Chapter 5: Resources | |
Kyle M. L. Jones | |
Polly Alida-Farrington | |
|
|
Abstract |
Sometimes all that librarians need to start choosing their content management system is a great resource list. In this chapter, the authors break down several varying lists they've created in doing over a year's worth of research, social networking, and presenting at WordPress's own WordCamp conferences. |
Every site we perused, every plugin we tested, every theme we admired was bookmarked to help us keep track of our research and organize our topics. There was a lot to cover on WordPress, and we just scratched the surface in this publication. For even more resources we left out, consider taking a look at our Delicious accounts, where we bookmarked over 500 sites and created over 200 tags combined.
- Kyle's Delicious Bookmarks, “thecorkboard”: www.delicious.com/thecorkboard/wpltr
- Polly's Delicious Bookmarks, “grdnldy”: www.delicious.com/grdnldy/wpltr
The WordPress community is full of individual bloggers who share the expertise and experiences working with WordPress. Some bloggers in this list are core contributors to WordPress and have firsthand knowledge on the technical details of the software and what's on the developmental horizon.
- Ian Stewart, “This Is Ian Stewart” http://iandanielstewart.com
Mark Jaquith, “Mark Jaquith” http://markjaquith.com - Nathan Rice, “Nathan Rice” www.nathanrice.net
Chris Pearson, “Pearsonified” www.pearsonified.com - John James Jacoby, “JJJ Says …” http://johnjamesjacoby.wordpress.com
- Paul Gibbs, “Bring Your Own Terms of Service” http://byotos.com
- Lorelle VanFossen, “Lorelle on WordPress” http://lorelle.wordpress.com
- Justin Tadlock, “Life, Blogging, and WordPress” http://justintadlock.com
- Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr, “Digging into WordPress” http://digwp.com
- Andrea Rennick, “WordPress Must Use Tutorials” http://wpmututorials.com
- WPBeginner www.wpbeginner.com
In our research, we identified several texts among the many out there that proved helpful in writing this publication and in grasping some of the more difficult technical concepts of WordPress. Not all WordPress books are created equal, but these are equally great.
- Hal Stern, David Damstra, and Brad Williams, Professional WordPress: Design and Development, Wiley Publishing, ISBN 978-0-470-56054-9.
- Aaron Brazell, WordPress Bible, Wiley Publishing, ISBN 978-0-470-93781-5.
- Thord Daniel Hedengren, Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog, Wiley Publishing, ISBN 978-1-119-99596-8.
- Stephanie Leary, Beginning WordPress 3: Make Great Websites the Easy Way, Apress, ISBN 978-1-4302-2895-0.
- Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr, Digging into WordPress, self-published, http://digwp.com/book.
Like the individual bloggers aforementioned, there are several sites where WordPress aficionados and beginners alike gather to talk WordPress. Explore their communities and vast resources to answer your questions and help you find your own WordPress community of preference.
- CodePoet http://codepoet.com Automattic's list of WordPress consultants available for hire.
- Facebook WordPress Group www.facebook.com/WordPress The official WordPress page on Facebook. This is a page for news updates only. Members can comment on official posts, but can't start discussions.
- WordPress on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=154024
- A very active group with over 7,000 members. WordPress Jobs http://jobs.wordpress.net A list for those looking for someone to do some custom coding or whip up the plugin you're dreaming of. Post your job needs here.
- WordPress.com Support http://en.support.wordpress.com The place to start to find answers to lots of common questions on WordPress.com. Includes links to the support forums.
- WordPress.org Support Forums http://wordpress.org/support The main support forum for self-hosted WordPress sites. Lots of discussion of plugins and themes. With nearly 500,000 topics, this can be a daunting place to navigate. Use the search feature!
- WordPress Tavern www.wptavern.com/forum Plays host to over 1,000 active members and 2,000+ threads. It's a diverse community of plugin developers, theme creators, and WordPress users.
- WPCandy http://wpcandy.com A welcome addition to the WordPress community. In 2010 this site changed hands and was reinvigorated. Includes personal interviews and best-ofs, and how-to posts are common and well-written.
- WP Questions http://wpquestions.com A good repository of questions and answers. To ask a question, though, you need to set the price that you'll offer for the best answer.
If you prefer to keep track of the WordPress talk via e-mail, there are a few select lists provided by Automattic. While most lists are geared toward developers of WordPress, questions and comments of any kind are usually fielded. Check out the wp-edu mailing list for excellent discussions on the use of WordPress for educational purposes. Get direct access to the lists at http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo.
There were some posts that we kept on returning to over and over again and others that we just think are brilliant. These posts come from a variety of resource types, sites, and people.
- “Creating a Network in WordPress 3.1 (and Up),” http://wpebooks.com/2010/09/how-to-enable-multisite-in-wordpress: Andrea Rennick, one of WordPress's most prolific and helpful community members, walks site administrators through the setup process for enabling WordPress Multisite.
- “How to Secure Your New WordPress Installation,” http://digwp.com/2009/11/how-to-secure-your-new-wordpress-installation: Jeff Starr of Digging into WordPress tackles a simple three-step process to secure WordPress during installation.
- “Do Freelancers Do Best on WordPress, Drupal or Joomla?” http://mashable.com/2010/11/04/wordpress-drupal-joomla.
- “WordPress Custom Post Types and Pods: What's Next?” http://mondaybynoon.com/2010/05/31/wordpress-custom-post-types-pods.
- “Top Five WordPress Security Tips You Most Likely Don't Follow,” www.wptavern.com/top-5-wordpress-security-tips-you-most-likely-dont-follow.
- “Custom Post Types in WordPress,” http://justintadlock.com/archives/2010/04/29/custom-post-types-in-wordpress.
- “Create Your First WordPress Custom Post Type,” http://thinkvitamin.com/code/create-your-first-wordpress-custom-post-type.
- “Complete Guide to WordPress 3.0 Awesome New Features,” http://digwp.com/2010/05/guide-new-features-wordpress-3.
There's a premium plugin market for WordPress that is absolutely extraordinary. Generally, premium plugins usually aren't costly—up to around $50—but are packed full of functionality. And nearly all premium plugins we've come across have personalized support built in to the price.
- WP Plugins http://wpplugins.com
- CodeCanyon, WordPress Plugins, http://codecanyon.net/category/plugins/wordpress
- WP eBooks http://wpebooks.com
- WPMU DEV http://premium.wpmudev.org/wordpress-plugins
Even if you aren't interested in premium themes, we highly suggest you take the tour of these sites to see to what extent the masters of theme design are pushing the limits of WordPress. It's almost like viewing fine art in that the visual experience is inspiring and sometimes unforgettable.
- Graph Paper Press http://graphpaperpress.com
- ThemeForest WordPress Themes http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress
- WooThemes www.woothemes.com
- Elegant Themes www.elegantthemes.com
- Templatic http://templatic.com
- Press75 www.press75.com
- StudioPress www.studiopress.com/themes
If you're in a library camp where you're thinking about designing your own theme, we highly recommend considering a theme framework. These are bare-bones themes visually, but are packed with functionality. It would simply be up to you to give them the color, imagery, and branding you prefer.
- Headway for WordPress http://headwaythemes.com
- Genesis Framework www.studiopress.com/themes/genesis
- Thematic Framework http://themeshaper.com/thematic
- Hybrid http://themehybrid.com/themes/hybrid
- StartBox http://wpstartbox.com
- Thesis Theme Framework http://diythemes.com
Keeping track of all the latest and greatest WordPress news is tough to do via RSS feeds and general site surfing. But taking your news to go in audio version is a little bit easier. Check out the podcasts below for great interviews and insights from community members, core developers, and even Matt Mullenweg himself from time to time.
- WPCandy Podcasts
- http://wpcandy.com/podcasts
- WordPress Tavern
- WordPress Weekly Podcast, www.wptavern.com/wordpress-weekly
- daWPshow
- http://dawpshow.com
Article Categories:
|
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Published by ALA TechSource, an imprint of the American Library Association.
Copyright Statement | ALA Privacy Policy