Lauren Ussery Webmaster Coppell High School www.coppel ls tudentmedia.com

WORDPRESS FEATURES AND HOW TO USE THEM.

¡ Wordpress lets you add custom themes §  Free themes offered at www.wordpress.org §  Thousands offered through third-party sites §  Google “wordpress themes”

§  www.themeforest.net

§  Premium themes around $20-70 § Make sure the theme fits your publication’s needs §  Load themes in Dashboard > Appearance > Themes as .zip files

THEMES

¡ Wordpress plugins are downloadable components that add functionality to your website

¡ Work “behind the scenes”

¡ Examples: § Askimet § NextGEN Gallery § Direct Mail Subscribe Form § Facebook, Twitter, Google buttons

PLUGINS

¡  Plugins that add interactivity for visitors

¡  Located on sidebars ¡  Option to add

custom coding §  Issuu §  Vimeo §  Polls § Weather

WIDGETS

STAFFER PROFILES

¡  Let your readers know who you are.

¡  Edit in Dashboard > Users > Your Profile

¡  Add an icon § www.gravatar.com §  *Use the same e-mail you set up

your wordpress account with

¡  Featured Images ¡  Excerpts ¡  Featured videos can be

added by embedding codes directly into the post.

FEATURED MEDIA

¡  Galleries give you the option to embed photo albums in posts and sidebar widgets

¡  How to create and embed an album: §  Dashboard > Gallery > Add Gallery/Images

§  Remember the gallery ID number

§  Add captions by going to Dashboard > Gallery > Manage Gallery

MANAGING GALLERIES

§  To embed a gallery into a post, go to Dashbaord > Posts > Add New

§  Type in the code: [nggallery id=x] (where x is the gallery ID number)

GALLERIES CONTINUED…

¡ Wordpress allows users to view and edit theme files §  .php and .css files

¡  Dashboard > Appearance > Editor

¡ Must have prior knowledge of scripting languages

¡  Small appearance changes made in the style.css file

FILE EDITING

¡  Add your own coding for more page options §  Dashboard > Pages > Add New §  Edit in HTML view

§  Tutorials found at www.w3schools.com in HTML and CSS sections

CUSTOM CODES