Easy Website Creation Using WordPress Welcome and Thank You to our Sponsors

Easy Website Creation Using WordPress Every Business Needs a Website! Presented by Todd Schafer Brand Designer/WordPress Developer

The Differences Between WordPress.com, WordPress & the Open Source WordPress.org The distinctions between these three, can cause some confusion. Lets clear that up! WordPress.com is brought to you by some of the same folks who work on WordPress, the open source blogging software. WordPress.com is a hosting platform that utilizes the same WordPress software that anyone can download from WordPress.org for free. With WordPress.com, the hosting and managing of the software is taken care of by the team at Automattic. With the freestanding WordPress software, you need to install it on your own server or a 3rd party hosting provider.

WordPress.com You do not have to download software, pay for hosting or manage a web server. When you sign up for a WordPress.com blog, you will get a URL like “andy.wordpress.com” or you can map a domain so your blog is available at “example.com” without the “.wordpress.com” portion. WordPress.com offers paid upgrades as a way to provide premium features. These upgrades are optional. The Benefits: It’s free and much easier to set up Everything is taken care of: setup, upgrades, spam, backups & security Your content is backed up automatically They provide lots of themes for you to choose from

Con’s of WordPress.com WordPress.com does not permit uploading of custom designed themes or framework You can’t modify the PHP code behind your blog Adding additional plugins for added functionality is not permitted You do not control the software or the database FTP and shell access are not included Popular JavaScript embeds such as YouTube are supported, but for security reasons some of the lesser known embed codes will be stripped out. CSS is also restricted by default for security reasons, but you can purchase a paid upgrade to gain the ability for full CSS editing.

WordPress.org WordPress.org is the website where the free open source software can be downloaded. For no charge, WordPress.org provides downloadable blog software, community mailing lists, community support forums, documentation, and free themes and plugins. WordPress (self-hosted) Benefits Ability to upload custom designed themes Ability to upload plugins for added functionality Great community support forums to help you troubleshoot Complete control to change code if you’re technically minded

Con’s of WordPress.org You need a good web host, which generally costs $7-12 a month. Requires some technical knowledge to set up and run You’re responsible for stopping spam You have to handle backups on your own or through your web host You must upgrade the software when a new version comes out.

WordPress WordPress is free blogging software. Anyone can download the open source software from WordPress.org, but it must be installed on a web server before it will work… With WordPress you can: install any custom themes install Plug ins edit the database modify the PHP source code have full control of how your website looks and acts Hosting your own WordPress software can be fun and rewarding, but it also places full responsibility on the site owner. ?’s

WordPress demonstration

WordPress admin log in area Logging in is simple enter username enter your password click the log in button

The Dashboard

Blog Posts Panel All your posts are shown in a list format Click “Add New” to add a new post

Post creation content area Title your post Add and format your content Add images Add it to a category Set featured image Click update

Pages panel All your Pages are listed in a list format Click “Add New” to add a new page

Creating a page Title your Page Add and format your content Decide if it will be a parent or sub page deselect the comments Click update

Media Library - stores your images/pdf’s etc.

Appearance panel Themes Widgets Menu’s Theme Options Background Header Editor (code)

Themes Panel – your look and feel Choose a theme Search for a theme Install a theme Activate & Deactivate themes

Widgets Panel – added functions Add functions thru widgets into your sidebar or other areas of your site Drag and drop functionality for easy configuration

Menu’s Add menu’s for any areas on your site Arrange them in any order you like!

Theme Options Change your color scheme Change your link color Change your page layout

Custom Background Change your background color Upload a background image select a custom color

Custom Header Upload a custom Header image or choose one that is offered. Show a different header on every page Choose to display the site name in the header or not Choose your site title color

Plug ins for Functionality Click “Add New” Search for the plug in Click Install Click activate configure your Plug in settings

User’s panel Manage all your website users Add new users to your site. Delete unwanted users All users in a list format

In closing…. WordPress is extremely dynamic, secure and empowering for business owners. The core software is built by hundreds of community volunteers, and when you’re ready for more, there are thousands of plugins and themes available to transform your site into almost anything you can imagine. Over 60 million people have chosen WordPress to power the place on the web they call “home” — we’d love you to join the family!

You can find me here: SchaferDesign.net – Branding, Print, Web Design & Development GiveMeAPing.com – Your Local Low Cost WordPress Web Hosts WebWorxSantaCruz.com – WordPress, Search Engine Optimization and Social Media workshops for Groups or Individuals Up coming workshops: Beginning WordPress Workshop - April 19, :30-8:30pm Beginning Search Engine Optimization - April 26, :30-8:30pm Social Media Marketing with Twitter, Google + & Pinterest - May 3, :30-8:30pm Todd Schafer - Designer/Web Developer | c: Find me socially here: LinkedIn: Facebook: Twitter:

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