Setting up a WordPress site properly
I’ve been WordPress teaching for a few years now and I’ve shown many students what steps to take when setting up a site, but it seems that once out of the classroom, these steps are forgotten. I’ve also noticed this with folks asking for help on the WordPress forum. So many designers try to design their WordPress theme without any content and ensuring their setup is right. These first initial steps aren’t that difficult and will ensure that nothing is forgotten when it’s time to launch. So here is the process I follow with every single wordPress build.
- Install WordPress and log on.
- Navigate to my Post section and rename the Uncategorized category to something more sensible. More often than not, I change it to News. If I know what other categories will be needed, I insert them here as well.
- If I have blog content from the client (99% of the time I don’t), I insert it here. If I don’t have any blog posts content, I like to install the WP Example Content plugin which generates 5 posts and pages.
- Unlike blog posts, most clients do provide page content. So at this stage I would create the various pages and set up my menu via the Appearance > Menus.
- Next I’ll navigate to my settings and ensure that under the general setting, the full site title and tagline are inserted and I’ll change the timezone to the clients’ timezone.
- Under Settings > Writing I make sure that the appropriate category is selected as the default post category.
- Under Settings > Reading I change the front page display to a static page. I usually select Home for my home page and Blog for my post. Again for me, 99% of the time, my clients want a site with a front page and blog posts appearing as a sub page.
- Next we have the comments which are under Settings > discussion I normally don’t change much in here except when clients do not want comments at all.
- The Media section is next and again, I normally leave the default as is.
- During the build of a site, I make sure to check the second radio button on the privacy settings and block search engines.
- Finally the last step and probably the most important one is the permalinks. I usually select the second option. I’m no SEO Guru and really don’t think that one permalink over another is going to make That much difference. I used to opt for custom permalinks and set them to /%category%/%postname%/ but then I read Chris’s post and I stopped that.(I know he didn’t say to stop using /%category%/%postname%/ but still, if that custom permalink is better, wouldn’t WordPress have made it an option? Those folks are smart, so I prefer to go with one of their choices. :-D)
Setting up the permalinks at the beginning of a project can also save you a lot of grief from your client. If you discover that their server doesn’t support mod_rewrite, then finding this out before the launch will give you plenty of time to find an alternative.
Once I have taken care of these 11 steps, then I start building the theme. I’ve seen many designers get caught out when launching a site realizing that they didn’t style the blockquotes or the list items. Ensuring that you have content, even dummy content, during the build will help you release a better theme for your client.
Subtle Patterns
When I started working on the websites for my class material, CSS for graphic designer and WordPress, I questioned why I was doing this. It’s a lot of unpaid work and I have no idea if people appreciate it. But now and again, I’m reminded that people all over the web share their content for Free.
Today, I discovered Subtle Patterns, a web project by Atle Mo. Atle is a Norwegian designer and his subtle patterns projects is both wonderful and Free. You can browse the various patterns, preview them, download the one you wish to use or download them all. How wonderful!
Why isn’t Google picking up your site?
It’s inevitable. You build a site or pay someone to do this for you, insert all your content, do some testing, launch and finally breathe. Everything is great, wonderful and you’re so pleased until you start getting emails saying something like:
“I searched for your site but couldn’t find it.”
Now why is that? Why isn’t Google picking up your site?
One of the first thing I do when launching a WordPress site is use the Google XML sitemaps plugin. With just one click, this plugin allows you to submit your XML sitemap to search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com allowing them to better index your blog.
Now this alone won’t guarantee you a number one spot on Google. In fact nothing will. SEO is much more complex than that and needs to be looked at constantly.
Common Craft have been making videos explaining technology for numerous years and today they released another one explaining Search Engine Optimization. Their videos are always brilliant and this one is no exception. I was most please to see hear Lee mentioning dodgy links. Paying for inbound links and attempting search engine manipulation will only make you look untrustworthy.
Social Media works if you make it work for you
Almost every week, I’m asked questions on the merit of social media. People are curious about why one would need to use facebook or twitter. My usual response is that social media works, but it only works if you make it work for you.
Of course it takes time and effort and you will need to moderate your social media accounts. Could you hire someone to do that for you? Sure, but you could also hire someone to look after your kids and raise them. Is that what you want?
In order to clearly explain what I mean by “making it work for you” I thought I would share what my process is and how I make it work for me.
Fortunately, I started early. I’ve been blogging since 2004, so blogging is part of my social media strategy. This strategy is no more than a word though. I don’t have a blogging schedule and I’m not very discipline. I write blog posts when I have something to say but I always write on topic.
How to add tags and categories to your blog post
Tags and categories are a great way to organize your blog content. Categories allow you to group posts together like dishes in a menu; while tags are more specific, like ingredients of a dish. I’m often asked if one should use both. The answer, of course depends on your needs. The Bluelime Media blog at the time of writing has 254 posts, 11 categories and 51 tags. I’ve tried to keep things organized and keep having to tweak things, but I think this number is appropriate for me. A much larger blog, like TechCrunch, which publishes multiple times a day, would need many more tags and categories.
Contrary to what some people may tell you, your tags and categories are for your users and NOT Search Engines. Adding as many tags to your blog posts as possible will not improve your search engine ranking, so please be kind to your users and keep them in mind.
WordPress makes it very easy to add tags and categories. The following video by Micheal Pick walks you through the process.
Writing and Publishing Posts in WordPress
If you are new to WordPress, one of the first thing you’ll need to learn is how to write and publish posts. This short video by Michael Pick covers this topic very elegantly. The video is a few years old and your dashboard may not look exactly the same, but the principles are the same and this should give you a great starting point.
Favourite WordPress conditional tags
Understanding conditionals is an absolute must in creating unique WordPress sites. Like its name suggests the conditional tag allows you to display content depending on a specific condition.
The best place to start when learning how conditionals can be used is with page settings.
For example if you wanted to post a message of your home page or display a specific image, the following code would be added to your template file:
<?php if(is_front_page()) {?>
<p>This is our front page so we will do this.</p>
<?php } else {?>
<p>We're no longer on the front page, so we will do that instead.</p>
<?php } ?>Display different content on your sidebar
Conditional tags also allow you to dress up your sidebar differently depending on where you are on your site. I find myself building lots of websites for clients who do not wish to modify their first level of navigation, but do have the need to modify subpages. Thus with the parent page in place, I use the following code in my sidebar to create the sidebar navigation for each section.
<ul>
<?php if(is_page(2) || $post->post_parent==2) {
wp_list_pages('sort_column=menu_order&child_of=2&depth=1&title_li=');
} elseif (is_page(3) || $post->post_parent==3) {
wp_list_pages('sort_column=menu_order&child_of=3&depth=1&title_li=');
} elseif (is_page(4) || $post->post_parent==4) {
wp_list_pages('sort_column=menu_order&child_of=4&depth=1&title_li=');
} elseif (!is_page()) {
wp_list_categories('title_li=');
}?>
</ul>The page(#) correspond to the page ID. You could also use the slug if you prefer, but don’t forget to use single quotes.
Check to see if custom field exists
Conditional tags can also be used to check for things other than being a certain page. Testing to see if a custom field exist for example can be handy:
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post();
$link=get_post_meta($post->ID, 'link', true);
if($link != '') {
echo '<a href="'.$link.'">';
echo the_post_thumbnail().'</a>';
}
else {
the_post_thumbnail();
}
the_content();
endwhile; ?>A similar example would be to check to see if a featured image has been uploaded and if not display a default one.
<?php if(has_post_thumbnail()) {
the_post_thumbnail();
} else {?>
<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_directory');?>/images/banner.gif" alt="">
<?php }?>As you can see conditional tags are very handy. The examples above are some of my most used code snippets. Do you have any favourites?
Bluelime Media Design Principles
I had the pleasure of attending the Interlink Conference last Friday and loved every minute of it. The speakers were all very knowledgeable and gave excellent presentations. Following the event, I hopped on a plane and headed down to Portland for the World Domination Summit (WDS). Although both conferences covered very different topics, the main message that I got from that three day weekend, was simple – be yourself and be the best you can.
Whitney Hess gave a great presentation on the Principles of UX Design. In her talk she challenged the audience to read companies’ design principles and guess who they were. Some of these were then discussed and mocked a bit. Facebook claims that transparency is an important principle of theirs, yet, we’ve witnessed the opposite on many occasions. Charles and Ray Eames have a delightful list of principles and these are clearly felt in their designs. I’ve never been to Burning Man, but my friend Kathleen immediately guessed them to be behind this ambitious list of design principles.
Although the topic of WDS wasn’t Web design, similar set of discussions happened throughout the rest of the weekend. Whether you call them business principles or design principles, the principles you live by are what define you and make you who you are. On the flight back to Vancouver, I took a pen and paper and decided to make my own list. I probably should have done this 8 years ago when I started this company, but better late than never. So here is my list:
Bluelime Media Design Principles
- Do Good Work
- Code to standard and best practices
- Keep files organized and easy to understand
- Always look for better ways
- Update client work even if they don’t ask
- Find the easiest/best solution for the client
- Suggest alternate designer or developer if I can’t do the work
- Help others
- Teach
- Connect people
- Be positive
Teach your clients about the mysteries of the web
As designers or web developers, we’ve all been there. We create an initial mock up based on the client’s request, they love it but ask for changes, we revise again, add more bells and whistles, they still love it, but now that they see it, they think it needs more of this or that want… next thing you know your design looks like crap.
If you don’t know what I mean, take a look at this comic from the Oatmeal. This is obviously an exaggerated scenario, but sooner or later, as a designer, you will be in the same situation.
So what can we do to avoid this?
One of the best way is to educate ourselves and our clients. Paddy Donnelly & Jack Osborne have gathered a great list of resources just for you. Make sure to bookmark it and then simply send your client to one of their topic pages for a quick intro on the subject. Hopefully that will provide them with the wee nudge that was needed.
Introducing CSS/HTML for Graphic Designers
As any professional will know, the best way to stay current and in the know is to teach. I’ve been teaching a couple of classes at Langara and I’ve learned a great deal about the industry and myself.
The hardest part about teaching is the course preparation. Planning slides, handouts, exercises and solutions takes a lot of effort and it’s never perfect. Following feedback from both past students and teachers, I’ve put together a website to accompany my introduction to CSS/HTML course for graphic designers. Aimed at teachers wishing to use my curriculum, this website has all of the slides and exercises used during my 6 week class. This website is also a great tool for students wishing to learn on their own.
If you’re a graphic designer, teacher or just curious, feel free to have a look at the site and download the teaching material. If you were one of my past students you may also want to have a look. You’ll find that the course material has changed drastically.