Wordpress Install (the classic way) and Feature Tour

Homework

1. Introduction to Wordpress
   • Reference:
     • WordPress Codex (Developer Documentation)
     • Basic Usage
     • Administration Screens
2. Local Development Environments
   • The 4 Best Local WordPress Development Environments in 2020: XAMPP vs MAMP vs Local vs DesktopServer on Delicious Brains
   • The Best Setup for Your Local WordPress Development Environment on Delicious Brains
3. Wordpress SQL Queries
   • 13 Useful WordPress SQL Queries You Wish You Knew Earlier

---

Morning reflection

Housekeeping

• This afternoon: Review session and A3/A4 answer keys

---

1. Install WP

Learning Objectives

1. Install a vanilla version of WP on your system.
2. Locate the wp-config.php file in a WP installation.

Materials

• Installing WP the classic way

Key Takeaways

• File permissions for Mac. In order to install themes and upload Media, WP needs write access to your wp-content directory:

  1. Navigate to your WP root directory (Tony’s location):

      $ cd /Users/tony/.bitnami/stackman/machines/xampp/volumes/root/htdocs/blog
     

  2. Make your wp-content folder writable:

      $ chmod -R 777 wp-content
     

     Warning: DON’T do this on a hosted website.

• This method of installation is a last resort but is sometimes needed. We’ll use more modern methods next week but keep this installation as a code reference.
• Pro-tip: On the “Information needed” page that asks for an account username, DON’T use admin on production websites (it’s fine for today). That’s honey for hack bots.

---

2. WP Tour

Learning Objectives

1. Summarize the major features of the Wordpress Admin panel.
2. Locate the wp-content directory in a WP installation.
3. Understand the purpose of wp-content and the directories inside it.
4. Locate the database fields referenced in 13 Useful WordPress SQL Queries You Wish You Knew Earlier.

Materials

• WordPress Codex (Developer Documentation)
• Basic Usage
• Administration Screens

Key Takeaways

1. The wp-content is the only directory you usually need to deal with for most projects. It’s safe to ignore wp-admin and wp-includes.

    project-root
      ├─ wp-admin
      ├─ wp-content    
        ├─ plugins
        ├─ themes
            ├─ theme-1
            ├─ theme-2
            └─ theme-3
        └─ uploads
      └─ wp-includes
   

   • plugins contains all the (you guessed it) plugins you install from the Admin panel. Elementor (covered next week) is a theme-builder that will be installed as a plugin.
   • themes is the closest thing WP has to a views folder. This is where any installed themes are located.
   • uploads contains all the Media files you upload in the Admin panel.
2. Plugins
   • The number one source of blog bloat:
     • Beware of client projects that have more than 20 plugins;
     • Beware of plugins that are more than a major version out of date;
     • Beware of plugins that are no longer maintained.
3. Posts - great for content that:
   • has an author(s);
   • has a category;
     • See Codex: Post Categories
   • can be tagged;
     • See Codex: Post Tags
   • has a date:
     • is organized by date;
     • needs to be scheduled.
   • each post type can be assigned a page template
     • See Codex: Post Templates
   • don’t support custom templates
   • can be customized by setting a Post Format (the theme must explicitly support this)
4. Pages - great for content that:
   • is important enough to be in the primary navigation;
   • doesn’t change often;
   • requires structured layouts
     • See Codex:
       • Page Templates
         • Custom Templates
         • Template Partials
       • Note: Template pages override custom pages

---

Review and Assignment 3 & 4 Answer Keys

• Tony needs an example project from Assignment 3. Post your Heroku link and GH repo in the chat if you’d like Tony to make an example of you.

---

Dailies

• No Daily for today.