This is an example of a WordPress site. It is a new frontier in website development compared with what you have been experiencing with Dreamweaver.
With WordPress, the content of your site is completely separated from the way it looks and feels. Your content lives in a database and the look and feel is determined by files that live in your home directory on the Web server.
As you explore this demonstration site you will see both good and bad design in action. You can even buy (at the cost of zero dollars) your work task sheets! That is very much tongue in cheek and simply a way of showing you that with WordPress you will be able to set up complex functionality such as an online shop without needing to understand the complexities of the code behind it. That said, your coding experience will allow you to understand what WordPress is doing, and customise it even further.
There are a few words you will need to become familiar with during this Unit. These include:
| About | Tag | Category | Media |
| Media | Search engine optimisation | Theme | Post |
| Page | Plugin | Widgets | Dashboard |
With an understanding of these, you will start to get an idea of the separation of content from the “look and feel” of modern websites. We will also look at how to most effectively get your site promoted across the web through social media and search engine optimisation.
I also want to give credit and acknowledgement to the creator of Lorelle’s WordPress School, which has a very deep coverage of some of our course material. If you want a really deep exploration of WordPress for business or expansion of what we do in class, please pay her a visit. Some of her material has been simplified and used on this site.
Please bear in mind that as a school assignment website we do not want this material indexed in Google forever – indeed at all! Therefore, while we talk about ways to get things “out there” I don’t want you advertising what we’re doing here. It’s a school assignment in progress and not a professional presentation for earning an income by presenting to the public.
Also, bear in mind that as a school assignment, privacy laws dictate that you do not give out information about yourself that is personal or might lead to people finding you. By all means, publish material about your passions but don’t make a site that is very personal or relates to your family. Your website is visible to the world and you need to ensure that you do not impact anyone else’s privacy, plagiarise anyone else’s work, infringe copyright, or publish too much about yourself that could be misused in the wrong hands.
If you stick to the school’s acceptable use policy on the use of computing equipment you will be fine.
This is an opportunity for you to mix your school assignment work with things that you are interested in and passionate about.
I hope you enjoy that opportunity.