WordPress 3.0 Essentials

Introduction
Welcome
Using the exercise files

1. Getting to Know WordPress
What is WordPress?
Course progression: Cloud hosting, then self-hosting

2. Getting Started with WordPress.com
Setting up an account
Setting up a new blog or web site
Navigating the WordPress.com back end

3. Building a Profile
Editing your profile
Creating profile images with Gravatar.com
Modifying personal settings
Adjusting site settings to improve privacy and findability
Advanced sharing options

4. Posts
Understanding the difference between posts and pages
Creating a new post
Advanced text formatting in a new post
Creating text links
Adding images
Adding images from URLs and external sources
Adding categories, tags, excerpts, and other elements
Publishing a post

5. Pages
Writing a basic page
Organizing page hierarchy
Using page templates

6. Managing Images, Video, and Other Media
Managing media from the Admin panel
Managing Media Library assets from within posts and pages
Inserting external media from YouTube and other services

7. WordPress Settings
Customizing the front page of a site
Managing users
Managing comments
Creating ratings options
Creating polls

8. The Appearance Tab
Selecting a theme
Understanding page widgets
Creating custom sidebar widgets using text widgets
Creating custom menus
Using Typekit to integrate specialized fonts

9. The Twenty Ten Theme
Changing the background
Changing the header image
Creating featured header images in posts and pages
Using asides to create short posts

10. Moving to Self-Hosting
Transitioning from WordPress.com to a self-hosted site
Option 1: Setting up a production environment using BitNami
Option 1: Logging in to and navigating a local WordPress installation with BitNami
Option 2: Setting up a production environment using WAMP on Windows
Option 2: Installing WordPress into a WAMP installation on Windows
Option 3: Setting up a production environment using MAMP on a Mac
Option 3: Installing WordPress into a MAMP installation on a Mac

11. Using Plug-Ins
Installing plug-ins from Admin
Troubleshooting when a plug-in crashes the site
Ten must-have plug-ins for all WordPress sites

12. New Custom Themes
Installing new themes from inside WordPress
Troubleshooting when a custom theme crashes the site

13. Understanding the WordPress File Structure
Working in the wp-content folder
Manually installing themes and plug-ins

14. Basic Theme Hacks
Introducing child themes
Modifying a child theme
Creating custom page templates

15. LaunchingYour Self-Hosted WordPress Site
Setting up the hosting service
Configuring WordPress before upload
Uploading WordPress to an external web host
Running WordPress on your server for the first time
Importing and exporting existing content from different sources

16. WordPress Site Maintenance and Security
Backing up a WordPress site
Troubleshooting when something goes wrong
Keeping a WordPress installation current

17. Getting Readers
Creating user-friendly permalinks
Setting up a WordPress site for search engine optimization
Setting up and writing good content to get more readers

18. Conclusion
Where to go from here