How to get started using WordPress

Let’s assume that you have installed WordPress, Builder, and a Builder Child theme.

We strongly recommend that the next thing to do is to start adding content to the site. Resist the urge to mess around with the design elements of your site or the navigation details of your site. Create some content first! Read More…

Howto configure a new starter site

You have installed a new site. Here’s a list of things that you should do right away. Read More…

Howto license iThemes plugins and themes

This how to has gotten lots simpler in late 2013. A while ago, you had to license each iThemes component (theme, plugin) separately. Now you can do it all at once.

  1. Go to Settings > iThemes licensing
    You may see two sections: Licensed Products and Unlicensed Products. If you don’t see Unlicensed Products, you’re done.
  2. License all of the unlicensed products
    If you have any unlicensed products, at the bottom of that section, enter the iThemes credentials and hit the “License” button.
    The page will refresh with all of the products in the Licensed Products section.

An iThemes product must be licensed in order to be updated via Sync. If you’re not seeing a product in the Sync screen, make sure it is licensed.

Chico Student Sites Fall 2014

This is a list of sites created by students in the Entrereneurship Practicum in Fall, 2014.

{{Someday, remove the MS Word styling from this table to make it simpler.}} Read More…

Howto: Reset a Mac OS X password

See this doc from Apple Support Community: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4101

Restart holding down the option key is another way to get started. Then navigate to Recovery, and Terminal as indicated in the article.

I got this from Matt Rice of TT2Go. If it doesn’t work, ask Matt again.

How to install the “Starter Site”

To make it easier to bring up a new site, we have created a “starter site” that contains a standard set of themes, plugins, and configuration settings that make it easier for newbies to get started. The Starter Site gets you up and running quickly. Read More…

How to install WordPress manually

iThemes has published a nice ebook called “How-to Install WordPress Manually: Securing and de-bloating WordPress”.

It contains a short section on why  you want to do this. Short version:

  • better security of your site
  • better control over exactly what gets installed

It also starts by telling you how to create your own database.

Read More…

How to create and manage a Mailchimp account

This is a rough draft. Please make suggestions for improvement by leaving a comment. Or, if you have credentials that allow you to edit this, go ahead.

Sign up for a free Mailchimp account.

  • Go to mailchimp.
  • Click on the Sign up for free account.
  • Fill in the form.
  • Mailchimp will send you an email asking you to confirm that it was you who signed up.
  • Follow the link in that email to activate your account.

Login in to MailChimp

  • Fill in your contact information.
  • Go through the “get started” tour.
  • Create a list
  • Create a signup form

Create a list

  • {add info}

Create a signup form

  • Click on the name of your list on the Lists page.
  • Click on Signup forms
  • Click on Form integrations
  • Scroll down to WordPress, and click on Learn More.
  • Read the info on that page.
  • Click on the Learn More link. That will take you to wordpress.org, where the MailChimp plugin resides.
  • Download the latest version.
  • File it where you file your other plugins.
  • Go to your WordPress back end and install the plugin
  • Activate the plugin
  • Go to Settings > MailChimp Setup
  • Choose the list you created from the popup menu and click on Update List.
  • Fill in the Form Settings for the form you’re building.
  • Don’t worry about what choices to make. You can change it at any time.

Insert the signup form where you want it on your site

  • Sidebar
    • Appearance > Widgets
    • Drag the MailChimp widget into a widget area
  • Page or post
    • Place the short code [mailchimpsf_form] on the page or post where you want the form to appear.

Deputize somebody to have access to your MailChimp account.

  • <your name> > Account Settings
  • Account Settings > Users and Account Details
  • > Invite a User
  • Fill out email address of the person you want to deputize.
  • Choose how much power you want to give the person.
  • Add a message if you wish
  • > Send Invitation

Update WordPress Or Plugins First?

From time to time, a new version of WordPress or your favorite plugin is released. When either a plugin or WordPress is released, WordPress makes it easy to upgrade with one click. However, what should you do if you have a WordPress update and plugin updates pending? Which should you update first?

Update WordPress First

Updating WordPress brings in new bug and security fixes to your site. Occasionally, brand new features are added to WordPress that programers can use in their plugins. If a programer releases an update for their plugin that uses a new WordPress feature, but you’re running an old version of WordPress, you might experience some problems. Therefore, update WordPress first, then update your plugins.

Short code, widget content, and social plugins

There is often an interaction between social plugins and short codes and/or widget content entries whereby the social plugin adds its array of social buttons in a location where it is not wanted. This entry talks about how to prevent this from happening.

Background

For a long time, there were two types of entry: post and page. Recently, WordPress has added a capability for adding additional entry types.

Builder, for example, adds an entry type called Widget Content. The Short Code plugin we’re using adds another type.

Social plugins usually have a checkboxes that enable turning on or off posts, pages, and other entry types that it knows about. But they usually don’t know about the “extra” types that some plugin or theme has added.

Problem

This causes the social bar to appear, for example, above or below the header of a post page in addition to appearing in the content section of the page.

Solution

If the problem appears within a Short Code entry:

There is a setting in the Edit screen for Short Codes. It’s in a section labeled “Suppress Content Filters”. Check that checkbox and the extra social bar is no longer connected to this short code entry.

I think this is what’s going on.  Things like Floating Social Bar add themselves by adding a filter to a post type (e.g. page, post, widget content, etc.). Filters essentially say, “Add this code whenever you run [some tag]”. What this setting tells the short code is “don’t run the filter hooks when expanding this short code.”