graphicallydesigning

Working with themes & plugins Susan Ramsey

AGENDA About Me Introduction Themes Frameworks Child Themes Plugins: Free Plugins: Premium FAQs Helpful Links Q&A

About Me Susan Ramsey Fort Worth, TX Owner, Graphically Designing www.graphicallydesigning.com Where you’ll find me online: Pretty Darn Cute Design – Theme Support & Customizations StudioPress Community Forums – Moderator/Volunteer Twitter: @GraphDesigning

Introduction What is a Theme? A theme provides the user a way to control the look, design, functionality and presentation of their website. It’s sometimes called the “skin” of a website, but it’s much more than that. It’s a collection of files (“template files”) each of which provides different functionality.

Default Themes Each WordPress install comes loaded with three default themes. Even if you don’t use one of these themes, keep one in your dashboard. Ideal for Troubleshooting

How to Choose A Theme Select a Theme which is suitable for your business and/or niche A theme which is designed for someone who blogs about their family is going to look and feel different than a theme design for an insurance company.

How to Choose A Theme Keep it Simple Choose a theme which provides you with the functionality you need, rather than one which has all the “bells and whistles” Responsive or non-Responsive? Check Browser Compatibility Check Terms of Service

Free Themes Available through WordPress.org (or via your site’s Dashboard) Support provided via WordPress volunteer support forums Available through Third Party Developers Support may or may not be provided

Frameworks A Theme framework is a foundation for WordPress development, designed to be used with a Child Theme.

“Child” Themes A child inherits the functionality of another theme, called the parent theme Child themes allow you to modify, or add to the functionality of that parent theme Updates to a child theme will not be wiped out when the parent theme is updated. Easier for new users to modify

Plugins Plugins are scripts which add to the functionality of WordPress. They enhance existing functionality, or new functionality. There are currently over 33,000 plugins in the WordPress Repository. Spam Blockers SEO Email Forms E-Commerce Photo Galleries Events Calendars Newsletters Social Media Social Sharing

How to Choose a Plugin Determine Need – don’t add unnecessary plugins. Rating – check the rating and popularity of a plugin; how often has it been downloaded? Support – who provides the support? Is it free, or an additional cost? Check the support forum for the plugin – how quickly are support tickets responded to? Updates – when was the plugin last updated? Is it compatible with the latest version of WordPress?

Akismet – Spam Blocker

Yoast SEO

Free Plugins & Premium Plugins Free plugins are available through the WordPress Repository, or may be available outside of the repository. Many plugins off both a free version and a premium version. Premium version offers more functionality, including “add-ons” Dedicated support

Questions?