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CS7026 – Semester 2 Project. Introduction to WordPress Customising a WordPress Theme. Introduction to WordPress. What is WordPress ? It is the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day.
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CS7026 – Semester 2 Project Introduction to WordPress Customising a WordPress Theme
Introduction to WordPress What is WordPress? • It is the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day. • WordPress is an Open Source project, which means there are hundreds of people all over the world working on it. (More than most commercial platforms.) • It also means you are free to use it without paying anyone a license fee.
Introduction to WordPress • You can download and install a software script. To do this you need a web host who meets some minimum requirements and a little time. • WordPress is completely customizable and can be used for almost anything. • It started as just a blogging system, but has evolved to be used as full content management system and so much more through the thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes.
Introduction to WordPress • There is also a servicecalled WordPress.com which lets you get started with a new and free WordPress-based blog in seconds, but it is less flexible than the WordPress you download and install yourself. • Nevertheless, it is free so that’s where we’ll start. • Go to http://wordpress.comand work through the Wordpress Lab on the course page.
Understanding Themes • A WordPress theme is, according to the WordPress codex, a collection of files that work together to produce a graphical interface with an underlying unifying design for a weblog. • Themes comprise a collection of template files and web collateral such as images, CSS stylesheets, and JavaScript. • Themes are what allow you to modify the way your WordPress site looks, without having to know much about how WordPress works, much less change how it works.
Understanding Themes • There are plenty of sites that host free themes and or sell premium WordPress themes. • However, when first looking for or researching themes, a good place to start is always WordPress' free theme gallery where you can easily review and demo different themes and styles: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/.
Understanding Themes • Once you've selected a theme to use or work with, you'll activate the theme by navigating toAppearance | Themes in the left-hand side panel of your WordPress installation's Dashboard.
The Basics of a WordPress Theme • The WordPress theme essentially contains the HTML and CSS that wrap and style your WordPress content. • You can access the CSS files and edit them but you need to upgrade to the ‘pay’ version to do this. • It’s also usually the first place you'll start when incorporating jQuery into a site.