Wordpress, Networks and Sites Design, create, and manage your own website

Agenda

• Introductions

• Objectives/Purpose

• Course Structure

• Rules of Engagement

• Learning Modules

Objectives

• After this training you will be able to:

– Identify the major components of a site

– Locate the key features of WordPress

– Plan and design a website

– Use WordPress to create a website

Course Structure

Demonstrations/

Exercises

Presentation

Questions/Answers

Rules of Engagement

• Please honor break time limits

• Participate, this is your class

• Ask questions at any time

• Still don’t get it – ASK AGAIN

• Be willing to experiment new ideas and techniques

• Offer suggestions for improvements

2. Tour

1. Introduction

3. Plan

4. Create

Learning Modules

6. Manage

5. Explore

Websites, Blogs & WordPress

2. Tour

1. Introduction

3. Plan

4. Create

6. Manage

5. Explore

Website vs. Blog

• A blog is a type of website!

• A website is anyplace you can visit online with URL (everything on the Internet is a website!)

• Blog is the word abbreviation of “Web and Log”

– Ongoing chronicle of information, thoughts and ideas (research ideas?)

– Frequently updated

• Commonalities:

– Main content area with posts

– Archive of older posts

– A way for people to leave posts

– Links to other sites

– One or more RSS Feeds (Real Simple Syndication)

History of WordPress

• Started in 2003 with a bit of code • Created as a personal publishing software by

Matt Mullenweg • Then one of the most diffused blogging platform • Nowdays a global solution for website

development with milions and milions of download in the world

• Open Source: – Everyone has access to it – Everything is written by and for the community – Free to use

• Highly customizable

Origin of the WordPress Name

• Wanted to associate the new software with printing presses

• “Press” refers to journalists, photographers, columnists

• Serves as a “printing press” for users to publish their “words”

1. What is Wordpress?

• WordPress is a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability

– What a mouthful. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time

• More simply, WordPress is what you use when you want to work with your web site developing software, not fight it!

Tour of WordPress

2. Tour

1. Introduction

3. Plan

4. Create

6. Manage

5. Explore

Wordpress features

• Control panel (web-based and mobile) • Users & profiles (authentication and roles) • Content types • Taxonomy (content organization) • Media management • Link management • Built-in SEO • Comments • Themes & widgets • Plugins • Feeds • …and many more!!

Architecture of Wordpress

Wordpress multi-sites

• Originally Wordpress and Wordpress Multi-User (MU)

• Multi-Site functionality was merged into Wordpress in the current major release (3.0)

• Operate a network of related Wordpress sites from a single dashboard – Subdirectories: http://mysite.org/james,

http://mysite.org/carl, …

• Super admins can administer all websites, site admins administer a single website…your website!

Register to the platform

• Go to the url:http://malwks.unicam.it/phdnetwork/

• First of all, create an

account following the link

• You will receive an e-mail

with your access info!

• Your site will be available, once activate at:

http://malwks.unicam.it/phdnetwork/namesurname

3. Log into the Wordpress admin

• On the site, look for login link

• Click on it

• On the login page, fill out your username and password

Login screen

No login link

• You can also get access to the login page just by typing wp-login.php after the domain name in your browser

• Nel nostro caso è:

http://malwks.unicam.it/phdnetwork/namesurname/wp-login.php

Dashboard

Post list

Themes

Widgets

Menus

Other options…

Your first peak at Wordpress

• This is another example of a starting page in the Wordpress backend

5. Change your password

Update Profile

• Click Users on the topic menu bar

• Click Your Profile in sub-topic bar

Update Profile

• Type your “first name, last name, and nickname” in the Name section

• Type your “autobiographical statement” in the About Yourself section

• Type your “email” and “website address” in the Contact Info section

• Type your “new password” twice in the Password section

• Click Update Profile

Plan a Website

2. Tour

1. Introduction

3. Plan

4. Create

6. Manage

5. Explore

Mission Statement

• First step is to determine the purpose, content, and audience of your website

• Think about the following questions:

– What am I going to do with this?

– Who is going to read this?

– What kind of information will I be posting?

– Why am I doing this?

– Who am I doing this for?

– How often am I going to be posting and adding information?

Title and Tagline

• Title

– Think about the title of your site should be

– Be creative but keep it simple

• Tagline

– Short phrase or slogan

– Describes the essence, attributes, & character

Sidebar

• Customize your site by determining the information you want to have accessible

• Organized into links called “widgets”

• Used to navigate within and outside of your site

Widgets

• Here are just a few of the widgets you can add:

Calendar Archives Blogroll RSS Feed Tag Cloud Top Posts Search Vod: Pod Categories Plug-ins Comments Flikr Del.iciou.us Recent Posts

Search Pages

Identified Sidebar Widgets

• Pages:

– “About”, “Daily Schedule”

• Blogroll:

– “http://www.epa.gov/kids”, http://www.scholastic.com/kids

– “http://www.yahooligans.com”

• Categories:

– “Ask the Teacher”, “Homework”,

– “Weekly Bulletins”, “Special “Announcements

• RSS Feed:

– http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/rss/SNK.asp

• Calendar

• Archives

Biographical Statement

• A brief history of yourself

• Include any professional, personal, or educational information

• What you want viewers of your site to know about you

Create a Website

2. Tour

1. Introduction

3. Plan

4. Create

6. Manage

5. Explore

Create Title and Tagline

• Click Options in the topic menu bar

• Type your “website’s title” in the Weblog Title box

• Type your “website’s tagline” in the Tagline box

• Click Update Options

Manage Categories

• Add a Category • Click Manage in the topic menu bar • Click Categories in the sub-topic menu

bar • Click Add New • Type “Ask the Teacher” in the Category

Name box • Type a brief description of the category

in the Description box • Click Add Category

• Repeat the steps above to create these

categories: • “Homework” • “Weekly Bulletins” • “Special Announcements”

Manage Pages

• Click on Manage in the topic menu bar

• Click on Pages in the sub-topic menu bar

• Edit Page • Click Edit for the page About • Delete the text in the Page

Content section • Type your “Mission Statement” • Click Save

Manage Pages

• Create Page

• Click Create Page

• Type Daily Schedule in the Page Title box

• Click Publish

Manage Posts

• Delete a Post

• Click Manage in topic menu bar

• Click on Posts

• Locate the example post

• Click Delete for the post

• Click OK in dialogue box

Manage Posts

• Write a Post • Click Write in the topic menu bar • Click Write Post in the sub-topic

menu bar • Type your “welcome message

title” in the Title box • Type your “welcome message” in

the Post box • Use the tool bar to edit and format

your message • Click Uncategorized in the

Categories box • Click Publish to publish your post

to your website

Change Theme

• Click Presentation in the topic menu bar

• Scroll down to find a theme you like

• Click on the “theme title”

• (website is automatically updated with new theme)

• Scroll to the top and click View Site

• Click your browser’s back button

• Locate and click the theme “Quentin”

Manage Widgets

• Click Presentation in the topic menu bar

• Click Widgets in the sub-topic menu bar

• Add RSS Feed • Find the widget RSS 1 in the

Available Widgets box • Drag the widget RSS 1 to the

sidebar box

Manage Widgets

• Double click on the Configure Icon

on the right side of the widget • Locate the pop-up dialogue box • Type the URL address:

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/rss/SNK.asp in the RSS/Feed box

• Type “Science Right Now!” in the Title box

Manage Widgets

• Add Calendar • Find the widget Calendar in the

Available Widgets box • Drag the widget Calendar to the

sidebar box

• Repeat the steps above to create these widgets – Archives – Links – Pages – Categories

• Click Save Changes

Manage Comments

• Click Comments

• Click Delete on “test comment”

• Click OK in dialogue box

• Edit, delete, approve and un-approve comments

• Email is received when new comments are written and posted

Manage Blogroll

• Add a Link • Click Blogroll in the topic menu bar • Click Add Link in the sub-topic

menu bar • Type “Environmental Kids Page” in

the Title box • Type “http://www.epa.gov/kids” in

the Address box • Check Blogroll in the Categories

box • Click Add Link

Manage Blogroll

• Repeat the steps above to create links for the following:

• “Scholastic Kid page” “http://www.scholastic.com/kids”

• “Yahooligans” “http://www.yahooligans.com”

Explore Some Websites

2. Tour

1. Introduction

3. Plan

4. Create

6. Manage

5. Explore

Website Addresses

• Identify the web addresses of the WordPress sites created by workshop participants

• Make a list of these websites to use as a resource

• Trade your website address with one other participant

Leave a Comment

• Open up a new web browser window

• Type in the “web address” of your partner’s site

• Read the Introduction Post

• Click Comment

• Type “your name”

• Type “your email address”

• Type “your comment”

• Click Submit Comment

Manage Your Website

2. Tour

1. Introduction

3. Plan

4. Create

6. Manage

5. Explore

Resources

• Here are two excellent resources to help you expand, modify, and manage your website

– http://edublogs.org/features/

– http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page