WordPress allows the users to create Posts, Pages and Links. The user can insert images, audio and with the help of special plugins Flash or video media. The user can also organize their content through the use of categories and tags. The following section will highlight the most common features that allow the user to create and manage their content.
Below are terms and definitions that introduce the main features and functions of WordPress.
Posts are considered dynamic content because they constantly change. Posts are like a journal entry each new post replaces the one before it and old posts are archived. Most new content a user will add to their blog will be in the form of a post.
A Page is static content where the user can create content that does not change. This is more like a traditional web page like an “About Me” page or a “Contact Me” page. Anytime the user wishes to publish information that is not going to change and should be available anytime the user should put that information on a page.
WordPress allows the user to insert images into posts and pages. While WordPress provides several options to manage images it does not edit images. Use photo editing software to crop and resize photos for web viewing. Keep file size small, WordPress upload storage space is limited and large photos will fill storage space quickly.
Because of limited storage space the user may consider one of many free photo storage websites such as Flickr (http://www.flickr.com). The user can upload photos to Flickr and then link to the photo when posting to the WordPress blog.
A link is a hyperlink to another page or website. In WordPress the user can create links to their favorite websites or other blogs and have those links appear in a sidebar widget called a Blog roll. The user can also create categories to organize links into custom menus.
Categories help WordPress to organize posts, pages and even links. The user can create categories to organize pages and posts into related groups. Categories often appear on the blog as a list of links where each category will provide the site visitor with a listing of posts related to the category. This can serve as a secondary form of navigation for the blog.
A tag is a keyword or term that can be applied to blog posts to create highly searchable metadata. For example, if a blog post is about the history of Art Nouveau posters from the late 19th century then key words like art, poster or history may be appropriate tags for the post. If these are applied to the post then a site visitor can search for “art” on the blog and find the post about Art Nouveau posters. If a future post that discuses modern movie posters shares the tag “poster” with the previous Art Nouveau post then the two posts will be associated by the tag. Both posts may be provided in results of a search for the keyword poster. Some WordPress themes may include a sidebar widget know as a “tag cloud” that will display tags associated with the blog providing site visitors an alternative to categorical navigation. Tags are determined by the user and can be applied to posts when they are created.
Themes control the look and feel of the blog. A selection of themes can be found under the “Design” tab on the dashboard. The Themes page is the first page displayed under the Design tab. The Themes page displays the blog’s current theme and a listing of available themes. WordPress has a large user community and free high quality themes are popular and easy to find on the web. Any new themes must be submitted to the Web Master (Christina Heikkila) or the Web Designer (Justin Floyd).
Comments are a way for site visitors to interact with the author’s posts. Comments can provide engaging interactive content and feedback. It is also important to moderate comments for inappropriate content. The user can set a series of rules to help WordPress identify spam comments or inappropriate comments and send them to a Moderation Queue. The blog user can view, approve or disapprove incoming comments in the Moderation queue.
Plugins are programs that extend the functionality of the WordPress blog. Plugins allow users to do things like embed video, display Flickr galleries, or just about anything the user can imagine. Available plugins are listed on the Plugin management page. Interested in Plugins? Learn more at the WordPress plugin directory. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/. Submit any plugin requests to CFCC’s Web Designer jfloyd@cfcc.edu.
Widgets are blocks of content the user can assign to designated areas of the blog. Typically Widgets are assigned to the Sidebar. Most blogs have two or three columns: a main column for the pages and posts, and a smaller secondary column called a sidebar. Most widgets are added to WordPress in the form of Plugins.