WordPress Fundamentals Notes 2-20-21

February 20, 2021 / Cami MacNamara
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This is a reference post for the Seattle WordPress Meetup held on February 20th, 2021.  WordPress Fundamentals.  10 am – 12 pm.

WordPress Fundamentals is an introductory class for users that are brand new to WordPress.

Hosted by:

After a round of introductions, we touched on the topics below:

Our Seattle WordPress Community:

WordPress:

Training Videos:

Demonstration – Cami – Block Editor, Classic Editor, and Page Builders.  Different ways you can update your content in WordPress.

Cami walked through a quick screen share of a WordPress installation and what the different views are of WordPress are with the Block Editor, the Classic Editor, and Beaver Builder.

Resources:

*Themes link Enfold can have their own native editor as well: https://themeforest.net/item/enfold-responsive-multipurpose-theme/4519990

*This setup can make it hard to switch themes later.

Some Q&A from the chat:

Q: Are 10 plugins too many? is there a number?
A: It really depends on what you’re doing! A few years ago I would have said that 10 was really a maximum, but things have changed and there are situations where >10 could be okay. So at this point, my recommendation is to be careful with your plugins and make sure you really need each one.

Q: Is there a block for adding buttons on a page?
A: Yep! There is a button block.

Q: Is Beaver Builder an alternative to Elementor?
A: Yep! Beaver Builder, Elementor, Divi, etc are all competitors.

Q: Are page builders an inherent part of WP?
A. What I said about not having plugins that do the same thing goes 10x for builders – they take over your entire website No, they aren’t. The traditional way to make your website look different in WordPress is a theme, which is a set of code that tells pages how to look.

Q: Where are page builders sourced?
A: Page builders are like all other WordPress software: they’re built by people on top of the WordPress core. Plugins and themes are all built by different people in a way that works with the WordPress core software.

Q: Is there a fee for them?
A: It depends on the builder – most plugins including builders use a “freemium” model, where there’s a free version and then an upgraded premium version-most plugins are a yearly licensing cost where you purchase the core software once and then you get access to updates for a year, but that’s not universal.

Q: If I want to add login functionality for certain content on the website, can that be done through the page builder or block editor?
A: That’s a core function actually! It’s available no matter which editor you’re using.

Q: Is the reverse also true, if you use Classic Editor and are asked to deal with a site that used a builder will you have problems?
A: When you’re looking at the Publish options, there’s the option to set it to Private.

We had a quick discussion about hosting and Cami and Dash mentioned these options:

Be aware of companies that fall under EIG.  Our mutual experience has been that it’s not great when they take over a company.

Hosting should come with a free SSL:

If you are stuck and need help with something, this is a good  list of resources:

The WordPress Fundamentals Meetup is held on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 10 am to 12 pm on Zoom. 

Thank you for attending!

https://www.meetup.com/SeattleWordPressMeetup/

Cami MacNamara

Cami MacNamara has 20+ years of experience running a small, profitable, one-person web design business, so she can walk her dog whenever she likes. WebCami.com / Twitter / Instagram