how to launch your own website using wordpress
DESCRIPTION
What is WordPress? How do I use it to launch my website? Is it a good fit for my needs? Ken Gagne answers these questions in this presentation delivered to the Harvard Kennedy School of Cambridge, Mass., on Feb 19, 2014.TRANSCRIPT
How to Launch Your Own Website
Using
Ken Gagne, Harvard University, 19-Feb-14
Frequently Answered Questions
•What is WordPress?
•Who uses WordPress?
•Why should I use WordPress?
•How do I use WordPress?
•Who are you to tell me to use WordPress?
Ken Gagne
MIT Medical
Web Producer
What is WordPress?
•A program
•Specifically, a content management system (CMS)
•Runs on a Web server
• Free
•Open source
•Dynamic database vs. static files
Who uses WordPress?
What is WordPress good for?
•Corporate blog
•Personal blog
•Portfolio
•Event calendar
•Media archive
•E-commerce
•Podcast
•Build brand
•Build portfolio
•Engage audience
•Recruitment
•Centralize
•Archive media
•Drive sales
What’s the least you need?
•Server
•Domain name
•HTML / CSS
•MySQL / PHP / jQuery
•Budget
•Time
A site needs focus!•What is your goal?
• To document your travels? To share your passion? To inform? To entertain?
•What topics are you most interested in?
• Travel? Technology? Pop culture? Politics?
•What is your perspective?• Are you a movie critic? A clothing designer? A pastry chef?
•Who is your target audience?• Film buffs? Fashionistas? Foodies?
Source: WordPress.com
Details to decide•What is your domain name?
• WordPress.com? Your own? With our without “www”?
•How often will you publish?• Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Randomly?
•Who will be writing?• Just you? Friends? Family? Curated submissions from the public?
•Will you accept comments?• Improves reader engagement; takes time to respond and filter
Source: WordPress.com
WordPress.com
Free hosting
216 themes
Default plugins
Cannot modify PHP code
Secure and backed up
3 GB storage
Advertisements
Less knowledge needed
WordPress.org
Self-hosted
Infinite themes
Infinite plugins
Customizable codeResponsible for own
security & backupsStorage varies —
often infiniteAd-free
(or ads that you profit from!)Learn by doing
Source: WordPress.com
WordPress.com offers premium upgrades
Source: WordPress.com
Free Premium
Free blog √ √
Domain name X √
10GB storage X √
No ads X √
Custom design X √
VideoPress X √
Free $99/year
Page“About”, “Contact”,
“Subscribe”, “FAQ”Exists outside
the blog’s chronologyAlways found
in the same placeStatic; generally
does not invite comments
Can have parent & children
Post
Your latest update
Appears at the top of the blog
Scrolls as new content is added
Invites reader responses
via comments
Can be tagged & categorized
Themes!
––––––––––––––––––––––––•Separates content from presentation
•A combination of HTML, CSS, and PHP
•Some include customizable options, such as color schemes, banner images, fonts
•Only one theme active at a time
•Download only from the official WordPress repository!
Plugins!
––––––––––––––––––––––––•A separate file (or set of files) placed in the
/wp-content/plugins/ folder
•Adds or changes WordPress’s inbuilt functionality
•More plugins = more memory = slower load time
•Download only from the official WordPress repository!
JetPack•From the
creators of WordPress
•31 additional functions
•Social media integration, comment subscriptions, spelling & grammar checker, site statistics
Gravity Forms•Offers
improved functionality over Jetpack
•PayPal integration
•Not free!
All-in-One SEO Pack
(Search Engine
Optimization)
•Gives you control over how Google—and thus Google users—see your site
•Basic installation is one-time affair
•Most benefits come from use on every page & post
Blubrry PowerPress
•Supports audio and video
•Supports Flash & HTML5
•Free analytics (not possible with just iTunes)
•Hosting costs extra
Redirection• Prevents
404 “File not found”
• Supports single redirects & regular expressions (regex)
• Exhaustive logs
RevisionControl•Limits the number of changes tracked
•Can be set universally or on a per-post basis
•Improves comparison interface
Social Media
Widget
•Connect with your visitors by advertising your presences
•Includes dozens of social media sites
•Is not comprehensive
•Supports custom icons
W3 Super Cache•Reduces site
load time•Easy to
install; difficult to configure
•Can conflict with other plugins
“People will visit a Web site less often if it is slower than a close competitor by more than 250 milliseconds… That is less time than a single eye blink [400 ms].”Steve Lohr, “Impatient Web Users Flee Slow-
Loading Sites”, New York Times, Feb 29, 2012
Pingdom Tools
Google Analytics
Monday, February 24, 20146:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Microsoft New England Research & Development Center
(NERD Center)1 Memorial DriveCambridge, MA
