Course Description
WordPress is a free open source blogging tool and content management system. WordPress can be used to create a traditional blogging site; however, it can also be used to create a standard website for business or personal use. This course focuses on creating websites using WordPress. No previous experience is needed. This course is structured in a way to help all students, regardless of their experience, learn WordPress.
Course Objectives
Students will learn how to:
- Set up a PHP and MySQL database on localhost
- Install WordPress on the MySQL database
- Plan their website by choosing color schemes, fonts, layouts, and more
- Search for themes in WordPress
- Select, install, and activate a theme
- Add posts to their website
- Create website pages
- Add images, photo galleries, and more
- Create tags for SEO and categories to organize their posts
- Use WordPress as a content management system (CMS)
- Use widgets and plugins
- Create an ecommerce site
- Integrate WordPress with social media
- Customize a WordPress site using PHP, CSS, and HTML
Course Requirements
You should have a high school reading level and be competent in basic computer usage and terminology.
Course Syllabus
Lesson 1: Introduction to WordPress
- A brief history
- WordPress Blogs vs. Websites
- A brief introduction to WordPress themes
- Getting started with WordPress
Lesson 2: Finding a Home for your WordPress Site
- Finding a domain
- Registering a domain
- Choosing a web hosting package
Lesson 3: Installing WordPress on Your Site (FTP)
- How to install WordPress
- The MySQL database
- Uploading your files
Lesson 4: Content Management using WordPress
- Archiving content
- The purpose of categories
- Naming a category
- Creating a new category
- About static page parents and children
Lesson 5: Image Formats
- Image types and formats
- Comparing image formats
- Image optimization
- Image libraries
Lesson 6: Designing Your WordPress Site
- Choosing a site width
- Fixed widths
- Fluid widths
- Responsive Layouts
- Columns
- Navigation
- Content display options
- The Sandbox environment
Lesson 7: The WordPress Default Layout
- About the layout and structure
- Customizing the header image
- Choosing a header image
- Creating your own header image
- Custom navigation
- About widgets
- Using widgets
- Adding widgets to a sidebar or footer
- The text widget
- The RSS widget
Lesson 8: Themes and Templates
- About WordPress themes
- Template files
- Template tags, values, and parameters
- Connecting templates
Lesson 9: More on Widgets and Template
- Calendar
- List pages
- Post archives
- Categories
- Content types
- Widget areas
- Using template files
- Named templates
Lesson 10: Using WordPress as a Content Management System
- Creating the front page
- Creating a static page
- Using a static page as your front page
- Making a blog look like a website
- Creating blank blog pages
- Assigning the new page as a blog page
- Creating custom page templates
- The default page template
- Using different sidebarand footer templates
- Custom styles for sticky, category, and tag posts
Lesson 11: Using WordPress Plugins
- Installing plugins using the dashboard
- Finding plugins
- Installing and activating plugins
- Installing plugins manually
- Ecommerce plugins
- Photo galleries and portfolios
- Inserting images onto pages or into posts
- Creating web forms using plugins
- About BuddyPress
- Integrating plugins with social networks
Lesson 12: Using WordPress Plugins
- Installing plugins using the dashboard
- Finding plugins
- Installing and activating plugins
Lesson 13: Site Maintenance
- Site Migration
- Backup and Restore
- Updating WordPress