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dynocat
01-10-2012, 11:03 AM
I'm sorry for my long absence from SBF. I'm impressed with how much the site and membership has grown. It looks very active and helpful as always. Great work, everyone. I'm looking forward to being more involved here.

I know a few (or maybe quite a few) of you here use WordPress. I'm a newbie with it, hoping I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. ;)

This site will be new with just 4 products for sale for now. There will be several informational pages and possibly an interactive blog to create more customer interest.

A hosting account is set up at Bluehost.
My domain's DNS is pointed to bluehost.
WordPress 3.31 is installed.
FileZilla FTP is set up and connected to site.
I purchased a theme, Intelligible, from ThemeForest. Not yet installed as wp had a problem finding the css stylesheet, even though I see a folder full of stylesheets in the download.
I will be using Ecwid for the ecommerce part of it. I'm somewhat familiar with the software.

That's where I'm at.

My questions, for now, are:

What is the best way to start learning wordpress? I've used various site builders in the past but nothing like this.

Do I want to download a copy of the site to my computer to play/work with? Is it as simple as doing a backup in wp?

In the FTP, why in the remote site are some of the folders showing question marks over the folder? I could upload a screenshot if needed.

Also any suggestions how to install the theme when wp says there is no css stylesheet?

Thanks for any and all responses.

vangogh
01-10-2012, 02:28 PM
No need to apologize for any absence. Just good to see you back. :)

As far as the learning is concerned what do you specifically want to learn? Are you concerned more with how to publish new content or more how to edit the theme files and change the design? Both perhaps?

You can definitely install a copy of WordPress locally and have a copy of your site running on your computer. In order to get WordPress running your computer it'll need to have PHP and MySQL up and running. The easiest way to do that is to install one of several different applications, depending on your operating system.

wamp (http://www.wampserver.com/en/) - Windows
mamp (http://www.mamp.info/en/index.html) - Mac
xampp (http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html) - Linux, Mac, Windows

All are free and work pretty much the same. Each gives you a local web server running php and mysql.

There are different ways to back up your WordPress data. The easiest is probably through the WordPress admin. Go to Tools -> Export. You'll be able to export an xml file that can then be imported into another WordPress install. It's not a great solution for keeping both the local and live versions of the site in synch, but it'll be fine to get a copy of the site in its current state on your computer.

Where you might have an issue is integrating 3rd party things like Ecwid, since they might be tied to a specific domain. Not necessarily a big deal depending on what your goals with the learning are.

Could you upload the screenshot you mentioned? I'm guessing it has to do with the characters that were used in naming the files. It could be the difference in moving something from Windows to Linux. I'm assuming you're on a Linux server with Bluehost. It could also be in how the files were FTP'd to the server. It's been awhile since I used Filezilla, but there should be some options in how you transfer files (ascii, binary). You usually want to transfer everything in binary, even though some of the software says to use ascii. Binary does a better job or transferring everything without errors. That alone could be the issue with both the folders and even with the theme not being recognized.

If you want email me a copy of the theme and I can take a look at the css files, etc. and help you get it all working. I have a feeling it's something simple.

I think the WordPress Codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/) has some good info on learning to use and work with WordPress. It's how I initially learned a few years back. Ultimately the best learning will be doing. Installing a local set up where you can experiment and make mistakes is your best bet and then feel free to bring any specific questions here. I'll do my best to answer.

dynocat
01-12-2012, 10:08 PM
Thanks, vangogh. I now have MS Web Matrix for wordpress on my computer. Haven't had much time the past few days, but hope to get to it this weekend. I have two themes now (loaded fine after finding some tips) I'd like to play with. I'm sure I'll have more questions and be here with them.

vangogh
01-13-2012, 10:35 AM
Ask away whenever you have questions. I'll do my best to answer or point you somewhere that might help.

Elabusiness
08-29-2012, 02:31 PM
I think the best way to learn using wordpress will be practicing. Reading all the posts and threads are writtern about wordpress and themes. Learn them by heart. I had a little hard time at the beginning but in time you will get into easily.

krymson
08-29-2012, 05:30 PM
WordPress is a really simple plat form to learn, but you need to learn it's weaknesses in security, although very few but once known people will exploit them and hack your site. I've been using WordPress for years now and I'm still learning alot of it's capabilities. One thing to note, WP is not good for ecommerce due to security issues through widgets. You can make WP do what ever you want it to do but security has to be a focus, not only for you, but your users.

You will never really need to touch the core files to wp, the only files you'll need to modify will be in the wp-content > themes > Your-Theme

If you have any question please feel free to send me a message.

tylerherman
09-02-2012, 02:07 AM
If it isn't too late I'd probably switch to a prebuilt cart or some other e-commerce platform. WordPress isn't the greatest for selling products. I guess if you only have four and don't expect a lot of sale it will do.

vangogh
09-04-2012, 11:34 AM
you need to learn it's weaknesses in security

I wouldn't call WordPress insecure at all. It's open source software so anyone can look through the code to find holes to exploit. However WordPress fixes security holes incredibly fast. Rarely will an exploit last more than a day or two. The key of course is keeping WordPress updated. Right now that means clicking a couple of buttons for most people, though WordPress is working to make it easier through automatic upgrades.


If it isn't too late I'd probably switch to a prebuilt cart or some other e-commerce platform.

I agree that WordPress ecommerce could and should be better, however most of the other ecommerce platforms I've seen have some serious issues both in and out of their shopping cart system. I haven't found the ideal WordPress ecommerce plugin, but I also haven't found the ideal ecommerce platform in general.

Serfaksan
09-11-2012, 04:24 PM
Hey Dynocat I've been using wordpress for a while now, it's really easy to use, actually I build the the websites I offer for wordpress so that way the users can modify everything by themselves, if you truly want to learn about using wordpress I would recommend to get the tutorials from Lynda.com. That will help you out to get to know how to use it, from install to backups.

And about security issues, there is always some plugin or practices you can use to make it secure, for example, I always delete the "Admin" account and use a custom one and also I install plugins to lock out people who want to enter and fail.

billbenson
09-11-2012, 05:46 PM
I always delete the "Admin" account and use a custom one

Interesting idea. I'm interested in what the WP developers here think of this.

Serfaksan
09-11-2012, 06:45 PM
what I do is transfer all the rights and post from Admin to my user, and so far, I don't have any problems :)

vangogh
09-12-2012, 11:36 AM
Bill it's a good security practice. You don't need to delete the account. Just change the username to something other than admin. Anyone who might be looking to break into your site knows the default username for the main admin account is admin. If you keep that username it's one less thing for them to have to figure out. In the past you'd have to delete the account after creating a new one with the same privileges, but now you can choose the username for the main account when first installing WordPress.

billbenson
09-12-2012, 06:58 PM
Makes sense. I suppose if you wanted to get really anal about it rename you functions page. It would make upgrading a little more difficult but...

Harold Mansfield
09-12-2012, 09:09 PM
It's just best not to even start it up with the username "admin". Expecially for people who use the one click install that their host may offer.

billbenson
09-12-2012, 09:42 PM
I've just recently started using a 12 character keyword generator for both password and username.

sstruemph
09-17-2012, 03:00 PM
I am a freelance website developer/designer and would be happy to offer tips.

As far as using Wordpress with Ecwid I think that is a smart way to go in this case. I've used that combination several times and it works very well. Wordpress has a learning curve but I have found it to be much easier to use than other similiar content management systems. Another store option for Wordpress is WooCommerce and it seems very promising.

vangogh
09-18-2012, 11:59 PM
I haven't tried WooCommerce yet, but I've generally heard good things about it. It's got the Woo name behind it too. I do think ecommerce plugins have gotten better over the years and the more that enter the market, the more competition stirs improvement in most of them.

Harold Mansfield
09-19-2012, 09:10 AM
I use and recommend Woo Commerce exclusively now. It's pretty nice, well supported and documented and has tons of add ons for everything from international payment processing options, every shipping option available, adding additional fields and modules for things like gift wrapping, and pretty much anything that any small business online store will need to look like a big business online store.

sstruemph
09-19-2012, 10:48 AM
There's a WooCommerce plugin for Quickbooks (http://www.woothemes.com/extension/quickbooks-integration/) integration.

RyanSmith
09-25-2012, 06:05 PM
I would absolutely delete the typical 'admin' user name.

RyanSmith
09-25-2012, 06:31 PM
I've had a lot of luck and success developing in Joomla, and integrating with one of their shopping cart systems. It has the potential to be MUCH more robust than Wordpress-driven sites.

It's all open-source, which I love... but the best thing by far is having the ability to self-host the shopping cart... only pay for the credit card gateway instead of a monthly service fee.

Things like Ecwid sound nice because they make it easy for "Joe Anybody" to have an eCommerce site... and it 'can' work... but you also have to consider their negative value. Because people are transferred to another site to make a purchase, or they notice a non-integrated and haphazard setup... what amount of potential conversion traffic is lost because of an insufficient shopping cart?

Actually, significant:

in Feb this year we took a handmade jewelry site from Jumpseller to a self-hosted site I designed.
2011 traffic: about 8,000
2011 conversions: 18. That's 0.26%
2012 traffic: almost 20,000 (so far 2012)
2012 conversions: 105. That's 0.525%, which is astounding for just about any site.

That doesn't quite sound like stat. significant numbers on the 2011 sample, even though they technically are. This is even more interesting:

We took a "couples gift ideas" site (sells romantic gift sets, random mushy stuff) from Ecwid to self-hosted site. Kept the site almost exactly as it appeared before the transition.
Ecwid traffic: about 2500 a month
Ecwid conversions: 3-5 a month (between 0.12% and 0.2%)
Ecwid 2011 Febuary (mushy month) conversions: 13.
Self-Hosted traffic: still about 2500 a month.
Self-Hosted conversions: varies between 9 and 16. (between 0.36% and 0.52%)
Self-Hosted 2012 February conversions: 43 (higher visitors of about 4000) but that's (holy cow) about 1.07% converting.

That site, given their audience, was missing in the ballpark of half their potential conversions.

Don't let me sound like I'm hating on off-site eCommerce... they have their place. But the consumers know who they're purchasing from. They like security from their online purchase, and know what that looks like.

There's a certain level of professionalism that you lose by having something offsite, and missed opportunities have their price.

vangogh
09-26-2012, 07:36 PM
I prefer a self hosted cart too, though I think there are advantages to both self hosted and off site. You do have more control with self hosted and less cost, though there's usually more work involved. It can be nice to have the off site cart handle a lot of the details for you. Some people are happy with that in exchange for giving up some control and paying a monthly fee.

Again I still prefer the self hosted option, but I don't want to automatically slam the off site carts.

RyanSmith
12-09-2012, 04:22 PM
Again I still prefer the self hosted option, but I don't want to automatically slam the off site carts.

They have their purpose, and have the chance to succeed just like the wide variety of business models that exist.
To me, a service-based shopping cart and a self-hosted cart is similar to a professional retail store versus a popup tent.

I know that sounds very critical, but investment in your online store is not too different an idea from an investment in your retail location. Your appearance communicates a strong message of your brand, level of service, and the resulting number of potential customers who are willing to do business with you.

When dealing with personal information, including credit card info, not just everyone is willing to turn over that information to any random website. People identify what looks professional, and what looks thrown together.

That's not to say an Ecwid (or other service) can't be profitable... but it's a level of return.
Thank you for your reply vangoh.

vangogh
12-10-2012, 10:30 PM
I agree with you. I definitely thinking hosting your cart is the better option for the reasons you state. I do acknowledge though that there's a lot to maintaining your own cart, especially if you're collecting credit cards on your site. It adds the risk and liability to you and more work to protect all the information. For some people in certain situations that may not be worth it. Some carts are also pretty good at letting you customize the look of their cart so switching domains appears seamless.

That said I still think the better option is to host it yourself.