WORDPRESS AS A CMSMark Kirby

The Werks Whuffie Club

TALK IS AIMED AT THOSE

Thinking of using WordPress as a CMS or want a simple CMS solution

With HTML and CSS skills Perhaps PHP skills WordPress beginners, or newbies Advanced users – perhaps help with the

questions at the end!

THE TALK

Introductions Why I use WordPress as a CMS Brief introduction to WordPress Themes

Its easy to create a simple theme Creating more complex themes is still pretty

simple Pro’s and con’s of using WordPress as a CMS Questions (feel free to interrupt though)

QUICK INTRODUCTIONS

Spent some time freelancing as a WordPress specialist based in The Werks

After setting up the talk started working full time at Ribot

Not marketing my services, passing on ideas and advice

kirby.mark@gmail.com with questions You?

WHY I USE WORDPRESS AS A CMS

Used WordPress for 2 years for my own sites Experimented with Drupal for a

documentation solution, but switched to Wordpress

Created my first theme Found clients liked using WordPress Built a number of themes for myself and

others

INTRODUCTION TO WORDPRESS

• Started out as a blogging platform

http://www.brightonculture.co.uk/

• Has many features you would expect from a fully fledged CMS

Add pages Add posts within categories to create blogs,

news sections etc – with different themes to each category (more later)

Multiple users with different authorisation levels

Many more including…

Menus can be displayed automatically

Revision history

• Easy to install

Need PHP and MySQL Set up a database Upload WordPress Run it http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPr

ess#Famous_5-Minute_Install ..or with Subversion -

http://mark-kirby.co.uk/2008/how-to-install-wordpress-using-ssh-and-svn/

• Easy to use

I find the interface really simple Demo

THEMES

A theme controls the look, feel and content of the site

The theme consists of HTML surrounding editable content CSS for all content – non editable and editable

More info available here http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Themes#What

_is_a_Theme.3F Download or make your own

CREATING A SIMPLE THEME

Demo – really simple! Example

WordPress theme for a brochureware site 5 pages the client can update http://www.handsonphysiotherapy.co.uk/

This simple theme has very few files and is easy to create

Learn more here - http://codex.wordpress.org/Templates

A SIMPLE SITE

BROCHUREWARE

BACKEND - WORDPRESS

CLIENTS CAN EDIT THEIR PAGES

THE SITE WITH DEFAULT THEME

CODE TIME!

A SIMPLE THEME

http://codex.wordpress.org/images/1/18/Template_Hierarchy.png

STYLE.CSS

http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development#Theme_Style_Sheet

INDEX.PHP

http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop

http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development#Basic_Templates

HEADER.PHP

http://codex.wordpress.org/Pages#Listing_Your_Pages_on_Your_Site

Alternative way of doing menus -

FOOTER.PHP

SELECT OUR THEME

ADVANCED THEME

The theme for my (simple looking) blog - http://mark-kirby.co.uk/

Site contains a blog and tutorials Homepage contains latest 2 tutorials, and

latest 3 blog posts The blog main page lists entire posts Tutorial main page lists summaries

HOME.PHP

http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/get_posts

HEADER.PHP

Title – varies according to page

Menu

CATEGORY-27.PHP - BLOG

Uses the_content

CATEGORY-28.PHP - TUTORIALS

Uses the_excerpt

PRO’S

Quick and easy to set up an installation Easy to create themes Huge user base hence

Great support Lots of documentation Many plugins covering all kinds of functionality Regular updates

CON’S

Security issues – you will need to keep sites updated to the latest version at all times

Stigma, some clients won’t be happy using it Ordering pages is a little awkward – not ideal

for sites with loads of pages Any suggestions for pro’s and con’s?

CONVERSATION

Questions for me (and each other) Questions for you!

Would you consider using WordPress for your clients, if so, what size client/what type of client and why?

What features would you like to see in a CMS, we can see if WordPress has them, or if there is a plugin which provides them

What concerns would you have about using WordPress as a CMS

Have you any comments on the content of my talk, for the next group