WordPress Tutorials

A Guided Tour of WordPress's wp-config.php File

Sara Thornton — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:03:25 +0100

The single most important file in your entire WordPress Installation is wp-config.php.

Your WordPress website is made up of two elements: a WordPress database, and your WordPress files.

wp-config.php is the one element that links the database and files together.

In this tutorial, we're going to cover:

Where you can locate your wp-config.php file.
What each line affects and common settings.
How you can use wp-config.php to improve your website security.

Our New WordPress Coding Class is Live

Steve Burge — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:19:41 +0100

Here at OSTraining, we split our time between online and live training.

Today we merge the two types of training in a new course called "WordPress Custom Content Types".

Earlier this year, we held a live training class in Michigan. For three days, Topher taught a small group of attendees how to code with WordPress. We filmed that class and it's ready for you to watch online.

Topher uses custom content types as a chance to explore WordPress coding in general.

Topher starts by explaining how plugins work and the correct way to approach building them. He then explains content types by creating two: one for staff members and another for the departments they work in. Along the way, Topher touches on everything from how to use the WordPress codex to shortcodes, hooks and custom taxonomies.

If you want to start coding with WordPress, you need to watch "WordPress Custom Content Types".

All in One SEO Pack video tutorials

Steve Burge — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:53:42 +0100

If you exclude the core plugins, All in One SEO Pack is the most popular WordPress plugin of all time, having been downloaded over 14 million times.

All in One SEO is so popular because it appeals to both beginners and experts.

For beginners, All in One SEO works out of the box with very little configuration needed. Also, as the name implies, it eliminates the need for multiple plugins because it contains many key features such as handling metadata and installing Google Analytics.

For experts, it offers a lot of flexibility for setting up your metadata and integrates smoothly with a wide range of other extensions.

We covered All in One SEO back in 2011. Here are 2 new videos tutorials to get started with All in One:

How to Customize the WordPress Login Screen

Harish Chouhan — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:32:16 +0100

By default, every WordPress site looks the same.

For a variety of reasons, people want to customize their WordPress sites with their own logo or styles.

In this tutorial, we're going to show you an example of how to customize WordPress the right way. We're going give you an introduction to using functions and CSS to style your site in a way that's safe from any updates.

6 Great Improvements in WordPress 3.6

Steve Burge — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:09:34 +0100

WordPress 3.6 is big and exciting.

We haven't been able to say that about recent WordPress releases.

During 2012, WordPress didn't undergo any major changes. There wasn't much new in WordPress 3.4 except easier theme customization. WordPress 3.5 had a midly different new theme, some media improvements and not much else.

In contrast, WordPress 3.6 feels like a big step forward. There's a bold new theme and several useful new features. Overall, WordPress 3.6 provides strong hints of where WordPress is headed in years to come.

Here are 6 great improvements in WordPress 3.6.

Our WordPress SEO Class is Live

Steve Burge — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:06:56 +0100

We're delighted to launch our latest class, "WordPress SEO".

WordPress is a fantastic platform for building your website or blog. By default, WordPress does a good job of search engine optimization, but there's a lot more that can be done!

In this course, Dan Maynard takes you through a number of steps to go even further!

Dan has seen his WordPress sites rank very highly in SEO on a consistent basis and is excited to share the lessons he's learned with you

We're Hiring Tutorial and Opinion Writers

Steve Burge — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:46:56 +0100

Here at OSTraining we place a lot of value on blogging.

Every year, we publish over 300 high-quality tutorials on Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, SEO and Coding.

We blog to share what we know and we blog to answer questions that our members ask.

In 2013, we're looking for more people to join our team as bloggers.

If you'd like to write with us, read on.

We Are Upgrading to New Video Technology

Steve Burge — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:29:09 +0100

Here at OSTraining we always aim to provide the very best training for our members.

In order to do that, we need to constantly improve by embracing the latest technology.

Today, we're happy to announce that we're upgrading all our videos to a new format.

11 Free Extensions, Plugins and Templates

Steve Burge — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 01:57:25 +0000

Over the last few years, we've released 8 Joomla extensions, 1 WordPress plugin and 2 Joomla templates.

However, they weren't always easy to find. Some were free, some were commercial and all of them were scattered across our site.

No longer. We've finally organized our free downloads and made them all available for free.

To organize our downloads we use OSDownloads. It was previously a commercial extension but is now free for everyone.

Click here to visit our new downloads area.

Where's OSTraining in March?

Steve Burge — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:52:19 +0000

Now winter has passed, conferences and trainings are really starting up again.

This month we've got 5 teachers who are going to be up and down the U.S. East Coast.

We've also got a 1 month free trial available for anyone who meets us at an event. If you're coming to WordCamp Atlanta or Joomla Day Boston, come and find one of our team. We'll be wearing OSTraining t-shirts and will have coupons that allow you to enjoy OSTraining for a month.

A New, Updated OSTraining Affiliate Program

Steve Burge — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:20:08 +0000

We're pleased to announce a major update to the OSTraining affiliate program.

Our affiliate program has been running for several years but we've out-grown our old platform.

We had been using iDevAffiliate, popular software for smaller, newer affiliate programs. However, we talked with some of our best affiliates and found that they were used to using more powerful systems with better reporting and added features.

So, we are relaunching our affiliate program on Shareasale.com.

Come Meet Us at WordCamp Atlanta

Steve Burge — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:53:11 +0000

OSTraining is based in Atlanta, and we're delighted to be able to attend so many great local events.

Next month, we're going to be at WordCamp Atlanta. We'd love to meet you there.

The event is being held over 2 days, a Friday and a Saturday. Steve from OSTraining is giving the presentation, "How to Make Great WordPress Videos" during the Saturday session.

Going Further With WordPress in Michigan

Steve Burge — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:08:53 +0000

Going Further With WordPress is a special OSTraining class in Michigan next month.

Rather than simply using WordPress as a blog, we'll show you how to turn WordPress into a true Content Management System.

This 3-day class is being taught by Topher DeRosia who created our WordPress Beginner, Intermediate and Theme Design classes.

Topher's going to teach attendees how to use Custom Content Types to create powerful, data-driven websites.

Don't worry if you can't make it to Michigan. We're going to record the whole class and make it available as part of our online training.

Our 3rd Birthday Gifts to You

Steve Burge — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:42:00 +0000

WordPress 3.5.1 Released. Update Now.

Steve Burge — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:24:00 +0000

WordPress 3.5.1 was released this week and it's time to update your sites.

Because this release does contain some security fixes, you should update immediately.

There are also over 35 low-level bug fixes.

Come meet us at Joomla Day North Carolina

Steve Burge — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:24:00 +0000

It's always great to see new events in new locations.

This year will be the first Joomla Day North Carolina.

We're going and would love you to join us.

Support Joomla. Get OSTraining Plus Joomla, Drupal, WordPress Designs

Steve Burge — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:44:24 +0000

Today's your lucky day.

Together with a group of other companies, we're running a special offer to raise money for Joomla.

You can join OSTraining for 6 months and in addition to our regular online subscription, you'll also receive a great selection of Joomla templates, Drupal themes and WordPress themes.

And, while you get all those goodies, you also have the added pleasure of knowing that you are supporting Joomla.

This special offer is called a Humble Bundle. Click here to see the offer.

8 Free WordPress Bootstrap Themes and Frameworks

Steve Burge — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 02:42:00 +0000

Bootstrap says that it "helps nerds do awesome stuff on the web".

That's very true. Bootstrap is an entire framework that was developed by Twitter to allow them to quickly and easily create consistent, good-looking, mobile-friendly designs. It worked so well that it's now become an independent project used across the web.

Bootstrap is so popular that Joomla adopted it entirely. There are also a good number of WordPress designers using Bootstrap.

In this blog post, we evaluate 8 free WordPress themes built on Bootstrap.

OSTraining Holiday Prize Winners

Steve Burge — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:15:00 +0000

During December we ran two prize competitions.

First, we gave away prizes to people who took our annual survey. One lucky winner took home a Nexus 7 tablet from Google. It's said to be the best open source tablet available today. There were nearly a dozen other prizes given out.

Second, we gave away some free Template Monster designs.

Using the WordPress Slick Contact Form Plugin

Steve Burge — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 13:00:22 +0000

Many WordPress contact forms allow you to embed the form into a post or a page.

The WordPress Slick Contact Form plugin is a little different. It provides you with a floating tab so that visitors can easily access the contact form no matter what page they're on.

A Holiday Giveaway from Template Monster

Steve Burge — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:35:37 +0000

Template Monster are one of the most popular places to get designs for your website.

They have over 1800 WordPress themes, 1200 Joomla templates and 700 Drupal themes available.

This holiday season, we're giving away some free Template Monster designs.

WordPress 3.5 Is Almost Here

Steve Burge — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:16:44 +0000

WordPress 3.5 is due to arrive today, December 5th.

3.5 is a fairly major update that's designed to provide new features.

There are currently no known security problems fixed by this release, so updating is recommended but not essential.

Video Showing New Features in WordPress 3.5

Steve Burge — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:00:17 +0000

WordPress 3.5 is due for release in the first week of December.

A few weeks ago, we talked about 5 changes in WordPress 3.5.

Now that WordPress 3.5 is nearly here, watch this video to see many of the new features in action:

What Classes Would You Like to See on OSTraining?

Steve Burge — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:45:08 +0000

Before the end of 2012, there will be over 1000 training sessions on OSTraining.com.

Even with that much training, I'm sure there are extra classes you'd like to have added:

Perhaps you'd like a Joomla class on Virtuemart or Hikashop?
Perhaps you'd like a Drupal class on subscription sites or the Omega theme?
Perhaps you'd like a WordPress class on SEO or responsive design.
Perhaps you'd like a coding class on Javascript or HTML5?

With the launch of our new site, we now have an OSTraining Ideas area. You can suggest and vote for the classes that you'd like to see added to OSTraining.

Updated Site. Updated Features.

Steve Burge — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:09:51 +0100

Over the last couple of months we've been working hard on updating the software that runs OSTraining.com. This weekend, we finally completed those updates.

We tried hard to make the transition as smooth as possible, so hopefully you won't immediately notice many differences.

However, there are two major improvements on the new site.

Moving a WordPress Site to a New Folder

Steve Burge — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 11:33:19 +0100

Moving a WordPress site to a new folder is something you may need to do regularly.

The most common reason is that you're launching a new site. In this tutorial, we''ll show potential problems during the move and how to overcome them.

Wysija - Automatically Send Newsletters from WordPress

Ed Andrea — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 05:00:00 +0100

Wysija is a newsletter program that will let you send out newsletters from your WordPress admin.

Wysija is easy to use and allows you to design your newsletter with a drag-and-drop interface. Once it's been set up, Wysija is a perfect solution for automatically sending your new posts to subscribers.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to create, design and send your first Wysija newsletter.

5 Changes in WordPress 3.5

Steve Burge — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 05:00:00 +0100

It's not due out until December, but WordPress 3.5 already has a beta release.

With the exception of a new theme, version 3.5 is primarily focused on removing and improving existing features, rather than adding new ones.

3.5 brings improvements to the media library, theme previews and plugin installer. It also removed the Links feature, which has been around for over a decade.

Moving Your WordPress Blog to an Inside Page

Steve Burge — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 19:00:20 +0100

It should be a simple task: move your blog from the homepage to an inside page. It's often an important part of using your WordPress site as a CMS.

Nonetheless, we often get asked to explain how to do this. Moving your blog is simple, but only once you know how.

Here, in a few short steps, is how to move your blog away from your homepage.

Automatically Backup WordPress Sites to Dropbox

Ed Andrea — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:23:36 +0100

Backing up your site is good.

Automatically backing up your site is better.

Automatically backing up your site to somewhere easy to use like Dropbox.com is the best.

Wordpress Backup to Dropbox is simple plugin that will automatically backup your WordPress site to your Dropbox account. Here's how it works: