WordPress All-in-One for Dummies

by Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Cory Miller, Kevin Palmer

A convenient how-to guide for maximizing your WordPress experience WordPress is a state-of-the-art blog publishing platform with nearly ten million active installations. Eight minibooks provide you with expanded coverage of the most important topics to the WordPress community, such as WordPress basics, theme designs, plug-in development, social media integration, SEO, customization, and running multiple sites. Veteran author Lisa Sabin-Wilson leads an authoritative team of authors who offer their unique knowledge and skillset while sharing invaluable advice for maximizing your site’s potential and visitor experience. The word on the street is that WordPress All-in-One For Dummies presents everything you need to know about WordPress in one convenient book!

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Technology, Reference, Website Design, Computers, Programming

884 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2011

Reviews

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers a wide range of WordPress topics, including installation, administration, publication, SEO, theme development, plugin development, and Network/Multisite. Because it covers so many topics, it doesn't go very deep into any of them.

I skimmed much of the book.

Notes
Google Authenticator – WordPress Two Factor Authentication (2FA , MFA) plugin lets you add two-factor authentication to your site.

WP Limit Login Attempts plugin provides brute-force protection.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the broadest, most comprehensive WordPress book I’ve read so far. It covers more than WordPress for Dummies (read my review), because it deals with everything from administration to design to development. I skimmed the first 4 books which dealt with the basics. I especially liked the sections on SEO and theme development. It also covers plugin development and Network/Multisite.

I re-read this book to learn more about working with theme template files. It has excellent explanations of custom fields, custom post types, and custom taxonomies.

The 8 mini-books included in this book are authored by several WordPress stars: Lisa Sabin-Wilson of E.Webscapes, Cory Miller of iThemes and WebDesign.com, Kevin Palmer of Convertiv, Andrea Rennick of WPMUTutorials.com, and Michael Torbert of Semper Fi Web Design and developer of the All in One SEO Pack plugin.

Security
Secure wp-config.php by adding the following code to the top of the .htaccess file:
<Files wp-config.php>
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from all
</Files>

• Change the database table prefix.
• Set permissions for wp-config.php to 640.
• Move the wp-content directory outside the WordPress installation directory. Update the path in wp-config.php. See the WordPress Codex: Editing wp-config.php.
• For more security tips, see the WordPress Codex: Hardening WordPress.

Moving to a new host
1. Back up your current database.
2. Back up your current wp-content directory.
3. Create a new database with your new host.
4. Import your database backup into this new database.
5. Install WordPress with the new host.
6. Edit wp-config.php to included the new database name, username, password, and host.
7. Upload the wp-content directory to the new host.

Social media
• Sociable is better than ShareThis, because it requires fewer clicks to share content.
• Use Social Mention for free social media and sentiment tracking of your brand.

SEO
• Use the permalink format /%postname%/, or, if your site has focused categories, /%category%/%postname%/.
• Create breadcrumbs with the Yoast Breadcrumbs plugin.
• Add pagination with the WP-PageNavi plugin.
• Show only excerpts on archive pages. Prevent search engines from indexing archives other than the category archives. Use the All in One SEO Pack plugin and Robots Meta plugin.
• In the All in One SEO Pack plugin, select No index for archives and tag archives.

Themes and theme frameworks
• Premium themes: iThemes, StudioPress, WooThemes, Press75, Headway Themes
• Free theme frameworks: Theme Hybrid, Carrington, Thematic
• Premium theme frameworks: Genesis, iThemes Builder, Headway

Theme development
• Use stylesheet_directory instead of template_directory in child themes.
• Use the post_class() tag to insert specific HTML into a template that can be styles with CSS.
• Action hooks let you latch in a specific function during the loading of a theme.
• Filter hooks allow you to modify data while it passes to the theme or browser.

Custom post types, taxonomies, and post formats
• The Custom Post Type UI plugin lets you create custom post types from the admin area.
• Custom post types are used for posts other than post or page.
• Custom taxonomies are used for classifying posts, similar to categories and tags.
• Post formats define the style of the post, such as audio, image, link, or video.

Plugin development
• The extract() function takes an array of attributes and breaks the information into individual variables.
• Use require_once() in plugin files to load other PHP files.

Miscellaneous tips
• Use the W3 Total Cache plugin to minify HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
• The Advanced Text Widget plugin lets you include PHP code in widgets.
• Use subdomains, not subdirectories, for Multisite (Network).

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very comprehensive. Didn't know one could do so much with widgets.

[Bryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was very basic information on blogging on a wordpress subscription.
I am running a free wordpress and therefore was the wrong book and information for me.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty basic. Clear step-by-step instructions and screenshots. I skimmed the book, looking for new info.

Notes
Examining Social Media And SEO
Post Name permalink is best. If you want to use a category structure where category names are keywords, you can use Custom Structure /%category%/%postname%/.

Avoid duplicate content by ensuring that archives only show excerpts (not full posts), and/or blocking robots from indexing all archives (unless you want to allow category archives).

Customizing The Look Of Your Site
Theme sources
• WP Astra
• Kadence WP
• Creative Market
• WordPress.org commercial themes

WordPress.org full-site editing themes

Template parts are synced block patterns created for specific global areas of site that don't change frequently (e.g., header, footer).

Block pattern sources
• WordPress Block Pattern Directory
• Block pattern plugins

Running Multiple Sites With WordPress
Use Multisite when you want multiple sites (yours or others') on a single WP installation. You want most plugins and themes to be available to all sites. You have 1 login across sites but manage each site individually.

If you use subdirectories, main site regenerates permalinks containing /blog/ to prevent collisions. Plugins or custom code can prevent this.

WordPress MU Domain Mapping plugin lets you use different domains within Multisite.

Subdirectories are better for SEO than subdomains.

Add virtual host to Apache, if using subdomains
1. In httpd.conf, find section
2. Replace AllowOverride None with AllowOverride FileInfo Options
3. On new line, type ServerAlias *.yourdomain.com
4. Save and close httpd.conf

If using subdomains, add wildcard subdomain DNS record.

Allocate at least 256MB of RAM.

In php.ini, set memory_limit to at least 32 MB or even 64 MB.

[Yoga Aditama · Rating 4 out of 5]

thsi book explain how to create blog. But not actually blog, i say. this book how to use Wordpress as CMS. give me meticulous details of manage blog especially how to create blog content. The procedure explained meticulously, and in complete order. start how to install and create theme. i will not give stars to this review, but i will give a consideration

this book, suits to:
-A beginner, with blog, or CMS and want to create website blog
-The contain well explained, give us insight on how to manage, create, monitor blog
- You can re-read of some aspect if you needed because the book give guide to manage every aspect of blog.
Not suits:
-think to create Blog from wordpress blog
-dizzy with procedural text
-always grinning about everything

[Cheryl Alsippi · Rating 4 out of 5]

WordPress All-In-One for Dummies was very informative and helpful. Some of the language was a little too technical for me, but since I was not building a website, utilizing codes and more, it was also not an issue for me. I used mostly for setting up a free WordPress blog. It gives many helpful hints and instructions for a novice plus the more technical details for those wanting to customize further. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to build a website or blog with WordPress.

[Cynthia Parkhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was mid-2015, and I'd been offered work doing web-content editing for a church whose new website would soon "go live" via the WordPress platform. Serendipitously, this book arrived as a present for my birthday. The giver had not been told of my new job; she'd found the book on my wish list, but ah, such fortuitous timing! Since then, I've often had occasion to refer to this book. It's greatly enhanced my ability to keep the website up-to-date.

[Oto Kapanadze · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be great for beginners but I don't recommend it to advanced users.

[Joost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging book, packed with interesting content. It was quite easy to get through. I utilized it while designing the website https://mkapi.ru

[Fintech Primary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for beginners. Covers all the necessary bases.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A broadly informative WordPress book, covering installation, administration, publishing, SEO and social media, design, development, and Network/Multisite. Because it covers so many topics, it doesn't get very deep into any of them. You'll want to read more focused WordPress books (or websites) for more details.

I skimmed much of the book since I already knew it, or it was covered in the first edition.

Themes and theme frameworks
• Premium theme sources: iThemes, Organic Themes, WooThemes, Press75, Headway Themes, Commercial Theme Directory
• Free theme frameworks: Theme Hybrid, Thematic
• Premium theme frameworks: Carrington, Genesis, iThemes Builder, Headway

Plugin sources
• CodeCanyon: marketplace of thousands of plugins
• Gravity Forms: popular forms plugin
• iThemes: plugins including BackupBuddy
• Shopp: e-commerce
• WooThemes: plugins including WooCommerce
• WPMU DEV: commercial plugin shop

Plugins
• Plugin reviews and discussions: WPBeginner, WMPU
• jonradio Multiple Themes allows you to use different themes for different parts of a site.
• Image Widget lets you easily use images in widgets.
• Posts in Page lets you place posts inside pages.

Plugin development
• Turn error messages on by enabling WP_DEBUG in wp-config.php.
• Use add_shortcode in your primary plugin PHP file to create a shortcode.
• Shortcode names must be unique within a site, so use a name specific to your plugin (such as your name or your company's name).

WordPress Network
• When to use Network
- • When you want multiple sites and one installation.
- • When you want one codebase to make site maintenance easier.
- • When most of your plugins and themes are accessible to all sites.
• Networks work well on Apache, Nginx, and Lightspeed, but not IIS.
• Configuring Wildcard Subdomains
• Bulk Import Users plugin lets you import users into a Network. (Plugin seems outdated -Chad)
• Menus plugin lets you limit access to menus.
• Recent Global Posts Widget plugin lets you display posts from sites within network.
• WordPress MU Domain Mapping plugin lets you map domains to network sites.

Miscellaneous
• Images and graphics: iStockphoto, Dreamstime, Graphic River
• Use locate_template() in a child theme to replace a parent's template file.
• The [embed] shortcode lets you specify dimensions of embedded videos. See Embeds.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.

As a WordPress expert, I found a lot of this book already knowledge for me, but I still got a few great points from it, as well as a few new items.

Would recommend!

4.0/5

[Vashti Braha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a strange mix of enlightening, very useful, and completely not. It's certainly not for dummies, which is sometimes a good thing, sometimes not.

If you want to learn how to do some programming—code some Wordpress plugins and themes—but feel like a dummy, I'd say this book is more for you than for me. I want to understand my Wordpress site better but not write any more code than absolutely necessary.

Assuming the reader wants to start coding plugins etc for others is a particular kind of reader.

[Jin Kok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives you a good overview on what you meed to know about Wordpress saving you precious time since its focused. Without the need to hunt all over the internet. Worth reading to have a grasp of wordpress, but not a reference for professional text.

[Desiree' · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this all in one book to learn more about Wordpress and how to use it as both a web page and a blog. I am glad I chose this book; it truly provided me the knowledge and application to both build and navigate the Wordpress dashboard.

[Roxann · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is an interesting book, but the actual technical instructions are not helpful to a first time site builder. And this is my second website!

[Mary Lynn Archibald · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the time I got to most of it, it was outdated. My own fault. It helped some, but I'm pretty thick when it comes to technology. Also, I took time out to write another book of my own. Mea culpa!

[Greg Van Vorhis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very overwhelming. Best way to learn is to dive in.

[Rebecca Wetzler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very , very helpful. Helped me make my website better. And for those more techy minded than me, there is some code modification instructions. I'm just not brave or patient enough to figure it out.