User:BrentSimpson/Websites with Wordpress

This is an outline for a course i will be facilitating on Waiheke Island about using Wordpress to create a simple CMS style website.

What is Wordpress?
WordPress is an open source blog publishing application which can also be used for basic content management. It was first released in May 2003 and as of September 2009, it is estimated that it is being used by 202 million websites worldwide.

Week 1

 * Introductions (20 min)
 * Overview of Wordpress (15 min)
 * Wordpress.com vs Wordpress.org (pros/cons)
 * Review examples of some Wordpress sites; see: http://delicious.com/simp/wordpresscourse (20 min)
 * Information Architecture / planning out your site (45 min) (see: http://docs.google.com/View?id=ah8ghmj9d6rz_136c4src6cm)
 * Next session notes
 * You will need a web based email account. Set up either a Yahoo! account or a Gmail account so that we can use in in the class next time.

Week 2

 * Create Wordpress accounts
 * Creating content
 * Posts - making a post, making a link, adding an image, embedding a YouTube Video.Show/Hide Kitchen sink (cutting and pasting from Word)
 * Pages
 * Wordpress Settings
 * General Settings - Blog Title, Tagline, Timezone
 * Reading Settings - posts vs static page
 * Discussion Settings - turning off most commenting
 * Domains - domain mapping (one hosting option)

Week 3

 * Themes / Styling
 * Custom Headers - see: http://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/custom-header-image/
 * Widgets - using the Widget page, drag'n'drop

Week 4

 * Hosting options, etc.
 * Domain mapping (see: http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/)
 * Plugins
 * Media

Week 5

 * Work on our sites. Possibly discuss use of social media to promote messages, draw traffic, etc.