WordPress Plugins and Themes

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Date: 14/05/2020



Outline/Runsheet

Background artwork by FlameWriter

✩ Introduction to Plugins

 

✩ Plugin basics

 

✩ Access Models

  • Opensource > free beer + freedom
  • Free > donation > WordPress Repository
  • Paid >  Opensource  > pay for access + updates + support
  • Membership/bundles
  • Per site per year / multiple sites per year
  • On-off payment
  • Freemium > spectrum of useful eg elementor
  • Free core + paid plugins eg WooCommerce

 

✩ Selecting Plugins

  • Brief + budget eg calendar, appointment, booking
  • Research – top ten WordPress plugins, best WordPress plugins + year (free if requirement)
  • Review blogs + shortlist > patterns + functionality matching brief
  • Refine short list free
  • Install and test
  • Refine short list paid
    • review business model > cost and viability
    • refund policy or trial
    • review documentation + support
    • review sales info
  • Purchase, download and install

 

✩ Plugin configuration – where are your settings

  • own menu item
  • settings >
  • tools >
  • plugins > page

 

✩ Plugin settings/data

  • database
  • disable – data retained
  • delete – data deleted (best practice)
  • migration of settings > json

 

✩ Introduction to themes

  • graphic design + layout (columns, fonts colours)
  • HTML + CSS + Javascript  + PHP + WordPress templating
  • Interface with the WordPress core and plugins > car analogy
  • Theme functionality (included) vs plugins
  • Theme functionality with required or optional plugins

 

✩ Where to find themes

 

✩ Theme approaches

  • code bloat
  • default wordpress – the twenties
  • custom coded + base theme
  • off the shelf
  • mix off the shelf + custom coded
  • page builder theme or page builder + specialist theme

 

✩ Off the shelf

  • minimal
  • more functionality or aesthetic by one group
  • content licensing? bluchic
  • mashup
    • a million bells and whistles
    • less optimal plugins | wpbakery
    • pay extra for the good ones
    • re-licencing – linked/slower updates
    • example top sales |ekko

 

✩ Page + theme builders

 

✩ How to select a theme

  • Page builder vs high performance vs off the shelf
  • page builders + templates
  • refer to how to select a plugin
  • brief
    • strategy > user journey > brand personality
    • what does your content look like
    • how are you displaying and managing content
  • additional considerations
    • do not be detracted by the pretty photos
    • specialist focus for keywords – musician, artist, medical centre (mix it up)
    • responsive > mobile
    • support for specific plugins? eg Woocommerce
    • be careful of bad freemium
    • long term viability – updates – business model?

 

✩ Introduction to child themes

    • best practice for any code customisations on existing themes (templates/functions)
    • except if theme has settings or CCS override
    • separates development from theme codebase
    • allows upgrades and easier management

 

✩ Complete apps

 

✩ Keeping themes tidy

  • twenty twenty as default
  • twenty twenty + one theme + child
  • updating

 

✩ Manually controlling plugins and themes

  • installing
  • disabling
  • deleting