Build Your Own Wicked Wordpress Themes Review

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Build Your Own Wicked Wordpress Themes ReviewI received the book Friday afternoon (8/20/2010) and finished reading it Sunday (8/22/2010), and my head is still spinning ... but in a good way. I am about three weeks new to WordPress, and I have to say that it's overwhelming trying to learn about everything that makes it what it is. I had been reading through the codex ([...]), which is a tremendous resource by the WordPress folks, but it has been difficult for me to tie it all together. This book is a great primer to theme building with WordPress and will help you to understand the main components that make up the WordPress software, and it does so in a pleasant and organized way. I dabble in web design, but my profession is that of web development and programming, and I'm pleased to say that this book, while aimed at web designers, will encourage the curiosity of developers alike.
I had some reservations about the book having four authors, as the flow of a tech book doesn't always work when there are too many "experts" coming to the table. I'm pleased to say that the book flows quite well, and the language and format with which the authors use to explain theme building is mostly consistent and cohesive. The only problem I had was in chapter 7: Theme Options, as it felt like the author of this chapter was jumping around a bit and not quite as organized and detailed with some of the explanations, and perhaps rushing a bit. Otherwise, I now feel much more confident in WordPress and theme building from not only a 10,000 foot view, but a 1,000 foot view as well. As with anything tech, you have to "pop the hood", and get your hands dirty, and I now feel like I can thanks to this book.
The book is broken into 8 chapters ... interestingly, each chapter fundamentally builds upon the last, but you could easily make a quick pass through the book to get familiarized with WordPress and themes, and then use it as a high-level reference thereafter (and using the codex will probably make much more sense after moving through this book). The chapters are:
1. Introducing WordPress
2. Planning Your Theme
3. Theme Design 101
4. Theme Frameworks
5. Advanced Theme Construction
6. Widgets
7. Theme Options
8. Selling Your Theme
I bought this book with two ideas in mind: learn about the "guts" of WordPress from a high level, and understand what goes into a WordPress theme to eventually make and sell them, and the book moves you forward in the right direction. This book, IMO, does a very good job of covering a great deal of ground in a short amount of time. I have only started to work on converting my business website to WordPress, but this book, and the information in it, has given me the confidence to play and experiment, and really go after the inner workings of the Thematic framework.
Thanks to SitePoint for a great book on the topic!Build Your Own Wicked Wordpress Themes Overview
Wicked WordPress Themes is a step-by-step guide to creating beautiful themes for the world's most popular CMS, WordPress. By following the book's advice, readers can produce designs that are aesthetically stunning, consistent, and for-purpose -whether it's for their own use, or to drive a high price on the theme marketplace. All facets of theme design are covered: from design, coding, and deployment, to ensuring readers' designs are ready-to-go as soon as they're installed. Wicked WordPress Themes teaches readers how to leverage theme design frameworks to dramatically shorten development time, enabling them to enter the theme market faster.


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WordPress 2.8 Themes Cookbook Review

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WordPress 2.8 Themes Cookbook ReviewThis book goes into details about manipulating templates and how to modify/manipulate the various components that can appear on pages but it does not cover very much about theme development. It is not a book for people who do not have a good grasp of PHP and terms used (such as "wordpress performs a query fetching pages based on parameters passed to the function").
For example, Chapter 2: Creating navigation talks about how to list all the pages, categories, tags in a blog and creating menus but there is nothing about styling these items once they are added to a page, or how to make those items appear on only certain pages within a site. I was hoping to find information about modifying or creating pages within a theme and discussion about how to adjust the layout of the site.
Cookbook is a good descriptor for the book. Everything is in the format: If you want this ... do this.
If I did not already have a good idea where to find files in the wordpress folders I would have been struggling to figure out where and how to manipulate the files the authors talk about. This book may end up being a reference that I refer to occasionally for some snippet of code, but it is not something I will refer to when building a new theme for a client.
WordPress 2.8 Themes Cookbook OverviewEach recipe comprises step-by-step instructions followed by the analysis of what was done in each task and other useful information. The book is designed so that you can read it chapter by chapter, or you can look at the list of recipes and refer to them in no particular order. There are plenty of useful screenshots to make learning easier for you. This book is for WordPress developers who want to create powerful themes for their blogs and web sites to impress and influence visitors. This book expects working knowledge of the WordPress platform. Knowledge of HTML and CSS would also be useful.

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Beginning WordPress 3 (Expert's Voice in Web Development) Review

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Beginning WordPress 3 (Expert's Voice in Web Development) ReviewThe title of this book is deceptive, enough so that I handed it to a friend who was making the move from [...] to self-hosted WordPress because I thought she might find it helpful. She didn't, and when I actually sat down to read it myself, I understood why.
This is not a book for beginners, if by "beginners" you mean the people for whom WordPress for Dummies was written. It's a book for web developers who haven't used WordPress before.
To be fair to the author, the back cover copy says exactly that, but the publisher describes it as "User level: Beginner." I'm not sure how Apress would describe books for people who don't have any technical knowledge. "User level: Hopeless N00b"?
But the book itself is fantastic. It may be the best book I've ever read about WordPress. I don't consider myself a developer, but I know enough not to get completely lost in the code examples. This is a great book for those who are experienced users of WordPress but not PHP wizards and who want to go deeper and understand more.
I had a number of revelatory moments while reading this book. You can turn off or limit post revisions with one line of code in your wp-config.php file? So why was I bothering to use a plugin for it? (I know, some people don't have access to their wp-config.php file...or shouldn't be allowed access to it. But other people need to reduce the number of plugins they have installed, and I'm one of them.) There are RSS feeds for pages? Wish I'd known that when someone was asking about it on LinkedIn a few weeks back. You can show custom taxonomies, custom post types, and tags in your menu management page by clicking on Screen Options? (I beat my head against this for ages because I'd forgotten I'd read it, and I even marked the page.) There's a way to import content from Joomla? Bring it on. (Please. I'm desperately hoping to convince a client to change platforms.)
Then there's the great discussion of things you can do with the Loop, like create a page that displays excerpts from all its child pages. Most magazine themes make you pick two or three featured categories, but you could actually feature all your categories if you wanted to. (That's assuming you have a reasonable number of categories, unless you want a really long home page.)
I admit I got a bit lost in the chapters on creating widgets and plugins--I don't think I'm anywhere near ready to start developing plugins, and I'm not sure I ever will be. But I understand a little better what's involved in the process and how to look at the code.
There's a solid chapter on performance and security that covers all the usual suspects except the define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '96M'); trick (another single line in wp-config.php that can make a big difference) and then a highly valuable chapter on custom post types and custom taxonomies. Stephanie Leary walks you through how to do this the hard way, which gave me a chance to see what the plugins that help with these two WordPress features actually do, and helped me follow the demonstrations at the September WordPress Meetup.
The final chapter is on WordPress Multi-site, with a brief mention of BuddyPress. While this is a fraction of the information found in BuddyPress for Dummies, it has the advantage of referring to WordPress 3.0 and not the old WordPress MU, so it was good to get an overview of what had stayed the same and what had changed.
The author refers to useful plugins throughout the book, and also has a plugin index (Appendix A) and a collection of "plugin recipes" (Appendix C). The recipes are combinations of plugins you can use to build things with WordPress, like a wiki (I thought there was already a wiki plugin for WP) or a document sharing site. Again, I had a couple of surprises. There are plugins to sort your posts alphabetically? And I spent time creating special category page templates to do that for a client. (The other surprise was that Stephanie Leary doesn't seem to have heard of Blubrry's PowerPress plugin for podcasting, or that PodPress had been revived.)
If you have no web background at all and you're completely new to WordPress, this isn't the book for you. But if you're somewhere in between the complete novice and the hard-core developer, you're going to find this book unbelievably useful. The fact that it's clearly written in a non-technical style, tidily laid out, and has abundant screenshots is just a bonus. And you can download all the code samples from the Apress website.Beginning WordPress 3 (Expert's Voice in Web Development) OverviewOther WordPress books on the market discuss WordPress only in the context of blogging: how to set up a blog, how to write a blog, how to optimize a business blog. A few books offer detailed technical instructions on a specific aspect of the software, such as plugin or theme development. Beginning WordPress is the first to discuss WordPress as a general content management system that can compete with other popular open source projects like Joomla or Drupal. This book also aims to be one of the first if not the first to cover the new WordPress 3.0. Lastly, WordPress remains one if not the top blogging and content management platform, besides Joomla and Drupal. See http://wordpress.org/download/counter/ for just version 2.8.x. As of September 2009, Wordpress is used by 62.8 million websites in the US and 202 million websites worldwide

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Professional WordPress Plugin Development Review

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Professional WordPress Plugin Development ReviewA formula for success:
1. Put together an idea and outline for a book that hasn't been covered in-depth before.
2. Gather three of the most talented WordPress developers/writers and have them write the book.
3. Release the book and watch the Elves return back to Middle Earth to rejoice with men.
Professional Plugin Development, written by Ozh Richard, Justin Tadlock, and Brad Williams, is a much-needed and very timely book.
There have been several aspiring developers that have approached me saying they needed a start-from-the-basics WordPress plugin development book. And while Professional Plugin Development does teach the basics of plugin development, it quickly moves on to much more complex topics.
The book covers the topics I care most about, such as:
* WordPress Plugin Foundation and Best Practices
* WordPress Security
* WordPress Actions and Filters (aka, hooks)
* And Ajax
But the book goes beyond basic plugin development. It teaches you about plugin options, CRON for scheduling common tasks, storing data (whether it is via post types, transients, or options), the HTTP API (for retrieving remote data), users (how to set up roles and capabilities), localization (err, internationalization), and how to test plugin performance.
For a novice PHP and WordPress developer, this is a good starting point. But don't think of this book as your way to learn PHP, jQuery, or even basic WordPress (there's WordPress for Dummies for that).
This is a book written by developers for developers. And I must say that I learned a lot from this book, and I've been developing WordPress plugins and themes for almost six years.
Here are the things I learned most from this book:
* The Why. I've used a lot of the techniques from the book before, but now I have a better understanding of why the techniques should be implemented. An example is security and WordPress coding best practices.
* Rewrites and Cron. These two topics escape me (no pun intended) for some reason, but I have a much better understanding of how everything works behind the scenes.
* Security. Security can not be stressed enough, and very solid security tips are sprinkled throughout the book (and the topic even receives treatment via its own dedicated chapter).
* Multisite. I've been working with multisite for almost a year now, and it's a topic I'm still learning in-depth. The chapter gives a great explanation of terms and common pitfalls.
Last, but certainly not least, the book goes into great detail for what you should do after you've released a plugin, whether you want to release it for free in the official WordPress repo, or have it available exclusively on your own site (whether commercial or free). The book explains marketing, how to set up automatic updates (albeit a bit glossed over), and how to get the plugin on the official repo.
This is a highly recommended book, whether it be the print version, or digital.Professional WordPress Plugin Development OverviewAs one of the most popular open source content management systems available today, WordPress boasts a framework that allows you to easily customize and extend it through plugins. This comprehensive book shows you how plugins work, reviews the tools and APIs available in WordPress, and demonstrates how to extend the functionality of WordPress with plugins.The trio of established authors provides a practical, solutions-based approach along with a collection of timely examples and plenty of code, all aimed at clearly explaining how to create a plugin file, work with users, integrate widgets, add menus and submenus, secure your plugins, and more. You will quickly come to understand how to develop custom plugins so that you can take WordPress to the next corporate and enterprise level.Professional WordPress Plugin Development:
Details the range of complexity in plugins, from a very simple plugin to an extremely elaborate social network package
Addresses how to integrate into WordPress, save settings, create widgets and shortcodes, and implement uninstall
Learn the proper techniques for storing data, customizing user roles, and security best practices
Shares techniques for using custom post types and creating and using custom taxonomies
How to create plugins for WordPress Multisite networks
Integrate user and role management
Explores the HTTP API, JavaScript and AJAX, Cron, the Rewrite API, and more


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WordPress 3 Plugin Development Essentials Review

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WordPress 3 Plugin Development Essentials ReviewAt root, this book is an excellent overview of the techniques and issues which will be encountered by any developer -- however experienced -- when they are authorizing a plug-in using the WordPress plug-in API in WordPress 3. In particular, I appreciated the emphasis on organization and coding best practices. I've worked with plenty of plug-ins, and there's a lot of ugly, unmaintainable code out there. (And I've written some of it, too!) The fact that anybody looking to develop a plug-in who uses this book as a major reference will also get a guide to some best practices in writing software is a definite bonus.
The authors are very realistic about the limitations and benefits of the WordPress plug-in system. They observe that WordPress has a great deal of flexibility when it comes to coding style and organization -- and the result is that there's a low resistance to entry. Great for beginners, but it does mean that trusting the code you find is something you shouldn't do blindly. Clearly the authors want to emphasize that anybody looking to begin developing plug-ins should give some significant thought to the sustainability and quality of their work. Kudos to them!
The book doesn't cover an enormous number of different API functions, but it does give a good overview of the key hooks that are needed to get started programming for WordPress. Given the scope of what can be done in WordPress, it's really a better solution to solidly introduce some of the core techniques rather than try and cram a huge number of concepts down the throats of their readers.
I found the systematic approach taken by the book to be extremely effective -- I appreciated that the book intentionally had the reader introduce common errors into their plug-ins. Having encountered most of those issues by accident somewhere along the line, it's tremendously valuable to already have been made aware of some key elements.
I do think that this is a good book, and very worthwhile for the beginning plug-in developer. There are a few additional areas which I would have liked to have seen covered, however.
Although the book is very thorough in addressing programming best practices, it doesn't address the quality of output code at all. Valid HTML, consistent use of elements, semantics, and accessibility are all issues which deserve a significant mention in the programming of a WordPress extension -- however easily the plug-in can be maintained, if it doesn't produce high-quality output, this can be a major disadvantage for the plug-in. It is very dissatisfying to install a plug-in which does exactly what you need it to, but produces output which can't easily be styled or doesn't meet the standards required for your web site.
Nonetheless, there are no other issues which I felt were truly missed -- the book is well-written, thorough, and methodical. I can highly recommend it to anybody looking to start authoring WordPress plug-ins.WordPress 3 Plugin Development Essentials OverviewThis book will provide an easy to understand, step-by-step approach to building your own WordPress plugins from scratch. We will construct a variety of plugins from the group up, demonstrating how to tap into a number of WordPress' development aspects, as well as how to prepare and release your plugin(s) to the public. This book is for WordPress users who want to learn how to create their own plugins and for developers who are new to the WordPress platform. Basic knowledge of PHP and HTML is expected, as well as a functional knowledge of how WordPress works from a user standpoint.

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Wordpress - Contact Form 7 Made Simple Review

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Wordpress - Contact Form 7 Made Simple ReviewThis book covers a lot of things I did not know about Contact Form 7. I am glad that the author created this book for us to follow and understand how to use Contact Form 7 For WordPress.Wordpress - Contact Form 7 Made Simple OverviewDo you want to enhance your Contact Form for your Wordpress Website?Here is what's inside the book:Getting Started with Contact Form 7Displaying a FormCustomizing a FormCustomizing EmailTag SyntaxForm Tag SyntaxTypeNameOptionsValuesText FieldsText and Text*Email and Email*Textarea and Textarea*Checkboxes, Radio Buttons and MenusCheckbox, Checkbox* and RadioSelect and Select*File Uploading and AttachmentAdding file uploading fields in your formSetting up File Attachments With EmailHow Your uploaded Files are ManagedCAPTCHABefore using CAPTCHAFor advanced usersHow To Use CAPTCHACAPTCHA-ChallengeCAPTCHA-ResponseSetting Up EmailBasic Header Fields (To, From and Subject):Message Body:Additional Headers:File Attachments:Use of HTMLMail (2)Submit ButtonWrap upContact Form 7 is a great choice for a robust and flexible plugin for WordPress.It allows you to create dynamic forms for your wordpress site with little to no HTML or CSS knowledge. It's True!It has many features including AJAX controlled, submit notification, CAPTCHA protection, Akismet spam filtering, file uploading, and more.This eBook is an introduction to the Contact Form 7 plugin for WordPress.. Basic knowledge of the WordPress admin panel is a must. With various examples, this eBook covers how to display a form on your page / post, and how to customize your forms and the way email is sent to you in your inbox.

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WordPress 3.0 jQuery Review

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WordPress 3.0 jQuery Review
Up front, I want to explain why I think so highly of this book: It has prepared me well to work with technical and graphics specialists whom I have retained to transform my website into fully-functional, dynamic WordPress website. More specifically, to enhance that site "with captivating effects" of jQuery, a library of options and applications that can speed the time and reduces the complexity of writing custom JavaScripts. That is to say, Tessa Blakeley Silver and her colleagues have provided a wealth of information, insights, and advice that increases my knowledge base significantly.
Frankly, I do not as yet fully understand all of the material provided. While working my way through it, I highlighted key passages and compiled several pages of notes. This will facilitate, indeed expedite review of key points later. (I have also inserted a number of question marks!) I like the format strategy: Explain clusters of sequential tasks or issues that comprise a step-by-step process that begins with the first chapter and concludes with the appendix. These are among the focal points per chapter:
1: Core fundamentals, essential tools, background, and essentials
2: Getting jQuery into WordPress (WP), and creating first setup
Note: Three jQuery "secret weapons" are provided in the second chapter to improve and enhance using selectors and filters, manipulating CSS and elements in the DOM, and working with events and effects, respectively.
3: Two ways to "plugin" jQuery, WP theme basics, and WP plugin basics
4. Seamless event registration, getting set up, and form validation
5. jQuery animation basics, "grabbing" attention, "deeper" into animation
6. Understanding jQuery UI plugin, enhancing effects and user interface
7. AJAX primer, getting started with AJAX functionality
8. Code arsenal, "tips and tricks" re working in WP and jQuery
Then a "jQuery and WordPress Reference Guide" is provided in the Appendix and I especially appreciated the material provided in Pages 274-288 ("Getting the Most Out of WordPress"). Technical wizards may not need such reviews and reminders but I certainly do.
Even more information about this book can be obtained by visiting https://www.packtpub.com/wordpress-30-jquery/book. PacktLib allows you to access and search across Packt's entire library of over 400 books, finding practical solutions to your searches at the click of a button.WordPress 3.0 jQuery OverviewThis book walks the reader from a basic overview and introduction to jQuery with illustrations of how it works with a WordPress site and then starts building enhancements that start off very simply and increase in dynamics as the book progresses. You'll start off with some simple CSS manipulation and move on to creating some sleek visual validation to your site's forms and by the end of the book use the UI plugin seamlessly within WordPress and create a custom rotating slide-show and incorporate AJAX techniques to your site. All the while showing you how to create these enhancements without "breaking up the work-flow" of the WordPress content editors. This book is for anyone who is interested in using jQuery with a WordPress site. It's assumed that most readers will be WordPress developers with a pretty good understanding of PHP or JavaScript programming and at the very least experienced with HTML/CSS development who want to learn how to quickly apply jQuery to their WordPress projects.

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