Wp JAMS

Wp JAMS are a series of AMP-Platform exercises that use the WordPress platform.

WordPress is a hugely popular Blog platform and Content Management System (CMS) used by over 35 percent of all websites worldwide. Repeat: 35 percent. That is a massive number. There is a very good chance you will be asked to develop or support a WordPress website in the future. And WordPress uses the AMP platform. WordPress is known for being a no-code web site solution, but under the hood, it is driven by MySQL and PHP.

  • WordPress Install. WordPress is famous for the 5-minute install. It really is amazingly easy to set up a WordPress site.
  • Database. The database is a standard MySQL database that you can run with phpMyAdmin. Most users treat it like a black box, but you can work with it directly if you need to.
  • Themes. WordPress is designed to use themes, which define the appearance and user experience of the site. Themes are available directly through the WordPress administrative interface, and are often free. Themes can be used out of the box, or they can be extensively modified through the use of "child themes", which allow your changes to override the original theme's styling, layout and functionality.
  • Template Hierarchy. Wordpress extensively uses templates to display content, but has a very flexible system for customizing templates with any level of specific need. Themes and child-themes use a "template hierarchy" to define how content is routed to specific templates. This system will allow you to display a page any way you want.
  • Plug-ins. WordPress functionality can be extended through the use of plug-ins. There is a staggering number of plug-ins available for WordPress, most of them are free and accessible from within the WordPress administrative interface. Plug-ins are simply PHP scripts that conform to the WordPress format, and can be built from scratch if you need to customize your code.
  • Widgets. Widgets are specialized PHP classes that can display modules of content on a page. Widgets can have any level of complexity, and can be rearranged on the page using a drag-and-drop UI in the administrative interface. Widgets are often used as the display module of a plug-in, but they can be developed in PHP and used in many ways.
  • Categories and Tags. WordPress has a very good system for categorizing and tagging content, making it easy to develop very good content-based user experiences.
  • API. Recent versions of WordPress have an API feature that provides all sorts of opportunities for integrating WordPress with other systems and services. This is one reason for the explosive growth of WordPress over the last few years.
  • It's FREE! You can download and run Wordpress on any server hosting account. There are paid hosting services, but you don't need them unless you want a high level of support with your WordPress site. There is plenty of free advice, free themes, and other products, such as plug-ins and widgets available to you.

So let's jump in. This series of exercises will help you get started with WordPress and take you into some of the behind-the-scenes techniques, such as child themes, customized pages, plug-ins, and more.

Be sure to check the WordPress Resources page For links, downloads and information that will help you get started.

WordPress is in Transition

The latest versions of WordPress have seen fundamental changes. The first change is with the editor. Earlier versions of WordPress used an editor for posts and pages based on the TinyMCE library. The original editor is now being called the "Classic" editor. The new editor is called the "Gutenberg", or "Block" Editor. With the Block editor, page elements are authored in blocks, which are specialized content containers. These blocks can be moved around on the page and provide lots of flexibility for the editing process.

The block paradigm goes much further than the editor. WordPress uses "themes" for customizing sites. Classic themes make extensive use of PHP templates, which are used with the "Template Hierarchy" (a set of logic rules for loading PHP template files, depending on the content type). The new Block themes use JSON, Javascript and CSS for accomplishing the customization. The block themes are new, and with such a large user base for the Classic themes, the expectation is that PHP template-based themes will continue to be used for quite some time. Hybrid themes are also predicted to become commonly used, as it is possible to mix the block theme approach with the PHP template method.

While Block themes are designed to make the editor easier to use for designers, it is challenging to do custom development with Block themes, especially because it is relatively new and subject to changes with each version release. Because fundamental concepts from the Classic theme approach are still in use, and the Block theme development depends on PHP plug-in development behind the scenes, we will focus on the Classic development techniques here.

The INSTALL

Experience the famous WordPress 5-minute Install.

The BLOG

Add some content to your WordPress site, and play around with how things look.

The CHILD

Create a child theme to make update-proof modifications to a theme.

HEADER-FOOTER

Explore how the theme draws the header and footer templates.

The HIERARCHY

Explore the WordPress Template Hierarchy and move a template file into your child theme.

The LOOP

Dig into the WordPress Loop and modify the way posts are drawn.

The SIDEBAR

Create a WordPress Sidebar and add widgets to it.

The WIDGET

Create a WordPress Widget and add it to the sidebar.