In this tutorial you will learn how to access a number of administrative functions in your site using the App for mobile devices.
For this tutorial we’ll use the WordPress For Android version of the mobile app. The process explained below is similar for iOS devices (e.g. iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad).
If you have added multiple sites to your App, tap on the drop-down menu at the top of menu section and select the site you want to administer …
The administration functions for the site you have selected can be accessed by tapping on the following menus …
Stats – View stats about your site’s activity.
View Site – Displays your site in your mobile browser.
View Admin – Access the administration area of your site
Stats
To view statistical data about your site on your mobile device, tap on the Stats menu icon …
Note: In order to view your site’s statistics, you will need to have an account set up with WordPress.com.
If you have an account already set up with WordPress.com, then enter your account’s login details to access your stats …
If you don’t have an account with WordPress.com, then go to WordPress.com and register for a free account …
Next, you will need to install the Jetpack plugin to enable stats for your self-hosted site. This plugin was developed by the WordPress team to deliver many of the features available in the hosted versions (i.e. WordPress.com) to your self-hosted WordPress site.
After installing and activating the plugin, add your site to WordPress.com …
Next, log into your site and click on Jetpack in your WP admin menu to access the plugin’s main page …
Click on the Stats > Configure button …
Configure your plugin’s Stats settings and click on the Save configuration button …
Once you have installed and configured the Jetpack plugin for your self-hosted site, select Stats from your app’s menu and enter your WordPress.com login details to view your site’s statistics …
View Site
To view your site in your mobile browser, tap on the View Site menu …
Your site will display on your browser …
View Admin
To view your admin area, tap on the View Admin menu …
You will be taken inside your site’s dashboard area …
You can navigate through the menus and perform many of the administration functions from your mobile device, just as if you had logged in from a PC or laptop.
Congratulations! You now know how to use the Mobile App admin section.
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
As mobile devices usage increases, more and more WordPress users will look for ways to continue working while “on the go”.
Mobile applications (apps) are available for a range of operating systems. To learn more about these, go here.
iOS and Android users can connect with their site administration areas via iPads, iPhones, tablets and other devices. You can use these devices to add, edit and delete content, manage posts, pages and comments, and perform a number of other administrative tasks.
In this tutorial, you will learn about posting content using your mobile device.
The WordPress Mobile Devices App
WordPress has developed an app that lets you access your sites using a number of mobile devices to add, edit and delete content, manage your posts, pages and comments, and perform a number of other administrative tasks.
The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play, depending on your operation system (iOS or Android) …
WordPress For iOS
The App works with any device that is running iOS version 4 or greater …
With the App installed, you can access your site from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and add new posts, edit text, insert photos, check your spelling, insert links, and more. it will automatically adjust to a more widescreen layout if you rotate the screen …
You can moderate, edit, or reply to comments using your mobile device. The app features include bulk comment moderation via an intuitive interface and moderation menus that display when you swipe comments …
You can also insert high resolution and web optimized photos into your post automatically, using the Quick Photo feature, as well as add videos …
App for iOS can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store …
For more details about using WordPress on iOS mobile devices, go here: WordPress For iOS
WordPress Mobile Devices For Android
The App for Android works with WordPress.com and self-hosted sites using versions 3.1 or higher. The App will work on all phones that are running Android version 2.2 (Froyo) or higher.
The App for Android can be downloaded for free from the Google Play App store …
For more details about using WordPress on iOS mobile devices, go here: WordPress For Android
How To Install And Use The WordPress Mobile Devices App
Let’s show you how to install and use the App. For this tutorial, we will use the WordPress For Android version of the App. This process is similar for iOS users.
On your mobile device, locate and tap on the Google Play Store button to open up the application …
In Google play, select Apps …
Search for “wordpress”. Select the WordPress application by Automattic, Inc …
Install the application on your device …
Once you have installed the WordPress Mobile Devices App, make sure to enable the checkbox next to Allow automatic updating …
After installing the app, you will see a new icon on your phone. Tap on the WordPress icon to launch the app and log into your account …
Adding A New Site
The first time you launch the app on your mobile device, you will be shown a screen like the one below, giving you a few options to start blogging. Choose the “Add self-hosted WordPress blog” option …
Note: You will need to have a site already installed before you can add it to your App.
Enter your existing site’s account details:
Blog URL – Enter your domain here (e.g. http://www.yourdomain.com)
Username – Enter your username
Password – Enter your password
Ignore both the Optional Settings and the Get a free blog at WordPress.com buttons, and tap on the Log In button when you have finished adding your site’s details into the Account Details section …
The app will try to connect to your account …
If your details have been entered correctly, your account will be set up and you will be logged in and connected to your site via your mobile device …
Once you are logged into your account, a number of options are displayed on your mobile app menu:
WordPress Mobile Devices
Posts – Add, edit and delete your posts.
Pages – Add, edit and delete your pages.
Comments – Moderate and manage your comments.
Stats – View stats about your site’s activity.
Quick Photo – Take photos with your mobile device and add these to a new post.
Quick Video – Shoot videos with your mobile device and add these to a new post.
View Site – Displays your site in your mobile browser.
View Admin – Access the administration area of your site
Settings – Edit your app settings. Also add and delete sites.
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
These options are explored further in the tutorials listed below.
In this tutorial you will learn how to manage your settings.
For this tutorial we’ll use the WordPress For Android version. The process explained below is similar for iOS devices (e.g. iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad).
Tap on your WordPress icon to log into your account …
Settings for your App can be accessed by tapping on the Settings menu …
The Settings area is divided into the following sections:
Blogs – This section displays a list of all WordPress sites and blogs you have added to your app and lets you add new sites.
Comment Notifications – The settings in this section affect how your mobile device is notified about new comments posted on your site.
Post Signature – In this section you can add a custom signature when publishing new posts.
About – This section displays information about your WordPress app and its Open Source licenses.
Blogs
This section displays a list of all WordPress sites and blogs you have added to your app’s account …
Clicking on a site listing …
Opens up a screen where you can edit your site’s details …
In this screen, you can edit the following settings:
Account Details
Edit your site’s username and login password …
HTTP Credentials
This section is optional. It allows you to enter other forms of authenticating a user’s login credentials …
Media
This section allows you to specify media settings that will affect how images are added to your posts and uploaded to your WordPress site …
You can change the Default Image Width setting to another desired width (Note: You can also tap on an image in the new post editor to set a custom image size there as well) …
Additionally, by selecting checkboxes, you can opt in this section to:
Upload and link to full image
Upload and link to scaled image
Location
You can geotag your posts by ticking the Geotag Posts box checkbox in this section …
Geotagging your posts lets your readers know where you are posting from. It also allows you to assign a city or town to any post so readers can find posts relevant to certain places more easily. For example, if you write about local events in your city, you can tag them so that others who live nearby can find out what’s going on. If you post photographs of a town you have visited, you can tag them with the name of that town so that people searching for it will be able to more easily find your site.
Remove Blog
If you no longer want or need to have one of your WordPress sites in your mobile app’s account, you can delete its details by clicking on the Remove Blog button at the bottom of the screen …
As well as deleting sites from your mobile WordPress account, you can also add new sites in the Blogs section …
Comment Notifications
The settings in this section affect how your mobile device is notified about new comments posted on your site …
Enable blogs
Enable or disable comment notifications for all sites in your mobile WordPress account …
Update interval
Tap on Update interval to bring up the Update interval screen. Here you can select the interval you want your mobile app to check for any new comments posted on your WordPress site …
The Comment Notifications settings section also allows you to specify a number of options that will notify you when new comments have been posted on your WordPress site:
Play notification sound – Tick the checkbox to enable or disable this option
Vibrate – Tick the checkbox to enable or disable this option
Blink notification light – Tick the checkbox to enable or disable this option
Post Signature
In this section you can add a custom signature that will be added to all new posts published to your WordPress site from your mobile device.
To add a custom signature to new posts, tick the Add a signature to new posts checkbox and tap on the Post signature area …
This brings up the Post signature screen. Type in a custom signature to replace the default app’s signature and tap on OK to save …
Your custom signature will be added to all new posts published from your mobile device …
About
This section displays important information about your WordPress mobile application …
You can view information about your WordPress app, such as the version number, terms of service, privacy policy and the app developer …
You can also read information about the application’s Open Source license …
Congratulations! You now know how to use the WordPress Mobile App settings area.
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
The most relaible theme guide that make things for you to manage and customise. The straight forward guide helps you to learn quicker and saves time.
You will discover how themes can save you thousands of dollars in a year on web development or website design cost.
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Learn from the guide to save lots of time and money on website development or website design costs and make customising your website design easy.
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Themes provide website owners with professional yet really inexpensive website templates that are easy to customize and could save you and your business hundreds of dollars on website development costs.
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In this blog post series on helping you understand WordPress features, we look at what WP themes are, how it can help your business and how WP themes can help you easily customize your website.
Powerful web management platforms like the WordPress CMS have effectively simplified web design and web development for business owners. This is a great news for businesses and individuals planning to build their own website which they can also manage themselves.
Prior to “blogging” and the development of sophisticated content management systems, if you needed a site, you typically would have to wait until both the web development and website design processes were fully completed. This process could take many weeks, even many months!
The development of themes helped change all this. In this blog post, you will learn what themes are and how they can help you and your business save money on web development costs, and how WP themes let you easily customize your WordPress site.
A Revolution In Web Site Design
More businesses today have been benefiting from a tremendous change in web design that started several years ago. If you own a business, you may want to know more about this, because it could save you thousands of dollars on web development and web design costs.
In a nutshell, this is what typically took place before WordPress were introduced:
First, you would discuss your project with a website developer or designer. Next, the design itself would be discussed and agreed upon. This involved time and money being spent with a professional web designer discussing design elements of your site, such as the, colours, styles, graphic elements, content, etc.
Every page of your website then had to be individually created with the elements and codes written into the content. All the pages were then assembled together into a website using link and navigation menus and uploaded to your server, together with all other files needed to make your website work – script libraries, graphic images, media, etc.
(image source:adobe.com)
Only after everything had been tested and worked the way it was supposed to (and looking the way a client had wanted it to look), was the site deemed as being finished and ready to go live.
The next phase in the evolution of business web design was the introduction of “web templates”. A website template allows presentation elements of the website to be worked on separately from content on the page. The introduction of ready-made templates helped to speed up the process of developing web sites and resulted in reduced production costs. This also allowed web development companies to expand their services to include small businesses with smaller budgets …
(image source: www.dreamweaver-templates.org)
As more small businesses started using “template-based” web design services, templates started being created that offered various customizable features, such as the ability to switch colours, styles, layouts
As websites and website building tools developed, website templates also began to evolve into website template “systems”, which allowed users and web designers to customize their web site’s visual elements.
And then, a “blogging” software called WordPress was developed and helped to start a new online publishing revolution …
A WordPress theme pushes website template systems, even further.
The WordPress theme system controls and integrates every aspect of your web site design. It lets you add a “skin” over your site similarly to what a template system does, but also gives you more control over the management and customization aspects of all template features.
As explained in the official WordPress site …
A WordPress Theme is a collection of files that work together to produce a graphical interface with an underlying unifying design for a weblog. These files are called template files. A Theme modifies the way the site is displayed, without modifying the underlying software. Themes may include customized template files, image files (*.jpg, *.gif), style sheets (*.css), custom Pages, as well as any necessary code files (*.php).
As the above states, one of the unique features of the WordPress theme is that how your website looks to visitors externally in no way affects your site’s content management aspects.
Basically, what this means is that you can modify the design of your site as much and as often as you want without modifying your website’s content and all the work you’ve put into it. For example, if you have configured your site for e-commerce, replacing the theme won’t affect the content or the functionality of the site. All e-commerce features, settings, and product information will remain intact, but the site will look completely different.
This is huge! Why?
Because with WordPress, you no longer have to wait until your site’s web design is completed. You can get your website built quickly and get started with any theme you want, and change the entire look, feel and design of your site in a few minutes, whenever you choose as often as you like!
Even better, you can easily replace any theme on your site without needing web code development skills. Just pick a theme you want, upload it to your site and activate it. WordPress allows you to change your web design and customize elements like headers, layout, styling options and more in a few seconds …
Since WordPress is made available as open source software, commercial web design companies from all over the world can design themes specifically for the WP CMS platform using the WP template system.
This means that thousands of high quality WordPress themes are made available to WordPress users. WP are generally distributed for Free under the terms of the GNU General Public License Definition, or sold as Premium (paid) themes.
The WordPress team keeps a FREE directory of WordPress themes which gives WordPress users access thousands of great themes at no cost …
(WordPress.org – Free WP Theme Directory)
As the popularity of WordPress increases, more designers are now focusing on creating themes for a wider range of applications.
Theme varies from minimal-looking, to stylish designs, that are quite spectacular and could typically cost thousands of dollars to design. Surprisingly, most premium WordPress themes can be bought quite inexpensively, especially when you compare the cost to what it would have cost you if a website designer had to build it from scratch.
Benefits And Advantages Of WP Themes
Here are just some of the benefits of using WordPress themes over using traditional web template design:
Ready To Start Using In Minutes
Theme are very easy to install on your site. Simply upload it to your Plugin folder via your WP dashboard and activate. Even easier still, you can install any of the themes listed in the WordPress theme directory at WordPress.org) directly from your WP admin’s “Theme” section.
Additionally …
WordPress has a large online community of commercial theme designers who, collectively, make thousands of fantastic WordPress Themes available to WP users. Many of these themes are 100% free to use!
Themes give sites a consistent “look and feel” across all the blog’s elements, such as pages, headers, footers, menus, etc …
A “theme” works independently of your blog’s content. This makes it possible to change themes as often as you want without disturbing the underlying content.
Many themes provide additional built-in features and options that enable you to easily customize the theme’s style and design properties to create a unique look to suit your preferences.
Many themes are built using a framework that allows users to upgrade the theme to a newer theme version without losing any unique customizations (e.g. CSS styles)
WordPress lets you search, upload, install and update WordPress Themes automatically right within your site’s administration interface.
Themes helps you save thousands of dollars on website design costs. Free themes cost nothing and most “Premium”themes are normally very affordable.
Responsive WP Themes
Many theme developers are now creating themes that incorporate “responsive” functionality.
A responsive theme enables websites to automatically resize to display smoothly over different screen sizes and resolutions, as well as different devices (e.g. lap tops, tablets, mobile phones, etc.) …
A responsive theme is also optimized for different platforms. Users can scroll, read and load your site on different device browsers without having to readjust their browser settings, or requiring website owners to install additional display elements.
Note: When purchasing WordPress themes, it’s a good idea to choose a responsive WordPress theme. Not only will the theme ensure that your website will work correctly across all of your visitors’ devices, it also means that the theme is newer than non-responsive themes and therefore probably complies with the latest standards, practices and techniques of web design coding.
I hope this overview has helped you gain a better understanding about WP themes, what WordPress themes are, how themes can help your business save money on website development costs, and how themes make it easy to customize a website.
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
In WordPress you can upload, store, and display a variety of file types (media) into your site’s content.
The most common file types are images, videos and audio files, but you can also use other file types such as PDF document files, spreadsheet files, code samples, etc.
Adding media to the WordPress Media Library allows you to upload photos and create image galleries usingan interface that makes uploading files and placing them into your posts and pages very easy.
Additionally, you can create image galleries very quickly with drag and drop reordering, inline caption editing, and simplified controls for layout, amongst other things.
In this tutorial you are going to learn how to use the feature.
Note: Some settings such as specifying the size of thumbnail images and options for the location and structure of the upload directory (where your media files are stored) are controlled in the Media Settings section.
Watch the video below and then complete the step-by-step tutorial to learn more about using the WordPress media library …
How To Use The WordPress Media Library: Step-By-Step Tutorial
You can upload and store various types of media files in your WordPress Library …
You can also upload files to your site without creating a post or page first. This allows you to upload files to use with posts and pages later and/or get a web link to a particular file that you can share.
To view all the files in your WordPress site’s Library, go to your navigation menu and click on Media>Library…
This brings up the Library screen ….
A table listing all of your files will display in the Library screen. In a later section of this tutorial we will cover all the features available in this section.
If you have not added any files to your Library, you will see an empty table …
How To Add Media Files To Your WordPress Media Library
To add files to your WordPress site’s Library, go to your navigation menu and click on Media>Add New…
You can also add new files by clicking on the Add New button in your Library screen …
A new screen called Upload New Media opens up containing the WordPress Uploader functions …
There are three options you can use to upload files to your site:
1) Drag-And-Drop: You can add multiple files to your Library by selecting a group of files and dragging them into the Drop files here area surrounded by the dashed border.
2) Select Files: This opens a window that lets you select a folder in your hard drive and upload files from your computer.
3) You can also use the Browser Uploader if you experience any problems using the multi-file uploader…
Note: the maximum upload size for your files is determined by your web hosting account settings. In the example screenshot above, the Maximum upload file size is showing as 64MB (MegaBytes). Your screen may show a different maximum limit.
If you are experiencing problems uploading files to your WordPress site, your limit size may be set too low. You could use an image editing application to resize the image, but it’s best to ask your web hosting company to increase your file upload settings, or see this tutorial: How To Increase The Maximum File Upload Size In WordPress
Let’s go through each of the file upload methods now …
Drop files here – Drag-and-Drop method
The drag-and-drop method is useful if you want to upload multiple files located in the same source folder. However, you can also use it to upload a single image.
Make sure that both the Upload New screen and the folder containing your image files are open and visible on your screen (you may have to resize their windows on your browser to see both of them at once).
Next select a single image, or multiple images by holding down the Shift or the CTRL button, then drag your selected files from your folder into the blue dotted area of the Upload New screen (in the Drop files here section) and release your mouse …
If you have selected multiple files, these will begin uploading …
Once your files have been uploaded, they will display in your Library …
Select Files Method
This method allows you to search for the location of your files (e.g. in your hard drive), then upload one or multiple files.
Click on Select Files in the Uploader, and locate the folder containing your files, then …
Select one or more files to upload and click Open in the File Upload window …
Selecting the file(s) you want to upload and clicking Open activates a progress bar on the Upload New Media screen …
You can also use this method to upload different media file types (e.g. audio and video files) from different folder locations on your hard drive.
Selected files are placed in a queue waiting to be uploaded …
Using The Browser Uploader Method
If you experience any problems uploading your files using the previous methods, then try using the browser uploader instead.
After clicking on the browser uploader link, a new screen appears. Click the Browser button, then locate the file you want to upload and click on the Upload button to import your file …
Click on Switch to the multi-file uploader to exit the browse uploader and return to the multi-file uploader …
Attaching Media Files To Posts And Pages
Typically, there are two ways to upload media to WordPress:
You can upload files into a Post or Page while creating or editing your Post or Page
You can upload files that is not related to a Post or Page yet.
If a file is uploaded within the edit screen of a post or page, it will automatically be attached to that post or page.
If a file is uploaded via the Library, then the file(s) will be unattached. The file(s) may become attached to a post or page when inserted into a post or page later, but you can also attach unattached items directly inside the Library feature …
For example, here is a screenshot of an image that was uploaded via the Library and that is currently unattached to any page or post …
Clicking on the Uploaded to > Attach link associated with an unattached file brings up a screen that allows you to associate the file with a page or post …
To do this, search for the page or post you want to attach the file to, the select it from the list and click the Select button …
Note: Media items are also “Posts” in their own right and can be displayed as such .
If the parent post of an attached media item is deleted, the item will become attached to the deleted post’s parent if it exists. If no parent post exists, the item will become unattached and available for re-attachment to another post or page.
Editing Media Files In The WordPress Media Library
Once a item is uploaded to the WordPress Media Library, it can be edited.
You can edit the item by hovering your mouse over it and clicking on the Edit link…
You can also edit the item by clicking on its file name and thumbnail image …
Uploaded media such as Videos, Audios, PDF documents, etc… allow you to edit features such as your File Title, Caption and Description …
Image files, on the other hand, offer far greater editing options than other media types …
Deleting Media Files From The WordPress Media Library
To permanently delete an item from the Library, hover your mouse over the item you want to delete and click on the Delete Permanently link …
Your media item will be permanently deleted …
See the Filtering Options section further below for instructions on how to delete multiple files.
Viewing Items Uploaded To The WordPress Media Library
You can view items you have uploaded to the WordPress Library by hovering your mouse over the item and clicking on the View link …
The item will be displayed as a separate post …
Additional Information – Table Of Media
Library items are displayed in a table, with all of your media items listed by row, and the newest uploaded item listed first …
The Table of Media contains the following columns:
[ ] – Check the box to select an item. Selected items can be processed by a Bulk Action.
Thumbnail – A thumbnail image of the item is displayed in this column.
File – This column displays the name of the file (Note: this is not the same as the filename of the uploaded media) …
The file’s type (e.g TXT, PNG, JPG, PDF) is displayed below the file’s name …
Author – This column lists the user who uploaded the item, or the file’s assigned author. Note: Files can be assigned a different author than the user who uploaded the file. See this tutorial for details on how to change authors for files.
Uploaded to – This column displays whether a file is unattached, or the Post or Page the file is attached to and the date of that Post or Page. Click on the title of the Post or Page to view that Post or Page in an edit Screen. If a media file is unattached, an “Attach” link will appear allowing the file to be attached to selected Posts or Pages.
Comment Bubble – This column displays the number of comments a file has received …
Date – This column displays the time or date the file was uploaded.
Sort the Columns
The column headings in the Table of Media can be clicked to sort items in ascending or descending order.
Hover over the column title (e.g. File), and the up arrow or down arrow will display. Click the heading to change the sort order of your media files …
Media Library Page Navigation
The number of items uploaded to your Library is displayed in the Table of Media, as well as the number of pages (if there is more than one page of media uploaded).
You can use the navigation arrows to skip to the first or last page, or to move backwards or forwards one page at a time. Also, you can enter a page number in the box showing the current page number to go directly to that page …
You can also specify the number of media items to display per page (see next section below).
Media Library Screen Options
The Screen Options allow you to choose which columns are displayed, or not displayed, in the Table of Media.
Click the Screen Options tab on the top right-hand corner of your Library screen …
A list of columns is displayed with a check-box next to each column. Check the box for each column that you want displayed in the Table of Media, or uncheck the box to hide that column.
You can also specify the number of items to display per page in the Table of Media. Remember to click the Apply button when finished to apply your new settings …
Click the Screen Options tab to close the Screen Options box.
Search Media
Above the Table, to the right, is a search box where you can enter one or more search terms and click the Search Media button to search and display all the files that include your search terms …
Your search results are displayed in the Table of Media …
Note: Click All in the Library menu to reset your page and display all files in the Table of Media …
Filtering Options
At the top of the Media Library screen are links such as All, Images, Audio, Video, Unattached, etc. that allow you to display only media files of that type in the Table of Media when the link is clicked …
Below these links are the Bulk Actions drop-down menu, Apply button, Show all dates drop-down menu and the Filter button …
Bulk Actions Drop-Down Menu – You can perform Bulk Actions on one or more media files selected in the Table of Media.Current;y, the only Bulk Action allowed for media files is to permanently delete all selected files.
To use the Bulk Actions filter, (1) select the checkbox(es) for all media files you want to delete. Do this by ticking each box individually, or click on the column header checkbox to select all media files (unchecking the header or footer title bar checkbox will cause all entries in the table to be unchecked), then (2) select Delete Permanently from the Bulk Actions drop-down menu,and (3) click the Apply button …
Show all Dates – This dropdown allows you to select which media files are displayed in the Table of Media by date. By default, “Show all dates” is selected and all of your files are displayed.
To filter media files by upload date, (1) select one of the available dates from the Show all dates drop-down menu, and (2) click on the Filter button to apply the filter selection …
Plugins
If you plan to use media frequently, there are a number of plugins you can add to your WordPress site to enhance your Library functionality and help you better manage and organize your uploaded media, like Media Library Assistant …
Congratulations! Now you know how to use the WordPress Media Library.
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
WordPress Themes – Powerful, Flexible & Cost-Effective Web Design
Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress has simplified the process of web design and web development.
This is great news for anyone wanting an online presence that they can fully manage themselves.
Prior to “blogging” and the introduction of easy-to-use content management systems, if you wanted a website, you had to wait until both the web development and web design processes were fully completed.
In a nutshell, here’s how things typically worked in “traditional” web design before WordPress Themes came along: The video below explains how to customise your WordPress.
First, you would discuss your project requirements with a web developer or web designer. Then, the “web design” itself had to be discussed and agreed upon. This meant time spent with someone with web design skills going over the layout, colors, styles, page elements, content, etc. of your web site .
Each page of your website then had to be individually created with all of the design elements and scripts coded around the content. All pages were then assembled together into a website using links and navigation menus and uploaded to your server, along will all other files required to make your site work – script libraries, images, media, etc.
Your website will be ready Once everything worked the way it should and looked the way you imagined it to look.
Then, web design “templates” came along. Web templates allow the content to be separated from the presentation in web design. Having ready-made templates helped to speed up the web development process and allowed for mass-production of web documents. This lowered production costs and suited the needs of clients with lower marketing budgets.
As more small businesses began choosing “template-based” websites, templates were developed that offered a number of customization features and options, such as the ability to switch colors, pick styles, rearrange layouts and so on.
As websites and web editor applications evolved, web templates also began evolving into web template “systems”, which controlled all of the visual aspects of a website, i.e. its web design.
Then, WordPress came along and helped to kick off a new web revolution.
About WordPress Themes
“Themes” take the concept of a web template “system” further.
The “theme” system controls the design aspects of a website and allows you to add a “skin” to your site much like a web template system does, but it also gives you more control over the “look and feel” and presentation of the material on your website.
According to the official WordPress site …
A Theme is a collection of files that work together to produce a graphical interface with an underlying unifying design for a weblog. These files are called template files. It modifies the way the site is displayed, without modifying the underlying software. It may include customized template files, image files (*.jpg, *.gif), style sheets (*.css), custom Pages, as well as any necessary code files (*.php).
Because WordPress is Open Source software, it allows professional web designers from all over the world to create themes specifically for the WordPress platform using the WordPress template system.
This means that thousands of high quality WordPress themes are available to users. They are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or sold as Premium (paid) themes.
The WordPress development team maintains a FREE WordPress Theme Directory which gives users access to thousands of great themes at no cost …
As more businesses turn to WordPress for publishing and managing their content online, more designers are now focusing on creating themes for a wider audience of site owners.
They range from simple, stylish and professional looking, to visually stunning and highly creative designs that would normally cost thousands of dollars to commission, but are surprisingly very inexpensive to buy.
You can view a number of WordPress theme galleries containing stunning examples of some that you can have immediate access to further down the page.
Benefits And Advantages Of Using WordPress Themes
Here are just some of the unique benefits and advantages of using WordPress themes over choosing traditional web design:
It has a large and thriving (and growing) community of professional web designers who, collectively, make thousands of great-looking, high quality WordPress Themes available to users. Many of these themes are 100% free to use!
It gives sites a unified and consistent “look and feel” across all of the site’s elements, i.e. pages, headers, footers, menus, layout, etc …
A “theme” works independently of your site’s content. This makes it possible to change themes as often as you like (and hence the “look and feel” of your site) without affecting the content.
Many provide various features and options that allow you to easily customize the theme’s layout and design properties to create a unique look and style to suit your preferences.
Many are are built using a framework that allows you to update your theme to a newer theme version without losing any of your unique customizations (e.g. CSS styles)
It allows you to search, import and install WordPress Themes automatically from your site’s administration interface.
Themes allow users to save thousands of dollars on web design costs. Free themes cost nothing and most “Premium” WordPress themes are typically very inexpensive.
You can easily install a theme on your site without any web design knowledge required. Simply choose a theme, upload it to your site and activate it. WordPress lets you change your entire site’s web design with just a couple of mouse clicks …
With WordPress, you no longer have to wait until your site’s web design is completed. You can get started with any theme you like, and then completely change the look, feel and design of your site in seconds, whenever you want … and as often as you like!
Responsive WordPress Themes
Many WordPress Theme developers are now creating “responsive” themes.
A responsive theme allows a website to automatically readjust itself to display smoothly across different monitor sizes and screen resolutions, as well as different platforms (e.g. computers, tablets, mobile devices) …
A responsive theme is also optimized for each platform. Users can navigate, read and load a site on different devices without having to resize anything, or requiring the website owner to install additional themes.
Now that you understand WordPress themes a little better, let’s show you where to find great themes for your website.
If you are looking for “mouth-watering” web design, or professional quality yet highly affordable WordPress web design themes with a distinctive look, unique customizable options and ongoing support, you can search through the theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Solo Stream
Solo Stream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality professional themes and the option of accessing all through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on the images above to browse more SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates stunning eye-catching themes and offer a membership option that allows you to access all themes in their growing theme collection.
(click on the images above to browse more WooThemes themes)
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 7,000 premium themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $1) …
(click on the images above to browse more ThemeForest themes)
Store Front specializes in e-commerce themes for WordPress. Their themes integrate well with powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins.
(click on the images above to browse more StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework that allows you to quickly and easily build a professional website that is highly search optimized, and provides auto-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for your content and unprecedented control of the framework.
One low price entitles you to receive unlimited support and updates, and install your themes on unlimited domains. for more details, click here: StudioPress.
(click on the images above to browse more StudioPress themes)
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your site, we recommend sticking to the ones listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A number of websites offering “Free” WordPress Themes have sprung up around the web and some of these have been found to be distributing themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites will even come up at the top of Google’s search results for search phrases like “free WordPress themes”. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress theme directory, or well known and trusted sites.
If you have any doubts about whether a theme installed on your site may contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your files. This plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and presents you with a report as shown in the screenshot below …
Hopefully this information has given you a better understanding of themes and why many people choose WordPress when it comes to building their websites.
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
WordPress Plugins – Adding New Functionality To Your Website
WordPress is a powerful blogging platform because of its ability to add new applications that will enhance the performance of your website.
In WordPress, these applications are called “plugins“.
Watch the video below that shows you how to install plugins.
Typically, adding a new feature to your website or enhancing its functionality involves additional cost. Depending on the complexity of the feature or enhancement, this cost can be significant, especially if web developers have to create new code or modify programs or scripts to integrate with your existing site.
When setting up a website, businesses will often either spend money upfront buying features that they may or may not need, or pay extra later for new features, enhancements, and/or customizations.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could:
1) Get your web presence up and running quickly with a simple, easy-to-manage and professional-looking website that communicates exactly what your business is about, and then …
2) As the need arises, easily add new software modules with the click of a mouse button that would integrate seamlessly with your existing website and give your site a whole new range of capabilities and functionality, and also …
3) Cost not a single cent extra to download and install on your site?
Well, that’s exactly what plugins allow you to do!
If you own a smartphone, then most likely you are familiar with the concept of the “app”. Apps is like a software program that can be instantly downloaded and installed on your phone to give your phone added functionality. Some apps are free to download, and some apps cost a little money.
plugins are similar to phone apps.
Because WordPress distributes its application as Open Source software and makes its code publicly available, anyone can create, modify and customize any portion of the code to enhance and contribute to the core software application. This has allowed many third-party software developers to create more applications that seamlessly “plug into” the WordPress platform than you can imagine.
Plugins – Benefits And Advantages
Plugins let you start off with a basic, simple website and then add new features and enhancements to your site only when required.
Plugins allow you to add almost unlimited functionality to your website easily and inexpensively.
Plugins allow non-technical users to have a website that they can fully manage themselves. Most plugins typically work “out of the box” and only require installation and activation to give your site new capabilities, enhancements and functionality. Some plugins are a little more complex and require some initial configuration.
Plugins – Powerful, Flexible … And Often 100% FREE!
Just like themes, thousands of plugins are made available for WordPress users and many of these great plugins are 100% FREE!
Post your content automatically on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others
Show countdown timers (for expiring special offers, coupons, etc …)
Add coupons and special offers
Display personal (and personalized) greetings
And hundreds of other features!
As you can see, the possibilities of what you can do with a WordPress site are just about endless when you add plugins.
If you need to protect your content, you can use plugins to make just a couple of paragraphs on your page inaccessible, or transform your WordPress site into a full membership site with separate login details for every member …
You can use free plugins to enhance your site in so many ways. From adding new features that will improve the “user experience” of your site …
To extend your site’s reach across social media networks and search engines …
You can also add complex functionality to your site using inexpensive Premium (i.e. paid) plugins. For example, you can purchase plugins that automate the process of managing customer testimonials and booking events on your site …
And even run a complete bookings and reservation system on your site, all for a tiny fraction of the cost of hiring programmers to create these applications for you …
You can take advantage of the WordPress built-in commenting features and add plugins that will make your site even more interactive and allow you to better engage with your visitors, customers and registered users / members. …
For example, visitors on your site can:
Leave comments on your site (which can turn into online discussions) using WordPress built-in comments, or Facebook comments (which get shared throughout the visitor’s Facebook pages giving your site additional exposure).
Share and bookmark your content with other online users on all major social networking and social bookmarking sites.
Contact you via contact forms
Engage in online discussions with you and other customers / members of your site through forums
Engage via live chats (text and video/audio)
Call your business directly from a mobile phone while visiting your site
Open support tickets via a customer support helpdesk
And so much more …
You can even integrate complex “Back End” third party applications and solutions with a WordPress “Front End” site. This allows you to manage the marketing content that your visitors see on your site, while your third-party applications handle the “business” end without visitors leaving your site …
Plugins – Some Useful Tips
There are many WordPress plugins to choose from. Be careful of overloading your site with too many plugins, as this can start to affect your site’s performance and loading times. It also means more maintenance and more possibilities of conflicts and errors arising.
Only keep the plugins you really need and use. Delete any plugins you don’t need from your site.
Free plugins often come with little to no support from the plugin developer. Even when choosing paid plugins, check around to see what kind of reputation the developer has when it comes to offering support, upgrades, etc.
If you see that a plugin has not been updated for a very long time (e.g. two years), then think twice before downloading it or continuing to use it.
Always keep your plugins up-to-date. Outdated plugins can cause errors and may have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious users.
As you can see, WordPress plugins are an important feature of WordPress.
Hopefully this information has given you a better understanding of plugins what they are and how they can significantly enhance the functionality of your WordPress site or blog.
We provide detailed step-by-step tutorials on how to use WordPress plugins and how to configure many of the most popular and useful WordPress plugins.
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
In this tutorial you will learn how to edit your WordPress user profile.
You will also learn how to set up an “about the author” information box that will be associated with all the content you post online and how to use this feature to better promote yourself and/or your business online.
The Profile section lets you specify how your name will be displayed on your site, your e-mail address for administrative purposes, and other personal information and personal options related to your WordPress user account.
Watch the short video below and then complete the step-by-step tutorial to learn more about editing WordPress user profiles …
To edit your user profile, go to the Profile screen, which is accessible from the main navigation menu by going to Users > Your Profile …
Or by clicking on the “Howdy, Your Name” link at the top of your WordPress admin section and selecting “Edit My Profile” …
The Profile section contains a number of subsections that allow you to manage information about your user account:
Personal Options
Name
Contact Info
About Yourself
Change Password
Let’s go through each of these options now …
User Profile Fields
You can always access your profile by clicking on your username, which is displayed in the top right hand side of the screen and selecting “Edit My Profile” from the drop-down menu
You can ignore this section, unless you specifically want to customize aspects of your WordPress site administration area that are only viewable to you (and no one else) such as disabling the visual editor when writing, changing the admin area’s colour scheme, or enabling keyboard shortcuts for comment moderation. Tip: If you ever experience issues when trying to add code to your posts or pages (e.g. HTML), try disabling the visual editor button in this section
Important: Leave the “Show Toolbar when viewing site” checkbox enabled to display the Toolbar in your WordPress administration area. To learn more about the WordPress toolbar, see this tutorial: Your WordPress Site Administration Area
The username cannot be changed in the User Profile section by anyone, including the site administrator (although you can change your username if you know how to edit your WordPress database, but this will affect your login, as this username is required for logging into your WordPress site!). You can, however, change the data in the First Name and Last Name fields.
If you want to display a different author name on your posts other than the one you originally registered or installed WordPress with, then change the Nickname (required) field and select your new nickname from the Display name publicly as drop down menu. You can add multiple nicknames. All your posts, comments will display your new nickname, instead of the name you registered with. Tip: Go here for a step-by-step tutorial on How To Change The Author Name On Existing WordPress Posts.
Make sure that your correct email address is entered in the Email (required) field.
Enter your website address in the Website field. If you have another website or business blog that you want to display as your website, then enter the URL for that website or blog instead. You can enter details for the other Contact Info section fields, or just ignore these.
In this section, add a personal or business description for your visitors and blog readers.
Use the New Password section only if you are required to change your login password. You will need to enter your new password twice before the system can accept the password change.
Click the Update Profile button to save any changes you make to your user profile.
Note: Adding certain plugins to your site (e.g. social media features), may insert or remove fields in your User Profile screen (e.g. add a field for “twitter” username, etc…)
User Profile: Important Notes
WordPress only requires your e-mail address and a nickname. Your email address is used only for your blog administration.
Your email address is never sent to any other site (including WordPress) and it is never displayed on your site (unless you publish it, or use a specific WordPress theme that displays your email address).
Only registered users of your blog have access to the e-mail address you provide.
Each user’s email address must be unique.
WordPress User Profile: Additional Contact Information
Your WordPress Profile section has a number of fields that allow you to enter additional contact information such as your AIM screen name, your Yahoo! MessengerID, and your Jabber / Google Talk name …
Normally, you would just leave these fields empty. Some WordPress theme developers, however, may choose to customize their templates to display this and other contact information.
If this is the case, then you can choose to set up accounts with these services (if you haven’t already done so) and then add your details into the appropriate fields in the Contact Info section.
Currently, WordPress provides default fields for the following services:
AIM
AIM is a desktop and mobile chat application that allows you to chat with friends or collaborate on a group project online …
Yahoo! Messenger
Yahoo! Messenger allows you to connect and chat with friends from any web browser or mobile device …
Jabber / Google Talk
Google Chat software allows you to chat with friends and share files online …
Note: If you plan to run a corporate website, you may not want some of the Profile screen fields displayed to users. If this is the case, see the “tips” section below to learn how to remove unnecessary fields from the User Profile screen.
Useful Tips Related To Your User Profile
Tip #1: Your user profile gives you an additional opportunity to promote your business to your site visitors.
A link to the author is added to every post published on your site …
Clicking on the author link takes you to the Author Archives section, where site readers can learn more about you (or other authors registered as users on your site) and see other posts that you (or other authors) have published …
You can add hyperlinks and simple text formatting like bold and italicized text to enhance your author description and further promote yourself, your services, products, other websites, to your site visitors …
This is done by adding HTML formatted content into the About Yourself > Biographical Info field in your Profile section …
Tip #2 (Advanced User):How To Hide User Profile Fields
If you plan to run a corporate website, you can install a simple WordPress plugin called Hide User Profile Fields that will automatically hide the following fields from your site’s user profiles and creation pages when activated:
Colour Profile
Keyboard Shortcuts
Toolbar
AIM
Jabber
Yahoo IM
Web site URL
Biography Description
User Role (every new user is created as Subscriber)
If you need to learn how to install and activate WordPress plugins, see this tutorial: How To Use WordPress Plugins
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.
In this tutorial you will learn how to access a number of administrative functions in your site using the App for mobile devices.
As mobile devices usage increases, more and more WordPress users will look for ways to continue working while “on the go”.
In this tutorial you will learn how to manage your settings.
Congratulations! You now know how to use the WordPress Mobile App settings area.
Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress has simplified the process of web design and web development.
WordPress is a powerful blogging platform because of its ability to add new applications that will enhance the performance of your website.
You can take advantage of the WordPress built-in commenting features and add plugins that will make your site even more interactive and allow you to better engage with your visitors, customers and registered users / members. …
In this tutorial you will learn how to edit your WordPress user profile.
Note: If you plan to run a corporate website, you may not want some of the Profile screen fields displayed to users. If this is the case, see the “tips” section below to learn how to remove unnecessary fields from the User Profile screen.
