Hector Torres

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Founder of WP-MONITOR wp-monitor.com, a WP maintenance service. ------------------------------------------------------------ Founder of Idealocity.com www.idealocity.com, a WordPress Web Design company ------------------------------------------------------------ Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology ------------------------------------------------------------ WordPress Aficionado

WordCamp Miami 2014 May 11, 2014

Plugins & Themes

#wcmia @wpmonitor

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

WordPress Plugins & Themes

1. What are WordPress Plugins and Themes? 2. Best Practices before installing a Plugin or Theme. 3. How to Install the Plugin or Theme. 4. Must-have Plugins to install on a new site. 5. How to Preview a Theme before installing or changing it.

Previewing Theme Specific Features: logo, menus, widgets and shortcodes.

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

What are WordPress themes?

• A WordPress theme = a design template = the foundation of your website.

• A theme allows you to change the entire look and functionality of your website.

• When you change the theme, your content ( pages, posts, images, and permalinks - the URLs) does not get erased.

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Selecting a Theme from a Trusted Source

• #1 Trusted Place for themes = WordPress.org Themes

directory http://wordpress.org/themes/ • Advantages: free, over 2000 themes • Disadvantages: limited support and functionality

• Other Trusted places for Premium/Paid themes: • woothemes.com – ecommerce themes • studiopress.com – business themes • organizedthemes.com – charity themes • graphpaperpress.com - photography themes

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Best Practices when installing a theme

• Make sure that the theme has most of the look and functionality that you need. If the functionality is missing, make sure the theme will work with a plugin.

• Make sure the Theme is Mobile Responsive.

• Make sure the theme has good technical support from the vendor.

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Best Practices when installing a theme

• Backup your website before installing a Theme

• Do a Live Preview before activating the theme. In Live Preview, change some of the options before activating the theme and see how they look.

• Once you activate your theme, create a “Child Theme”.

• After creating the child theme: upload any sample content, then set all of the theme options.

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Best Practices when installing a theme

• Backup your website before installing a Theme • Remove any unused Themes

• Update all your themes (after doing a full backup)

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Installing the Theme

• Add the theme from the WordPress.org Themes directory OR you can upload a theme zip file.

(we’ll do a demo of the theme install) • After adding the theme, here’s how to preview it before

activating it: http://www.wp-monitor.com/free-wordpress-video-tutorials-themes-widgets-menus/

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

What are WordPress Plugins?

• A WordPress Plugin = an add-on = an extension

• A Plugin adds functionality to your website (e.g. the ability to

backup your site)

• When you add or delete a plugin, your content ( pages, posts, images, and permalinks - the URLs) does not get erased. However, adding or deleting a plugin can drastically change the look of your site or even break your site.

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Best Practices: Install Plugin from a Trusted Source

• #1 Trusted Place for Plugins = WordPress.org Themes

directory http://wordpress.org/plugins/ • Advantages: free, over 30,000 plugins • Disadvantages: limited support

• Other Trusted places for Premium/Paid plugins: • wpmudev.org - various types • http://ithemes.com/plugin-suite/ - various types • yoast.com/ - SEO • gravityforms.com - input forms

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Best Practices when working with Plugins (continued)

• Backup your website before installing or deleting a Plugin.

• Make sure the plugin’s functionality will work with your theme and that the Plugin is Mobile Responsive.

• Make sure the plugin has good technical support.

• Remove any unused plugins

• Update all your plugins (after doing a full backup)

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Installing the Plugin

• Add the plugin from the WordPress.org Plugins directory OR Upload from a .Zip file you downloaded/ Example of adding a plugin: http://www.wp-monitor.com/how-to-duplicate-or-copy-a-wordpress-post-or-page/

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Must-have Plugins to install on a new site

• SEO Plugin - Yoast SEO by Joost de Valk

• Backup Plugin - BackupBuddy by iThemes - Backup to Dropbox by Michael De Wildt • Traffic plugins - Google Analytics for WP by Joost de Valk - Jetpack by Automattic

• Spam Control Plugin - Askimet by Automattic

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Must-have Plugins to install on a new site

• Social Sharing Plugin - Share Buttons by AddThis

• Security Plugin - WordFence Security by WordFence - Sucuri Security by Sucuri • Contact form Plugin - Contact form 7 By Takayuki Miyoshi

• Cache Plugin - W3 Total Cache By Frederick Townes

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Using WordPress beyond a blogging platform

• Want to monetize your website? Use an e-Commerce theme or one of these plugins

• Examples of Membership Plugins • WPMU DEV Membership • Exchange by iThemes

• Examples of Ecommerce Plugins • WooCommerce by Woothemes • WP e-Commerce

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com

Examples of Websites with Cool Themes & Plugins

Hair Salon with Blog Website: http://idealocity.com/templates/beauty1

E-Commerce Beauty Products Store: http://idealocity.com/templates/ecommerce3/

Membership Website: http://www.wp-monitor.com/

Hector Torres @WPMONITOR #WCMIA www.wp-monitor.com