Take your WordPress skills to the next level with these tips, tricks, and tasks
Congratulations on getting your blog up and running with WordPress! Now are you ready to take it to the next level? Teach Yourself VISUALLY Complete WordPress takes you beyond the blogging basics with expanded tips, tricks, and techniques with clear, step-by-step instructions accompanied by screen shots. This visual book shows you how to incorporate forums, use RSS, obtain and review analytics, work with tools like Google AdSense, and much more.
- Shows you how to use mobile tools to edit and update blogs, implement SEO, and incorporate blogs into other services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and vice versa
- Shares insight on best practices for maximizing WordPress.com and WordPress.org, customizing templates, and creating written and visual content
- Offers advice for working with a variety of other tools and sites to get maximum results for your blog
Beef up your blog completely with Teach Yourself VISUALLY Complete WordPress!
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Planning Your WordPress Site
Understanding WordPress and Blog Terms 4
Choose a Blog Topic 6
Plan Your Blog’s Content 8
Research Blog Titles 10
Research Domain Names 12
Think Ahead about Passwords 14
Get to Know WordPress Types 15
Look Closer at WordPress.org 16
Look Closer at WordPress.com 18
Sign Up at Gravatar.com 20
Chapter 2 Setting Up Your WordPress.com Blog
Sign Up with WordPress.com 24
View Your New Blog 28
Get to Know Your Blog’s Dashboard 30
Understanding the WordPress.com Admin Bar 32
Understanding the WordPress.com Home Page 34
Create Your WordPress.com Profile 36
Select Your General Settings 38
Consider Premium WordPress.com Options 40
Buy a Domain at WordPress.com 42
Map a Domain to WordPress.com 44
Choose Your Personal Settings 46
Make Your Site Private 48
Add Viewers to Private Blogs 50
Chapter 3 Setting Up Your WordPress.org Blog
Choose a Host for Your Blog 54
Buy a Domain 56
Install WordPress via Your Host’s Automatic Installation 58
Get an FTP Application for Manual Installation 60
Download WordPress Software 62
Set Up the MySQL Database 64
Upload the WordPress Files 66
Complete the Configuration and Installation 68
Troubleshoot Installation Errors 70
Create the Configuration File 72
Log On to Your Blog’s Dashboard 76
Review the Welcome Module 78
Get to Know the Dashboard 80
Understanding the Admin Bar 81
Customize and Navigate the Dashboard 82
Set Your General Settings 84
Create Your Profile 86
About Privacy Settings 88
Select Your Search Engine Visibility 89
Set the Permalinks Structure 90
Understanding Other Settings 91
Chapter 4 Creating Written Content
Understanding Pages and Posts 94
Review the Writing Settings 96
Get to Know the New Post Page 98
Introducing the Visual Editor and Toolbar 100
Introducing the Text Editor and Toolbar 102
Understanding Categories and Tags 104
Create and Edit Categories 106
Create and Edit Tags 110
Write and Publish Your First Blog Post 112
Apply Categories to Posts 114
Apply Tags to Posts 118
Recall an Earlier Version of Your Blog Post 120
Write and Publish a Page 122
Edit or Delete What You Write 124
Add Formatting to Your Text 126
Add Text Hyperlinks to Your Post or Page 128
Paste Text from Other Sources 130
Using the More Option to Break Your Posts in Two 132
Convert Categories and Tags 134
Chapter 5 Creating Visual and Audio Content
Consider Media Issues 138
Understanding Display and Image Dimensions 140
Review Media Settings 141
Prepare Images for Uploading 142
Upload and Insert an Image While Posting 144
Edit an Image While Uploading 148
Format an Image from the Edit Image Window 150
Add Images to the Media Library 152
Insert Images from Web Sources 154
Using Images to Enhance Posts 156
Add a Caption to an Image 158
Wrap Text Around an Image 160
Determine the Image Target 162
Understanding Unattached Images 164
Attach Images to a Post 166
Insert an Image Gallery 168
Add a Slide Show to Your Posts 170
Link to YouTube and Other Videos 172
Upload Video Files to Your Host 174
Link to a Podcast or Sound File from Your Blog 176
Chapter 6 Changing a Site’s Look and Function
Understanding Themes 180
Find and Activate a WordPress.com Theme 182
Find a WordPress.org Theme 186
Install and Activate a WordPress.org Theme 188
Customize Your Header Art with a Built-in Tool 192
Identify and Use Your Theme’s Options 194
Change the Background 196
Introducing Widgets and Plugins 198
Choose and Insert Widgets 200
Rearrange and Remove Widgets 202
Add Sidebar Items Using HTML in a Text Widget 204
Get a Key and Activate Akismet 206
Find Plugins 208
Install and Activate a Plugin 212
Deactivate and Delete a Plugin 214
Understanding and Using Jetpack 216
Optimize Your Site for Mobile Devices 218
Create Custom Menus 220
Create and Install a Favicon for a Self-Hosted Blog 222
Engaging Your Readers
Write an About Page 226
Choose the Discussion Settings 228
Create a Comment Policy 230
Moderate Comments 232
Edit a Comment 234
Allow and Use Threaded Comments 236
Respond to Comments on Your Blog 238
Deal with Comment Spam 240
Review Notifications 242
Include Avatars with Comments 244
Understanding Gravatar Hovercards 246
Change Hovercard Settings 247
Create a User Poll 248
Create a User Survey 250
Let Readers Rate Content 252
Understanding and Joining RSS Feeds 254
Add an RSS Feed to Your Sidebar 256
Create a Category RSS Feed Link 258
Sign Up with FeedBurner and E-Mail Subscriptions 260
Offer E-Mail Updates at WordPress.com and Jetpack 264
Add a Contact Page and Form 266
Add Cross References to Your Posts 268
Let Readers Share Your Posts 270
Add Share Buttons 271
Chapter 8 Building Traffic to Your Blog
Understanding Blog Traffic 274
Create a Links List 276
Comment on Someone Else’s Blog 278
What to Say on Someone Else’s Blog 279
Connect with Facebook 280
Connect with Twitter 282
Connect with LinkedIn 284
Auto-Post to Other Networks 286
Understanding Trackbacks and Pingbacks 288
Optimize Your Blog for Search Engines 290
Using an SEO Plugin 292
Research Keywords 294
Chapter 9 Tracking Blog Statistics
Understanding What Statistics Offer 298
Track Feed Traffic with FeedBurner 300
Track Feed Traffic with FeedBlitz 302
Access WordPress Site Stats 304
Track Feed Traffic with WordPress Site Stats 306
Find Popular Posts with Site Stats 308
Find Important Keywords with Site Stats 310
Find Major Referral Sources with Site Stats 312
Find Popular Links with Site Stats 314
Sign Up with Google Analytics 316
Get to Know Google Analytics 318
Find Popular Posts with Google 320
Review Traffic Sources with Google 322
Find Important Keywords with Google 324
Find Useful Links with Google 326
Using Analytics Dashboards 328
View Statistics from Log Files 330
Choose Among Statistics Trackers 332
Understanding Your Statistics 334
Chapter 10 Maintaining Your WordPress Blog
Understanding WordPress Backups 338
Back Up Using VaultPress 340
Back Up Using Your Web Host 344
Back Up Using Dropbox 346
Understanding WordPress Updates 348
Update WordPress Automatically 350
Update WordPress Manually 352
Install Plugin Updates Automatically 356
Install Theme Updates 358
Clean Out Outdated Drafts 360
Remove Post Revisions 362
Check Your Site for Outdated Links 364
Get to Know WordPress Support Options 366
Find Support at WordPress.com 368
Find Support at WordPress.org 370
Take Action When Your Blog Breaks 372
Make a Suggestion 374
Read Blogs that Focus on WordPress 376
Chapter 11 Expanding Your Posting Options
Set Up to Post with iOS App 380
Post from Your iPhone or iPad 382
Moderate Comments from Your iOS Device 384
Edit from Your iOS Device 386
Post a Photo from Your iOS Device 388
Using Apps on Other Mobile Devices 390
Post via E-Mail 392
Post with QuickPress 396
Post via the WordPress.com Home Page 398
Post with Press This 400
Consider Using a Blogging Client 402
Create a Post with Windows Live Writer 404
Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org 408
Import Posts from Another Blogging Platform 412
Download and Install Evernote 414
Create a Basic Evernote Note 416
Create an Evernote Image Note 418
Install the Evernote Web Clipper 420
Using the Evernote Web Clipper 422
Create an Evernote Notebook and Stack 424
Post from Evernote 426
Chapter 12 Expanding Your Content Options
Understanding Shortcodes 430
Using a Shortcode 431
Identify Related Content with Zemanta 432
Insert a SoundCloud Audio Player 434
Add Music with Spotify 436
Add Music with 8tracks 438
Post by Voice at WordPress.com 440
Add Video with Blip.tv 442
Add Video from Vimeo 444
Embed a SlideShare Slide Show 446
Share Flickr Images 448
Using a Gallery Plugin 450
Display a Pinterest Feed 454
Embed a Google Document 456
Embed a Google Spreadsheet 458
Embed Other Content 460
Chapter 13 Customizing Your Site’s Look
Understanding Featured Images 464
Add a Featured Image 466
Understanding Post Formats 468
Using Post Formats 469
Understanding the Theme Editor 470
Add Copyright Information to the Footer 472
Add an Image to the Category Template 474
Create and Use a Page Template 476
Introducing CSS 478
Try CSS with the Web Developer Extension 480
Try CSS with the Chrome Web Developer Tool 482
Create a Child Theme 484
Change WordPress.com Languages 488
Change WordPress.org Languages 490
Using a Static Page as Your Home Page 492
Using Sticky Posts as a Static Page Alternative 494
Chapter 14 Managing Content and Multiple Users
Understanding User Capabilities 498
Add Authors and Contributors 500
Work with Multiple Authors and Contributors 502
Manage Publishing Details with Edit Flow 504
Manage Roles and Capabilities 508
Sign Up and Collaborate with Trello 510
Add Registered Members 514
Manage Registered Members 518
Create a Simple Member Community 520
Create a BuddyPress Social Network 522
Add a Forum to Your Blog 524
Manage Documents 526
Manage Documents with a Plugin 528
Add a Blog to an Existing Static Website 532
Create a Portfolio of Your Photos or Art 534
Considerations for Your Portfolio 535
Chapter 15 Making Money from Your Blog
Introducing Blog Economics 538
Place Ads on Your Blog 540
Add Google Ads to Your Site 542
Consider WordPress.com WordAds 546
Add Amazon Affiliate Ads to Your Site 548
Add Amazon aStore to Your Site 550
Get Set for E-Commerce 554
Use an E-Commerce Plugin 556
Index 562
About the Author :
Janet Majure (Kansas City, KS)?is an author, writer, and editor with more than 30 years experience in the publishing industry as well as writer on three WordPress blogs (individual blogs Homecooking Revival and Foodperson plus group blog Ethicurean). She has written and edited books, newsletters, articles for daily newspapers and technical white papers.
