WordPress Competency

The Sage of WordPress: Julia

Overview

To become competent using the web design platform WordPress, register a domain and create a website using the software. This website can be a personal portfolio, a blog, a web store to show off your services, or simply a place to store your other competency files. Please keep track of the different tools, widgets, and plugins that you use and report them to the sage when you pass off your competency.

Level 1

To pass off level one, demonstrate your skills with

  • Registering a Domain
    • Register a domain by completing the BYU Domain Guide
    • Install WordPress on your domain
  • Themes
    • Install a theme on your website. You can use a default theme or find one elsewhere on the internet (there are thousands of free WordPress themes out there so try to go deeper than just choosing the first one you see!
    • Try out 2-3 very different themes and note the differences between them. What is possible with one theme that isn’t with another? (Hint: with WordPress you need to use CSS to fundamentally change a theme – this is helpful for patrons who may be struggling.)
    • Know about alternatives to WordPress such as Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix, and the pros and cons of using each (cost, available functions, etc.)
  • Make at least 1 customization to your chosen theme
  • Posts/pages
    • Create a menu of multiple pages
    • Create at least one post
    • Be prepared to explain the difference between pages and posts
    • Add a Page Builder plugin to your website and learn about how it works. The below link has info about 10 different page builder plugins so you can use it to “shop” for what’s best for you!
    • https://athemes.com/reviews/best-wordpress-page-builder-plugins-compared/
  • Other WordPress functions:
      • Add at least one picture and one video to you website
      • Use at least one widget
      • Install at least one plugin
      • Create a Contact page that uses an actual contact form, not just your email address typed out (Contact Form 7 is a good plugin for this)
      • Add your site to Google Analytics  (there are a bajillion plugins that will do this for you) to track your site’s visitors
      • Monetize your site in any way that you choose. For example, you could use Google AdSense, Amazon’s affiliate program, or sell your own services (be sure to include some way for visitors to pay you for your services; Paypal is an easy way to do so)

Also be ready to answer the following questions

  • When do I use posts instead of pages?
  • What is the difference between wordpress.org and wordpress.com?

Show your completed project to the sage of wordpress who will then award you your competency.

Level 2

CSS

  • Know what CSS is and how it is different from HTML
  • Know where to add additional CSS to your website

Learn the following basic CSS skills

  • Change your font, font size, font color
  • Add bold/italicized font
  • Change the background color of your website
  • Make at least one additional CSS change of your choice

“Inspect”

  • Know how to use the “Inspect” feature on your Chrome browser
  • Inspect allows you to test changes in CSS before you alter the actual code

Here are some helpful resources to help you learn the above content:

  • Basically any change you want to make in WordPress, you can find a block of code through Googling “CSS how to change font” etc. You don’t necessarily need to understand how to write your own CSS – you just need to know how to find the people who do know how!
    • Enroll in the CodeAcademy HTML/CSS course (I only completed a third of the HTML class and that gave me enough to understand what was going on!)

Level 3