Introduction 1

Book I: WordPress Basics 9

Chapter 1: Exploring Basic WordPress Concepts 11

Chapter 2: Exploring the World of Open Source Software 23

Chapter 3: Understanding Development and Release Cycles 33

Chapter 4: Introducing the WordPress Community 41

Chapter 5: Discovering Different Versions of WordPress 53

Book II: Setting Up the WordPress Software 65

Chapter 1: Understanding the System Requirements 67

Chapter 2: Using File Transfer Protocol 77

Chapter 3: Introducing PHP and MySQL 89

Chapter 4: Installing WordPress on Your Web Server 99

Chapter 5: Confi gurations for Optimum Performance and Security 115

Chapter 6: Upgrading WordPress 141

Chapter 7: Backing Up, Packing Up, and Moving to a New Host 151

Book III: Exploring the WordPress Dashboard 167

Chapter 1: Logging In and Taking a Look Around 169

Chapter 2: Customizing Your Dashboard 183

Chapter 3: Exploring Tools and Settings 191

Chapter 4: Managing Users and Multiple Authors 223

Chapter 5: Dealing with Comments and Spam 233

Chapter 6: Building Link Lists 247

Chapter 7: Creating Categories and Tags 257

Book IV: Publishing Your Site with WordPress 269

Chapter 1: Writing Your First Post 271

Chapter 2: Examining the Difference between Posts and Pages 287

Chapter 3: Uploading and Displaying Photos and Galleries 297

Chapter 4: Exploring Podcasting and Video Blogging 309

Chapter 5: Working with Custom Fields 319

Chapter 6: Using WordPress as a Content Management System 333

Book V: Examining SEO and Social Media 357

Chapter 1: Exposing Your Content 359

Chapter 2: Creating a Social-Media Listening Hub 381

Chapter 3: Understanding Analytics 403

Chapter 4: Search Engine Optimization 421

Chapter 5: Exploring Popular SEO Plugins 437

Book VI: Customizing the Look of Your Site 447

Chapter 1: Examining the Default Theme: Twenty Ten 449

Chapter 2: Finding and Installing WordPress Themes 471

Chapter 3: Exploring the Anatomy of a Theme 485

Chapter 4: Customizing Your Theme 517

Chapter 5: Understanding Parent and Child Themes 537

Chapter 6: Digging into Advanced Theme Development 555

Chapter 7: Using Theme Frameworks to Simplify Customization 601

Book VII: Using and Developing Plugins 613

Chapter 1: Introducing WordPress Plugins 615

Chapter 2: Installing and Activating Plugins 633

Chapter 3: Exploring Plugin Options and Settings 647

Chapter 4: Modifying Existing Plugin Code to Your Liking 663

Chapter 5: Creating Simple WordPress Plugins from Scratch 681

Chapter 6: Exploring Plugin Development Best Practices 731

Chapter 7: Plugin Tips and Tricks 741

Book VIII: Running Multiple Sites with WordPress 759

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Multiple Sites 761

Chapter 2: Setting Up and Confi guring Network Features 771

Chapter 3: Becoming a Network Admin 779

Chapter 4: Management of Users and Access Control 799

Chapter 5: Using Network Plugins and Themes 809

Chapter 6: Using Multiple Domains within Your Network 825

Index 841