Background artwork by FlameWriter
✩ Introduction to Plugins
- Increase functionality
- Minimal and Hidden
- Full featured repurpose of site > Australian map
- Next session – recommended plugins and case examples
✩ Plugin basics
- WordPress Repository
- Installing a plugin > using WordPress Repository
- Installing a paid plugin > + licence
- Upgrading plugins and themes
✩ Access Models
- Opensource > free beer + freedom
- Free > donation > WordPress Repository
- Paid > Opensource > pay for access + updates + support
- Membership/bundles
- Per site per year / multiple sites per year
- On-off payment
- Freemium > spectrum of useful eg elementor
- Free core + paid plugins eg WooCommerce
✩ Selecting Plugins
- Brief + budget eg calendar, appointment, booking
- Research – top ten WordPress plugins, best WordPress plugins + year (free if requirement)
- Review blogs + shortlist > patterns + functionality matching brief
- Refine short list free
- WordPress Repository
- Updates
- Active installations
- Support
- How many developers
- Install and test
- Refine short list paid
- review business model > cost and viability
- refund policy or trial
- review documentation + support
- review sales info
- Purchase, download and install
✩ Plugin configuration – where are your settings
- own menu item
- settings >
- tools >
- plugins > page
✩ Plugin settings/data
- database
- disable – data retained
- delete – data deleted (best practice)
- migration of settings > json
✩ Introduction to themes
- graphic design + layout (columns, fonts colours)
- HTML + CSS + Javascript + PHP + WordPress templating
- Interface with the WordPress core and plugins > car analogy
- Theme functionality (included) vs plugins
- Theme functionality with required or optional plugins
✩ Where to find themes
- WordPress repository – free / freemium
- Foundry (higher quality) – eg Elegant | bluchic | graphpaperpress | more
- Marketplace – eg themeforest
✩ Theme approaches
- code bloat
- default wordpress – the twenties
- custom coded + base theme
- off the shelf
- mix off the shelf + custom coded
- page builder theme or page builder + specialist theme
✩ Off the shelf
- minimal
- more functionality or aesthetic by one group
- content licensing? bluchic
- mashup
- a million bells and whistles
- less optimal plugins | wpbakery
- pay extra for the good ones
- re-licencing – linked/slower updates
- example top sales |ekko
✩ Page + theme builders
✩ How to select a theme
- Page builder vs high performance vs off the shelf
- page builders + templates
- refer to how to select a plugin
- brief
- strategy > user journey > brand personality
- what does your content look like
- how are you displaying and managing content
- additional considerations
- do not be detracted by the pretty photos
- specialist focus for keywords – musician, artist, medical centre (mix it up)
- responsive > mobile
- support for specific plugins? eg Woocommerce
- be careful of bad freemium
- long term viability – updates – business model?
✩ Introduction to child themes
- best practice for any code customisations on existing themes (templates/functions)
- except if theme has settings or CCS override
- separates development from theme codebase
- allows upgrades and easier management
✩ Complete apps
- mashup is not so bad (if supported)
- low cost rapid prototyping
- listable
- graphpaperpress | sell-media | wp repository (freemium)
✩ Keeping themes tidy
- twenty twenty as default
- twenty twenty + one theme + child
- updating
✩ Manually controlling plugins and themes
- installing
- disabling
- deleting
