USING WORDPRESS AS A TRAINING TOOL

Reno-Tahoe WordCamp 2009

Michelle Montoya

http://michellereno.com | @michellereno

WHAT IS WORDPRESS?

WordPress is an open source package that can complete the same tasks as a high budget commercial Content Management System (CMS).

Easily handles search engine optimization, portal development, content management, response systems, permissions-based reading, and more.

Plugins help customize WordPress and communicate with other websites, business applications, and news services.

HOW TO CREATE A WORDPRESS WEBSITE

Seven ( 7) Simple Steps

1. Create domain name: http://www.domaintools.com/

2. Register domain: http://register.com, http://NetworkSolutions.com, http://www.domjax.com/

3. Find hosting provider: http://www.thehostingguide.com/

4. Install WordPress: Use Fantastico to automatically install

5. Upload WordPress theme: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/

6. Modify the theme: Edit images, fonts, etc.

7. Add plugins: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POSTS & PAGES Posts

Listed in reverse chronological order on the blog home page or on the posts page (if you have one)

Can be found in the Archives, Categories, Recent Posts, and other widgets and are also displayed in the RSS feed of the blog

Pages Fixed / static and a good option to

publish information that doesn’t change much (like an “About” page)

Appear in the Pages widget and in tabs across the top of some themes and are not associated with a date/time

USING WORDPRESS TO COMMUNICATE

Many options for sharing information with others Create posts and pages

for others to read Allow comments to

exchange ideas

Using the various user profiles (roles and capabilities), administrator controls who can post, edit, reply, or delete posts and pages

ROLES AND CAPABILITIES

Create multiple users to share information Administrator - Has access to all administration

features

Editor - Can publish posts, manage posts, and manage other people's posts, etc.

Author - Can publish and manage their own posts

Contributor - Can write and manage own posts but can not publish posts

Subscriber - Can read comments, can comment, can receive news letters, etc.

SITEMAP FOR TRAINING WEBSITE

Home Page – Include select number of blog posts, archives, search bar, link to social media applications (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

About Page – Explain purpose of training, mission / vision statement

Project Schedule / Calendar Page – Show deadlines, important dates, training details, etc.

Users / Trainers Page – Link to individual blogs / websites

HOW TO USE PLUGINS

Plugins extend and expand WP functionality

Find additional plugins in WP’s plugin directory Find, download, rate, and comment on all the

plugins the WordPress community has to offer

Over 4,200 plugins currently available to modify your website to fit your needs http://wordpress.org/

extend/plugins/

PLUGIN: ROLE MANAGER

Role Manager plugin allows administrator to define and manage multiple subscriber profiles and create new roles and capabilities.

http://www.im-web-gefunden.de/wordpress-plugins/role-manager/

PLUGINS: CALENDARS

Several plugins exist for adding a calendar Google has a plugin to integrate your Google calendar

http://code.google.com/p/wpng-calendar/downloads/list

Events-Calendar is a plugin that displays a big calendar but lets you add a small calendar to the main sidebar http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/events-calendar/

Calendar for WordPress plugin lets you manage events from your dashboard http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/calendar/

WP-Cal is a calendar plugin with “events” independent from “posts” http://www.fahlstad.se/wp-plugins/wp-cal/

PLUGIN: SCHOLARPRESS COURSEWARE

ScholarPress Courseware enables you to add and edit a schedule, create a bibliography and assignments, and manage general course information.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/scholarpress-courseware/

PLUGIN: CIMY USER EXTRA FIELDS

Allows administrator to modify the restricted and predefined fields that are available in the registered users profile

Lets administrators add as many new fields as are needed to the users' profile Useful to gather information,

including biography, image, websites, and other services (Flickr, YouTube, SlideShare, etc.) http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cim

y-user-extra-fields/

A GOOD WEBSITE SHOULD…

Be easy for others to access information

Encourage participation among users

Be easy for administrator to manage

THE END… FINALLY!!

Thank you! Questions?

Connect with me online:http://michellereno.com

http://twitter.com/michellerenohttp://linkedin.com/in/michellereno