Week Four – Users and Contributors and Podcasting/SEO and Analytics

This week opens up your site to additional users. You will invite one or more students in the class to be contributors, authors, editor, or administrations on your site, learning how WordPress changes the Administration Panels based upon the user’s permissions. We’ll talk about how to manage multiple contributors. We’ll also look at Podcasting. You will interview a fellow studio with audio and video and publish it on your site.

1. WordPress User Roles
   • User Profiles
   • WordPress Author Features
   • Adding Authors and Contributors
   • Managing User Roles
   • Contributor Guidelines and Policies
   • WordPress.com Writing Helper Feature
2. Podcasting
   • Examples of Podcast Formats
   • Podcast Show Notes
   • How to Publish Podcasts in WordPress
3. Introduction of Instant WordPress – WordPress on a Stick

SEO, Accessibility, and Troubleshooting

1. Introduction to Stats and Analytics
   • Misunderstood Stats
2. WordPress Design Standards, User Experience, and Analytics
3. Introduction to WordPress.com Statistics
4. WordPress and SEO
5. WordPress and the Social Web
6. WordPress and Accessibility
   • Basic Facts and Resources You Need to Know Now About Web Accessibility
   • Views of a Web Page
   • Blog Challenge: Testing Your Blog’s Accessibility
7. WordPress Troubleshooting

NOTE: Install Instant WordPress or one of the portable WordPress options on a thumb drive or your personal laptop required for next week or the week after. Install it early so you are ready. Please note that a high-speed, newer thumb/flash drive is highly recommended with at least 200 megabytes.

Homework Week Four

1. Review all the articles in the links for the class lessons.
2. Check off the tasks you’ve accomplished on the Blog Checklist.
3. Install Instant WordPress or a similar portable version of WordPress or come to class early to get assistance.
4. Work with your new user to change their user roles (or create a second login for yourself) to see what changes on the Administration Panels for the various roles and permissions.
5. Review HTML and CSS Basics Tutorial [Video] to familiarize yourself with basic web design functions and features.
6. Check out “Hot Podcasts You Need to Put In Your Ear” if you wish to learn more about how podcasting works from the most popular podcasters.
7. Check your stats. Explore the ups and downs of the traffic and how they tie into specific events on your site or your social interactions.

On Your Blog

1. Write a description in the form of show notes for your produced video.
2. Write a description in the form of show notes for your produced audio.
3. Copy the Sandbox Post file into a blog post through the HTML/TEXT editor (not visual) from Example of a Sandbox Post for Testing WordPress Themes.
4. Go through your site and make changes to meet the US Federal Law on Web Accessibility.
5. [Optional] Test your site through several accessibility testers, take screenshots of the results, and publish an article on the lessons learned.
6. [Optional] Write an article about the statistics so far on your site and what you have learned about how to drive traffic to your site.

Recommended Reading

• Article Series on Managing Multiple Authors in WordPress
  • WebVisions: Managing Multiple Bloggers in WordPress
  • How to Manage Multiple Bloggers on WordPress
  • Managing Multiple Authors: Showcasing the Authors
  • Managing Multiple Bloggers: Author Content Management on WordPress
  • Managing Multiple Authors: Customizing the WordPress Author Page
  • Managing Multiple Authors: Customizing the Author Bio Box
  • Managing Multiple Authors: Author Bio Box WordPress Plugins
  • Managing Multiple Authors: Author Lists in WordPress
• WordPress Multimedia
  • Lorelle VanFossen at Clark College 30 Clicks – Talking Podcasting
  • Hot Podcasts You Need to Put In Your Ear
  • Writing Podcast Show Notes (TBA)
• WordPress Accessibility and Web Standards
  • WebAIM: Constructing a POUR Website
  • Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt » How POUR is Your Blog (free ebook)
  • POUR Accessibility Principles – Accessibility Guide for Teachers – Accessibility – Implementation – New Generation Technologies for Learning
  • The POUR Principles: The Starting Point for Creating Accessible Blogs | Blog Accessibility
  • What Impossible Idea Would You Attempt If Surrounded by People Who Won’t Let You Fail?
• Analytics, Stats, and the Social Web
  • Analytics: Tracking the Competition
  • When the Blog Breaks: Fixing Your Broken Blog « Lorelle on WordPress
  • The Social Media Firehose
  • Website Accessibility is Now Getting Serious in the USA « Lorelle on WordPress