Digging into WordPress

1.1.2 Why WordPress is Amazing......Page 23
1.1.4 How to Implement Advanced Functionality......Page 24
1.1.5 How to Optimize and Secure WordPress......Page 25
1.2.1 So, You’ve Never Heard of WordPress......Page 26
1.2.3 Powerful, Flexible and Extensible......Page 28
1.3.3 The WordPress Database......Page 29
1.4.2 A Domain Name......Page 31
1.4.3 Web Host / Server......Page 32
1.4.5 FTP Program......Page 33
2.1.2 Where To Install?......Page 37
2.1.3 Checking Default Performance
and Proper Functionality......Page 38
2.2.3 Go Look At It!......Page 39
2.3.1 Permalinks: Your URL Structure......Page 40
2.3.2 HTAccess......Page 41
2.3.3 Which Style of Permalinks?......Page 42
2.3.5 SEO Consideration: Mind Your Post “Slugs”......Page 43
2.4.1 Categories and Tags......Page 44
2.4.3 Use Only One Category Per Post......Page 46
2.4.5 Don’t Go Overboard!......Page 47
2.4.7 Custom Taxonomies......Page 48
2.5.1 Users and Administrators......Page 51
2.5.2 Add a New Account for Yourself......Page 53
2.6.2 Where to Find Awesome Themes......Page 54
2.6.4 Key Things to Look For in a Theme......Page 55
2.7.2 Installing and Activating Plugins......Page 58
2.7.3 Difference Between Disabling and Uninstalling......Page 59
2.7.4 Recommended Plugins......Page 60
3.1.2 Every Theme is Different......Page 65
3.1.3 Commonly Used Theme Files......Page 67
3.2.1 Understanding Different Page Views......Page 68
3.2.3 Single Views are for Posts......Page 69
3.2.5 How WordPress Decides Which File
to Use for Rendering the View......Page 70
3.3.2 The DOCTYPE and HTML Attributes......Page 72
3.3.4 The Title......Page 73
3.3.5 Link Elements......Page 75
3.3.7 Template Tags......Page 78
3.4.1 The WordPress Loop......Page 81
3.4.2 The Loop in Plain English......Page 82
3.4.3 The Loop Just Knows…......Page 83
3.4.4 Some Common “Loop Only” Functions......Page 84
3.5.2 The comments.php File......Page 85
3.5.3 Selective Inclusion for Different Views......Page 86
3.6.2 Purpose and Placement......Page 88
3.6.3 Popular Sidebar Functions......Page 89
3.6.4 Widgets, Widgets, Widgets......Page 92
3.7.3 Alternatives to WordPress Search......Page 93
3.8.2 The wp_footer() Hook......Page 95
3.9.2 Functions are for Specific Themes......Page 97
3.9.3 Advantage Over Core Hacks......Page 98
Up next…......Page 99
4.1.1 Customizing the Loop......Page 101
4.1.2 Customizing the Loop with query_posts......Page 102
4.1.3 Customizing the Loop with WP_Query......Page 104
4.1.4 Customizing the Loop with get_posts......Page 106
4.1.5 The Loop Doesn’t Care About Markup......Page 107
4.1.6 The Power of WP_Query......Page 108
4.1.7 Displaying Different Numbers of Posts......Page 109
4.1.9 Changing the Sort Order......Page 110
4.1.11 Using Multiple Loops: An Example......Page 111
4.2.1 Sidebars and Footers......Page 114
4.3.1 Menus, Archive Lists & Tag Clouds......Page 117
4.3.2 Page-Specific Menu Styles......Page 119
4.3.3 Create the Perfect Archives Page......Page 121
4.3.4 Impress Your Visitors with a Tag Cloud......Page 122
4.4.2 Displaying Recent Comments......Page 123
4.4.3 Displaying Recent Posts......Page 125
4.4.5 Listing Recently Modified Posts......Page 126
4.4.7 Import and Display Twitter......Page 127
4.4.8 Import and Display Delicious......Page 130
4.4.9 Import & Display Other Feed Content......Page 131
4.5.1 Creating and Using Child Themes......Page 133
4.6.1 Styling Your Theme......Page 134
4.6.2 Different Inclusion Methods......Page 135
4.6.3 To Reset or Not To Reset?......Page 136
4.7.1 Using Multiple Themes......Page 139
4.8.1 Widgetizing......Page 141
5.1.3 A Plugin for (Almost) Everything......Page 145
5.1.4 Do You Need a Plugin?......Page 147
5.1.5 Choosing the Perfect Plugin......Page 149
5.2.1 Plugin Usage and Maintenance......Page 150
5.2.3 Keep Plugins Up-To-Date......Page 151
5.2.5 Getting Help with Plugins......Page 152
5.2.7 Disabling and Uninstalling Plugins......Page 153
5.3.1 Extending WordPress with
Custom Functions......Page 156
5.3.3 Examples of Useful Theme Functions......Page 157
5.3.4 Example #1: Easy Admin Buttons for Comments......Page 158
5.3.5 Example #2: Sitewide Shortcode Functionality......Page 159
5.3.7 Example #4: Creating Plugins from Functions......Page 160
5.4.1 Other Ways to Extend & Customize......Page 161
5.4.2 Functions Within Theme Files......Page 163
5.4.3 Hacking the WordPress Core......Page 164
5.5.1 WordPress as a Content
Management System (CMS)......Page 165
5.5.2 Working With Custom Fields......Page 166
5.5.3 Users, Roles and Permissions......Page 169
5.5.4 Categorizing, Tagging, and Custom Taxonomies......Page 170
5.5.5 Page Templates......Page 172
5.5.6 Page, Category, and Tag Hierarchies......Page 173
5.5.7 Dynamic Menus......Page 174
5.6.2 CMS-Related Plugins......Page 175
5.6.3 Using WordPress as a Forum......Page 180
But wait, there’s more…......Page 181
6.1.2 The Pros and Cons of Delivering Feeds......Page 183
6.2.2 Posts Feed......Page 184
6.2.4 Individual Post Comments Feed......Page 186
6.2.6 Other Feed Types......Page 187
6.3.1 Feed Configurations & Formats......Page 188
6.3.2 Full Feeds......Page 190
6.3.4 Number of Posts......Page 191
6.3.5 WordPress Feed Formats......Page 192
6.4.2 Benefits of Using FeedBurner......Page 195
6.4.3 Setting Up & Configuring a FeedBurner Account......Page 196
6.4.5 Redirecting to FeedBurner via HTAccess......Page 197
6.4.6 Redirecting to FeedBurner via PHP......Page 199
6.5.2 Types of Statistics Provided by FeedBurner......Page 201
6.5.3 Displaying FeedBurner Statistics......Page 202
6.5.4 Alternatives to FeedBurner......Page 203
6.6.1 Customizing Feeds......Page 204
6.6.2 Formatting Feed Images......Page 206
6.6.3 Adding a Custom Feed Image......Page 207
6.6.4 Include Comments in Feeds......Page 210
6.6.5 Creating Custom Feeds......Page 212
6.6.7 Styling Feeds......Page 216
6.6.8 Removing the WordPress Version Number......Page 217
6.6.9 Disable and Redirect Unwanted Feed Formats......Page 218
6.6.10 Insert Custom Content into Feeds......Page 219
6.6.11 Importing and Displaying External Feeds......Page 220
6.6.12 Buffer Period After Posting......Page 222
6.6.13 Protecting Feed Content......Page 223
6.7.1 Validating Feeds......Page 224
6.7.2 Diagnosing and Troubleshooting Errors......Page 225
7.1.2 Welcome to the WordPress Comments Area......Page 229
7.1.4 Comments, Pingbacks, and Trackbacks......Page 230
7.1.5 Anatomy of the WordPress
Comment Area......Page 231
7.2.2 WordPress Main Comments Feed......Page 235
7.2.3 Post-Specific Comment Feeds......Page 236
7.3.1 Formatting the Comments Area......Page 237
7.3.2 Using wp_list_comments() or a Custom Loop?......Page 239
7.3.3 Implementing Paged Comments......Page 245
7.3.4 Implementing Threaded Comments......Page 247
7.3.5 Separating Comments, Pingbacks, and Trackbacks......Page 250
7.3.6 Eliminating Pingbacks and Trackbacks......Page 254
7.3.7 Control Comments, Pingbacks, and Trackbacks
Directly with the Database......Page 256
7.4.2 Numbering Comments Globally and Locally......Page 258
7.4.3 Alternating Comment Styles......Page 262
7.4.4 Custom Styles for Authors & Members......Page 263
7.4.5 Styling Comments with Gravatars......Page 265
7.4.6 Add a "Your comment is awaiting moderation" Message......Page 268
7.4.7 Moderation Links in the Theme Itself......Page 269
7.4.8 Display Comment, Ping/Trackback Counts......Page 270
7.5.2 Set up Comment Previews......Page 271
7.5.3 Rich-Text Editors for Comments......Page 272
7.5.4 Adding Comment Quicktags......Page 274
7.6.1 Controlling Comment Spam......Page 276
7.6.2 WordPress’ Built-In Anti-Spam Functionality......Page 277
7.6.3 Anti-Spam Plugins for WordPress......Page 278
7.7.2 Enhancing and Encouraging Comments......Page 279
7.7.3 Nofollow Links......Page 280
7.7.4 Integrating Twitter......Page 282
And so…......Page 283
8.1.2 Strong Focus on Content......Page 285
8.1.4 Duplicate Content Issues......Page 286
8.2.1 Controlling Duplicate Content......Page 287
8.2.2 Meta noindex and nofollow Tags......Page 288
8.2.3 Nofollow Attributes......Page 291
8.2.4 Robots.txt Directives......Page 293
8.2.5 Canonical Meta Tags......Page 297
8.2.6 Use Excerpts for Posts......Page 299
8.3.2 Default URLs vs. “Pretty” Permalinks......Page 300
8.3.3 Keep Permalinks Short......Page 301
8.3.4 Maximize Permalink Keywords......Page 304
8.4.2 Content, Content, Content......Page 305
8.4.3 Detecting Duplicate Content......Page 306
8.4.4 Optimizing Heading Elements......Page 307
8.4.5 Optimizing Title Tags......Page 308
8.4.6 The nofollow Wars......Page 310
8.4.7 Fixing Broken Links......Page 311
8.4.8 Using a Sitemap......Page 312
8.4.9 Other SEO tips......Page 313
8.4.10 SEO-Related plugins......Page 315
8.5.2 Statistical Plugins......Page 316
8.5.4 Google Analytics......Page 318
8.5.5 Other Metrics......Page 319
8.6.1 Closing Thoughts on SEO......Page 320
Into the future…......Page 321
9.1.2 Securing WordPress......Page 323
9.1.3 Setting Secure File Permissions......Page 324
9.1.4 Disabling Directory Views......Page 326
9.1.5 Forbid Access to Sensitive Files......Page 328
9.1.7 Securing Your Database......Page 339
9.1.9 Prevent Hotlinking......Page 341
9.1.10 More WordPress Security Help......Page 343
9.2.1 Stopping Comment Spam......Page 345
9.2.3 Using the Built-In Comment Moderation......Page 346
9.2.6 Deny Access to No-Referrer Requests......Page 347
9.3.1 Monitoring and Fixing Errors......Page 348
9.3.3 Broken Link Checker Plugin......Page 349
9.3.4 Other Error-Logging Techniques......Page 350
9.3.5 Online Monitoring Services......Page 351
9.4.1 Staying Current with WordPress......Page 352
9.4.2 Updating WordPress......Page 353
9.4.4 Backing Up Your Database and Files......Page 354
9.5.2 Content and File Caching......Page 355
9.5.3 File Compression Methods......Page 357
9.5.4 Optimizing CSS and JavaScript......Page 358
9.5.5 Reducing the Number of HTTP Requests......Page 360
9.5.6 Plugin Maintenance......Page 364
9.5.7 Database Maintenance......Page 365
9.5.8 Other Optimization Techniques......Page 366
To Infinity, and Beyond......Page 369
10.2 Add Author Bios to Single Posts......Page 371
10.3 Adding a Theme Options Panel......Page 374
10.4 Free WP Theme: Lines & Boxes......Page 378
10.5 Child Themes......Page 379
10.6 AJAXing a WordPress Theme:
(The “All AJAX” Free Theme)......Page 380
10.7 Free WP Theme: Plastique......Page 381
11.2 New in WordPress 2.9......Page 385
11.3 Image Editor......Page 386
11.4 Trash Can......Page 387
11.5 Embedding Videos with oEmbed......Page 388
11.6 Database Maintenance Tools......Page 390
11.7 Canonical Meta Tags......Page 391
11.8 Post Thumbnails......Page 392
11.9 Metadata API......Page 396
11.11 Custom Post Types......Page 397
11.12 New Theme Templates......Page 398
11.13 Register Feature Support......Page 399
11.15 Other Cool Changes in Version 2.9......Page 400
12.2.1 New in WordPress 3.0......Page 403
12.2.2 Goodbye Kubrick, Hello TwentyTen......Page 404
12.2.4 Custom Background Support......Page 405
12.2.5 WordPress MultiSite:
The Merging of WordPress with WPMU......Page 408
12.2.6 Using Custom Taxonomies......Page 413
12.2.7 Creating and Using Custom Menus......Page 414
12.2.8 Custom Post Types......Page 417
12.2.9 Shortlinks......Page 419
12.2.10 Other Awesome 3.0 Features......Page 422
12.3.1 Welcome to WordPress 3.1......Page 423
12.3.2 Custom Post Formats......Page 424
12.3.3 Advanced Custom-Field Queries......Page 426
12.3.4 Advanced Taxonomy Queries......Page 429
12.3.5 Streamlined User Queries......Page 431
12.3.6 Awesome New Insert-Link Tool......Page 432
12.3.7 New Admin Area for MultiSite Networks......Page 433
12.3.8 Theme Feature Filter......Page 434
12.3.9 The Admin Toolbar......Page 435
12.3.10 Other Awesome Features & Improvements......Page 438
12.3.11 So Much Fun!......Page 439
Thank you......Page 440
About the Authors......Page 441