WordPress Resources List
As one of the many volunteers who help out from time to time with WordPress on the WordPress Forum, I found myself repeatingly giving out link references so I started keeping notes and have put together a list of some of the link references most needed and asked for on the forum. Some of these are links to articles on the WordPress Codex, the main documentation site for the program, but others are answers posted on the forums, or other sites with the answers to common problems or situations that arise when using WordPress.
The WordPress Lessons on the WordPress Codex are really expanding, providing extensive step-by-step information to help anyone at any level.
We hope these help you and others find their way around WordPress.
New to WordPress: Beginners
Learning anything new can be overwhelming but there are a lot of resources that will take you through the process step-by-step.
- Introduction to Blogging
- First Steps with WordPress
- WordPress Lessons
- WordPress Blog Design and Layout
- Using WordPress Themes
- WordPress CSS Information and Techniques
- Creating individual Pages
Themes and Template Files
WordPress uses Themes to handle the website design and layout elements. Template Files and template tags are the files and tag tools that generate the results of each web page within your WordPress site. WordPress Pages are web pages within your site that feature information like "About Us", "Contact", "Schedule/Events", and "Site Map". The following resources will help you to learn how to use these to design your site.
Resources for Themes
- WordPress Theme Viewer
- The "official" WordPress Theme List
- Blogging Pro features a whole category of WordPress Themes
- Alex King's WordPress Theme Competition
Themes and Templates
- WordPress Lessons on Designing Your WordPress Site
- Template Files
- WordPress Lessons on Template Files
- WordPress Lessons on Template Tags
- Template Tags
- Using WordPress Themes
- Developing WordPress Themes
- WordPress Design Sandbox Article
- Working On CSS and the WordPress Theme (using a sandbox)
- Template Tag Layout in simple to read form
- The Loop in Action
- Chris J Davis's Sillyness Spelled Wrong Intentionally - Secrets of a WordPress Theme
WordPress and CSS
- WordPress CSS Information and Techniques
- Styling Lists with CSS and WordPress
- Codex - CSS Fixing Browser Bugs
- Codex - CSS Troubleshooting
- Using WordPress Themes
- Developing WordPress Themes
CSS Browsers and Positioning
- Codex - CSS Fixing Browser Bugs
- Codex - CSS Troubleshooting
- Positioniseverything
- Position is Everything's 3 Complex Column - Perched on a Lily Pad
- Position is Everything Piefecta Rigid 3-Column Layout
WordPress Pages
Customizing Your WordPress Site
The following resources will help you move beyond the WordPress Theme you've choosen to customize how your WordPress site will look and respond. If customizing a site is new to you, check out the WordPress Lessons on Designing Your WordPress Site first.
Headers
Customizing Your Sidebar
- Customizing Your Sidebar
- Developing Your Post Meta Data Section (sometimes found on the sidebar)
- Stepping Into Template Tags
- WordPress Template Files
- The WordPress Loop in Action
- Conditional Tags
Content and Excerpts
- Customizing the "read more" tag
- the_content() template tag
- the_excerpt() template tag
- The Excerpt Reloaded Plugin for styling the front page excerpts
Conditional Tags and the Loop
Sorting Categories
- http://wordpress.org/support/topic/32174
- http://wordpress.org/support/topic/18387
- http://wordpress.org/support/topic.php?id=22575
- Changing category order by ID Discussion
Styling Categories Differently
- Discussion on styling the WordPress Loop and contains an example of how to customize categories.
- The Loop in Action has a great section on setting up different looks for different categories.
- Then go through the following discussions:
- http://wordpress.org/support/topic.php?id=25166
- http://wordpress.org/support/topic.php?id=24988
- http://wordpress.org/support/topic.php?id=20048
- http://wordpress.org/support/topic.php?id=22567
- Discussion on CSS that changes with post or category
- Restructing category pages to show only specific categories
- Understanding the is_ functions
Odds and Ends
- How to Limit Number of Posts with WordPress
- Permalinks including categories
- Integrating WordPress with Your Website
WordPress Add-ons, Extends, and Plugins
While WordPress out-of-the-box is great and has amazing power, there are literally hundreds of add-ons called "Plugins" and other scripts which extend the functionality of WordPress.
Plugins List
- http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins
- http://www.wp-plugins.org/
- http://www.wp-plugins.net/
- BloggingPro's WordPress Plugins List
- How to Write a Simple WordPress Plugin
Nicer Archives
Nicer Archives is a work in progress you can feature on a WordPress Page as a table of contents, archive list, or site map. As it is evolving, check the following sites for the latest information.
- Narchives Instructions
- Download narchives file here
- See This Thread for Fixing It for v1.5
- Another Nicer Archives version by Davidsaccess.com
Image Rotator
WordPress Foreign Language Issues
- WordPress in Your Language
- WordPress Documentation in Dutch
- WordPress Documentation in Spanish
- WordPress Documentation in French
- WordPress Documentation in Italian
- WordPress Documentation in Japanese
- WordPress Documenation in Korean
- Discussion on doctype foreign language issues
WordPress Site Tools, Development, Maintenance, and Tasks
There is a lot of power features for WordPress, but there is a lot of work, too. The following are resources you may need to help you work with WordPress, including validating and developing your site, tools, maintenance, and things you should do to keep your WordPress site in top condition.
WordPress Site Development
- Validating Your WordPress Web Pages
- WordPress Housekeeping
- WordPress Site Maintenance
- Using Meta Tags in WordPress
- My Daily WordPress Tasks
- Our WordPress Articles, Tips, and Techniques
Backing Up and Restoring Database
Moving WordPress
RSS Feeds
Trackback tester
WordPress Web Designers
- List of Recommended Web Page Designers by Laughing Squid
- Blog Barter - Have something to trade, they will help you with your blog.
- WordPress Pro Mailing List - Looking for Professional Services.
WordPress Community
There is a lot going on within the WordPress Community if you want to get involved and keep up with WordPress activities and efforts. The following should help you find more information on the WordPress Community.
WordPress Support Forum
Many people want to give back to this exciting free and open source program by volunteering to help others learn how to use WordPress. Before getting involved, you might want to check out these resources first.
- Using the Support Forums
- Getting More WordPress Help
- Introduction to Blogging (for terms and terminology)
- New to WordPress - Where to Start
- First Steps With WordPress
- IRC #WordPress Channel - Live Chat with WordPress Users and Techies
WordPress Codex
The WordPress Codex is the documentation site for WordPress. This is where the manual for WordPress is under development. Volunteers are needed to edit, write, and maintain the documentation.
- Codex Community Portal
- About the WordPress Codex
- How to Contribute to WordPress
- Codex Guidelines for Submissions
- WordPress Codex Documentation Mailing List
WordPress Contests
- WordPress Plugin Contest Wiki Page
- Alex King's WordPress Theme Contests - Completed with Great Themes!
WordPress Development
If you are into PHP and programming and you want to really get in and get your hands dirty, WordPress is ready for you.
- WordPress Development
- Developer Documentation
- Submitting Bug Reports
- Bug Tracker - Reporting and Fixing WordPress Bugs
- Overview of How to Use SVN - Subversion
- WordPress Testers Mailing List
- WordPress Hackers Mailing List
Show You Care About WordPress
There are many ways to show you care about WordPress and want it to continue into the future.
Authors, photographers, teachers, and public speakers, Lorelle and Brent VanFossen, travel extensively with their camera and pen in hand to bring you a variety of articles on nature and travel photography including basic nature photography and the photography business, writing, travel, recreational vehicles, web page design, and life on the road. All images, design, and content are copyrighted and protected by law.
You can find related articles to this topic in our Links and WordPress and Photography categories. The previous post is Comment Spammers Saying Thank You and We Like You and the next post is Big, Stark & Chunky: A List Apart. WordPress Resources List, Issue Number 600, by Lorelle VanFossen, was updated February 24th, 2009.
You can follow comments through the RSS 2.0 feed and you can find more feeds on our Feeds List. Your comment is welcome, as are trackbacks from your site.
Related Articles
- List of WordPress Plugins
- Search WordPress Codex and Forum from the Admin Panels
- WordPress Codex Cleanup Week
- List of CSS Found Within Which WordPress Files
- Blogpoly: The New Monopoly for Bloggers
- Invitation to Hebrew and Arabic Bloggers to Blog for Free on Wordpress.com
- WordPress Plugins and Add-ons
- WordPress Plugins Database
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July 19, 2005
This is an awesome resource, I’ll definitely have to bookmark this, thanks! =)
November 16, 2006
“This is an awesome resource” Agree.
January 28, 2007
Thanks for this very good article … Can i translate this and insert on my site in Poland? Thanks
January 28, 2007
To directly translate it and publish it would be a violation of copyright law.
Combined with the issue that some of the information on this page is now very much out of date, I recommend you use it as a starting point to find more current information and create your own list in your own language.
Good luck.
January 31, 2007
Lorelle: Can i too add this on mysite? Your side has very helpful articles.
Thanks and best regards
January 31, 2007
Again, you can’t add this to your site, but you can link to it. Feel free to link to it as much as you want, or find updated material similar or related to this and create your own resources list.
For those looking for a more updated version, see WordPress Resources on Lorelle on WordPress.
February 6, 2007
Lorelle - do you have any photo from poland?
February 6, 2007
Yes, but not for sale. Thanks for asking.
October 17, 2007
Hello. Can i too add this on mysite? I think, this is very helpful. Greatings.
October 18, 2007
As you know, you can link to my content and not violate my copyright policy. You cannot “add” my content to your blog. If you need to learn more about copyright and content theft, see What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content.
March 18, 2008
Thanks for this very good article. I use this to my home work to school. Can I translate this with all comments and insert on my site? Thanks
April 14, 2008
Translations without permission and republished are a violation of copyright. This list is very much out of date, so it isn’t a good reference nor reason to translate and reproduce. No thank you. But good luck with your homework.
October 17, 2008
Hello. Can i too add this on mysite? I think, this is very helpful. Greatings.
October 19, 2008
This site is interesting and very informative, wesele nicely interface. nasza wesele, klasa; Enjoyed browsing through the site.
July 10, 2009
Word press can be a very exciting website especially to bloggers and to business owners; web press allows you to do numerous things which you can not do with other sites today.
October 19, 2009
Lorelle - do you have any photo from poland?
yes ok.
November 18, 2009
Well i think the main thing about a website is its structure. we should keep in mind what is the aim of the website. to flashy website is not required. the main thing is how i can convey my information to the visitor.
If you ask my opinion about this topic I really like. Thank you for sharing your friends. Hope to see you another day.
November 24, 2009
@rejestracja samochodów szczecin:
Yes. Is there something specific you are interested in?
December 25, 2009
Thanks for author for photo-links. Very helpfull for my project. Best Regards
February 5, 2010
Wow, nice place with links for WordPress - really thanks for “WordPress Add-ons, Extends, and Plugins”