In Class 5 of Introduction to WordPress, we cover:
- Introduction to how to comment on WordPress.
- Overview of Comment Spam and introduction to Akismet WordPress Plugin.
- How to monitor, manage, and edit comments in WordPress.
- Introduction to creating a Comments Policy.
- Introduction to security and privacy concerns within WordPress.
Homework Assignment
- Profile updated and accurate, and display name set to be “human.”
- Write a blog post about one of your fellow student’s blog posts to create a trackback.
- Comment on blogs everywhere, especially fellow students. See if you can get them to come to your site and comment.
- Add a Comments Policy to your Policies.
- Present a 3 minute presentation on some feature on the WordPress.com Administration Panels next Tuesday!
Reading
- Comments
- Enable and Disable Comments — Support — WordPress.com
- Discussion Settings – Support – WordPress.com
- 18+ Things You Can Do on the WordPress Comments Panel
- How NOT to Comment on Comments
- Editing Your Blog Comments
- The Number One Flaw in WordPress: Comments – Exploring the history of comments in WordPress
- Unraveling the Secrets of WordPress’ Comments.php File | Nettuts+
- Does Your Blog Have A Comments Policy? | The Blog Herald
- How we stop comment and trackback spam – Akismet
- Offline Customers: Do You Make Room for Non-Bloggers To Comment? | Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
- How to Drastically Improve Your WordPress Blog’s Comments | Webdesigner Depot
- One Year Anniversary Review: Comments on Comments
- One Year Anniversary Review: Comments on Comment Spam
- The Debate Over Comments and Trackbacks
- Does Your Blog Have A Comments Policy? | The Blog Herald
- User Roles and Responsibilities
- Email Obfuscation Tools and Scripts – Lorelle Teaches on WordPress.com
The following are recommended reading assignments from the WordPress books in the 24×7 Book program. Please note the notes on book naming conventions and confusion in the class preparation post.
- Section 6 – Lesson 23 – Managing Comments
WordPress All-In-One for Dummies
- Book 3 – Chapter 5 – Dealing with Comments and Spam
Getting Started with WordPress: Design Your Own Blog or Website
- Part 2 – Chapter 6 – Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam: Understanding Spam and Security for WordPress
Your Blog So Far
The following must be on your blog by now.
- About Page
- Contact Page
- Policies Page
- Copyright
- Comments Policy
- Blog Posts (NOTE: Homework assignments MUST be in “assignments” or “class assignments” category. They may also be in other categories.)
- Multimedia
- Post with three images with text wrapped around them.
- Post with one video and text.
- 2 posts featuring multimedia, your choice.
- A post featuring a gallery of images.
- Multimedia
- A List Post.
- The Post Sandbox Text in a post for testing Themes.
- A post describing your ideal WordPress Themes with a screen shot of a drawing or graphic representation of one you like.
- Three different Post Format posts (Aside, Status, Link, Photo, etc.) NOTE: Not all Themes recognize Post Formats.
- 2 posts with blockquotes and citations.
- A WordPress tip article with screenshots or examples of code.
- Two posts with content linking to two other student’s blog posts to create a trackback on their site. [NOTE: If you get a trackback to a post you have written, follow it back and comment on that post to say thank you.]
- Core categories visible with 5 blog posts under each one which can be filled through above post content. (You should have no more than 5-7 categories.)
- Comments from fellow students on your blog.
- One to two comments from fellow students thanking you for writing about their blog posts on your site (on the two posts minimum you wrote about other students’ blog posts).
- Trackbacks/Pingbacks from fellow students publishing posts linking to your blog posts.
- Profile completed and Gravatar set.
