Setting up a WordPress Site the Right Way [video]

How To Set Up A WordPress Site The Right Way - Natalie MacLees - WordCamp Phoenix 2013

WordPress.tv is a wonderful resource for WordPress users of all levels. They post all the videos of presentations gathered from WordCamp events all over the world. You can see some amazing speakers with excellent info to share.

The video below is from my friend Natalie MacLees who is an extremely talented WordPress designer & developer and also runs the SoCal WordPress Meetup group (highly recommended if you  are in the LA area). She spoke recently at WordCamp Phoenix on how to go about setting up a WordPress site the right way. And don’t be fooled by the title…this is not your average tutorial about how to install WordPress.

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How To Change The Fonts On Your WordPress Site

how to change fonts on your wordpress site

An extremely common request by WordPress users is how to change the font in their posts, pages and themes. Many themes, especially premium ones, provide a set of options in the dashboard that lets the user easily modify the fonts the theme is using. But in cases where the theme does not provide this functionality, it can be implemented by using plugins (of course!!).

This tip is geared for non-technical WordPress users who want some extra control over their site’s appearance by selecting from the vast library of Google Fonts. If you are a WordPress theme developer that wants to include Google Fonts in your theme, you’ll want to read up on how to enqueue the fonts into your theme, and how to provide a theme options panel for your users.

Here are 2 plugins to consider for your font-y needs:

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Speed Up and Secure Your Site With CloudFlare

Speed Up and Secure Your WordPress Site With Cloudflare

The speed at which your site loads is becomig increasingly important. Not only does a speedy site provide a good user experience, but it’s becoming increasingly important from an SEO perspective – site speed is a factor that Google considers in its rankings.

One of the easiest and most effective ways you can speed up your site, particularly if you are on an inexpensive shared web hosting plan is to use a service called Cloudflare. Cloudflare, which you can use for free, will speed up your site, help protect it from spammers AND help make it more secure. Here’s how it does that:

CloudFlare protects and accelerates any website online. Once your website is a part of the CloudFlare community, its web traffic is routed through our intelligent global network. We automatically optimize the delivery of your web pages so your visitors get the fastest page load times and best performance. We also block threats and limit abusive bots and crawlers from wasting your bandwidth and server resources. The result: CloudFlare-powered websites see a significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks.

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How To Embed A PDF In Your WordPress Site

How To Embed A .pdf In WordPress

A common question I’ve been getting as of late is about how to embed a PDF into a WordPress page/post so that it’s actually viewable inside the post. If you use the Upload/Insert button to add your .pdf in the same way that you would an image, you get only a text link to download the file which isn’t particularly exciting.

The best and easiest solution I’ve come across is a plugin called “Google Doc Embedder“. Don’t let the name fool you, you don’t have to upload your files to Google Docs – everything is done through your WordPress admin.

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Tips For Designers Learning WordPress

Tips For Designers Learning WordPress

If you are a graphic / web designer accustomed to coding websites in static HTML, as opposed to PHP or some other database-driven system, making the move to WordPress can seem difficult and frustrating at first. Having had several clients who fit this description, I have noticed some common issues that prove to be stumbling blocks. Here’s my suggestions for those attempting to make the switch.

1) Beginner’s Mind Is Crucial
Forget almost everything you know. I know, it sounds terrible, but here’s what I mean – if you approach WordPress with the same mentality as you would approach building an HTML site, you will get frustrated very quickly. So act as if you know nothing and start from scratch. Once you gain an understanding of WordPress you can then apply the HTML knowledge you know. But doing it the other way round is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Building a database driven website is a totally different conceptual approach than building a static HTML site, so don’t let your current habits and knowledge get in the way.

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