • make a beautiful banner
  • add a Vimeo video to a post
  • make one image in a post link to another web site
  • organize your content into categories
  • make at least one menu
  • Widget / Media Embedding Task: Spotify
  • Get a WordPress.com account.
    We will use it next day with two or three plugins or services.

Week Two: Theme Testing

  • Test at least three themes from the theme directory
  • Get a WordPress.com
  • Set up a gmail account for backup

Week Three: Work On Your Own Site

  • Get your own Domain (optional)
  • Enter Content
  • Decide on a Theme

After the Course

  • Keep tweaking your site

 

Resources

If you have a Lynda.com account, the WordPress videos by Morten Rand-Hendriksen are excellent. If you don’t have a Lynda.com account, it’s $25 – $35 per month really well spent.

If you are a Langara student, or an ECUAD regular studies student, you can access Lynda.com for free via institutional login. Another option, if you have a Vancouver Public Library card, is via the link below:

https://www.vpl.ca/extDB/login.remoteDB_Ly?LyndaDotCom

Start with WordPress Essential Training, then move on to one of the many others, depending on your particular interests.

Rand-Hendrickson’s videos are highly recommended: he has expert knowledge of the subject, which he delivers in a very concise and well-organized manner. He also updates his content for each significant upgrade of the program.

For a good overview of most of the WordPress basics, consult this excellent article from the online repository of WordPress wisdom known as the Codex.

https://codex.wordpress.org/First_Steps_With_WordPress

If you don’t have a way to access Lynda.com but still want a video review of the stuff we do in class, check out the free WPTuts Beginner’s Guide to WordPress series of videos.

Keep in mind, however, that because WordPress is updated on a very regular basis, content in some of the videos might appear different from how it appears in the software. That’s the price of progress, but most of the video content will still be applicable.

The files we need for class one:

DTN Mag Images
Images-1800×1200
Images-Patterns
Images-JayMantri (20MB)

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org

DIYThemes.com: WP.com vs WP.org
WPBeginner.com Infographic / Chart

Commenting

How to completely turn off Commenting

Discussion of Popular Plugins

https://wpmu.org/top-100-wordpress-plugins/

Local Testing And Theme Development

How to Set Up A Local WordPress Install for Testing (MAMP)

Links

Anatomy of a WordPress Theme Development

Tons of WordPress Links
Tons More WordPress Links

Themes

Parabola
Hatch
Ryo
Max Magazine
Custom Community
Gridly
Dzonia
Imbalance 2

Plugins

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP)
Contact Form 7
TubePress
Quotes Collection
WP-Polls
WP-Typography
Akismet
JetPack
W3 Total Cache
Regenerate Thumbnails
Ultimate Maintenance Mode
Galleria
Simple Custom CSS
Google Analytics
WordPress SEO by Yoast
Soliloquy

WordPress Exercise Series 1