This workshop is perfect if you are a beginner or still on the fence. We'll look at the major issues you should consider before diving into the WordPress waters.

1. What Is WordPress
and Why Is
Everyone Talking
About It?

3. WordPress Hands-on: Learn How
to Manage Your Blog or Website
Tuesday, October 25th - 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Bellevue - $49
WordPress: How To Easily
Customize with Genesis and Its
Child Themes
Thursday, Nov. 17th - 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Bellevue - $49

4. THE HYPE!
is WordPress the
the answer to
all our prayers?

5. What is WordPress?
an Open Source project
or
FREE Software
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
■ The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code is a
precondition for this.
■ The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
■ The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to
benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

6. vs.
setup
customization and advanced use
copyrights and ownership of content
search optimization and traffic

7. WordPress.com
vs.
WordPress.org

8. WordPress.com
vs.
self-hosted

9. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
what are the other differences?
COST - free software
.com - basic service free, cost for add-ons such as
extra space, domain, videopress, more user, VIP
self-hosted - will need to pay for hosting

10. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
what are the other differences?
SET-UP & INSTALLATION
.com - easy setup
self-hosted - depends on your host

11. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
what are the other differences?
THEMES
.com - limited to over 75 free themes + a few premium
themes
self-hosted - hundreds and hundreds, including premium
themes

12. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
what are the other differences?
WIDGETS & PLUGINS
.com - limited widgets, but release of new widget
self-hosted - widgets, widgets and more widgets
can only use plugins on self-hosted

13. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted
what are the other differences?
UPDATES & BACKUPS
.com - done for you
self-hosted - you will need to do them

14. WordPress.com - Typepad - Blogger
GoDaddys Website Tonight
Weebly - Build Your Site -
SquareSpace
blah, blah, blah
Self-hosted WP - you
own your content and it’s
not on someone else’s

15. What should I look for in a host?
• Will you be able to make all changes to the account yourself, including contact
changes, credit card changes, etc?
• Can you cancel the hosting yourself?
• Is email boxes, bandwidth, etc. limited?
• Can you install WordPress easily?
• Do you have full FTP access to your files?
• Do you have full access to the control panel and your databases?
• Do you have access to your phpAdmin and databases?
• Does the host use the most current software?
• Can you get support directly from the hosting service?
Ask around and talk to people who you trust...

16. The Inner Guts
The Control Center
aka The Dashboard

18. THEMES
A theme is a collection of files that work together to
produce a graphical interface with an underlying
unifying design for a weblog. A theme modifies the
way the weblog is displayed, without modifying the
underlying software. Essentially, the WordPress theme
system is a way to skin your weblog.

22. so how do I
find the
theme that
works for me?

23. free theme vs.
premium theme
stability
support
updates

24. free - simple features

25. free - more custom features

26. premium -out of the box

27. premium -out of the box

28. premium from scratch
frameworks

29. Other things to consider
Licensing, Support & Updates
Look at other WP sites in your industry
Don’t be afraid to look at themes customized
for your industry
Think long-term
and do ask around for suggestions

30. Plugins
Plugins are designed to offer
additional functionality to the blog
or website.
They help the engine roar.

32. Akismet
All In One SEO
WP3 Cache
Google Analytics
Google XML Sitemaps
Contact Form 7 or Gravity Forms
Vipers Video Quick Tags

33. Widgets
A widget in WordPress, is like a plugin, but
designed to provide a simple way to arrange the
various elements of your sidebar content (known
as "widgets") without having to change any code.

37. Setting up your widgets

38. 3
more things to
know about
WordPress

39. backing up
you will need to
make sure
and have your
database
and WordPress
files always
backed up

40. wp-db-backup plugin
for database
FTP software
FileZilla for file backups
or
BuddyBackup
for full backups

41. security
lots of ways to
make your site
secure through
settings and
plugins....

42. username &
password
plugin and
WordPress
updates

43. SEO
search engine optimization

44. and
WordPress
is organically
SEO friendly

45. do fill out your
blogs name and
tagline

46. permalinks

47. alt title

48. So what now?

49. create a
sandbox

50. What kind of support is out there?
How comfortable am I with technology?
Am I the kind that will dig in and do it myself?
Or do I hire someone + customize?

51. Thanks!
Bob Dunn
425.223.0022
bob@bobwp.com
@bobwp
facebook.com/savvywordpress
linkedin.com/in/bobdunn1