Aldenta: Handcrafting the Web

As part of the Triad Web Meetup blogging series, I’ll be giving a detailed look at how to use WordPress. Some of the items that will be covered include:

• Walking through a WordPress installation on a web server
• Navigating the admin tool
• Installing themes and plugins
• Customizing themes
• Using WordPress as a Content Management System
• The possibilities of WordPress (it’s not just a blogging tool)

All skill levels are welcome and there is no need for previous WordPress experience. Let me know if there is anything else you’d like to learn about WordPress. We usually have time for specific questions after the presentation.

Have you seen animations on sites without the use of flash? Have you noticed calendars widgets, drag n’ drop features, fading elements and all sorts of dynamic things happening on websites these days? Have you heard of AJAX and want to know what it is and why it’s such a big deal?

jQuery is a JavaScript library that lets you do all sorts of great things with your websites. Google, Dell, NBC, and WordPress are just a few companies that use jQuery to spice things up. jQuery is one of the tools that helps web applications respond more quickly to user input and mimic some of the user-friendly features of desktop applications.

This presentation will go into some technical details but, don’t worry, background information and examples will help put the pieces together. If you’re not a developer, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how websites work. If you code, then you’ll have another tool to add to your arsenal.

This meetup I’ll be covering how to install WordPress from scratch, getting started with creating/modifying a WordPress theme, the basics of the admin and show some examples of what can be done with WordPress as a CMS.

Bring your questions and any WordPress sites that you’d like to show the group. All skill levels should be able to take away something from the presentation.