http://drho.ro/marketing-ebooks/promotions-with-wordpress/ Marketing professor ebook for semester-long course to learn WordPress and Photoshop.

2. drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/0-ebook-introduction.mp4
The Ebook
drho.ro/marketing-ebooks/promotions-with-wordpress
Promotions with WordPress is a 16-week semester marketing class ebook for business undergraduate
and MBA students. Promotions with WordPress is designed to be used with Digging Into WordPress,
online tutorials, Adobe Photoshop, a text editor, an FTP program, a domain name, and website hosting.
The WebPage
drho.ro/marketing-classes/promotions/fall-2011
Blog posts and screencasts on the weekly topics covered in Promotions with WordPress will be available
Fall 2011. Promotions with WordPress will be rewritten in August 2011.
Dr HorowitZ
Marketing Professor
Sonoma State University School of Business and Economics and Wine Business Institute
sonoma.edu/sbe
sonoma.edu/winebiz

3. Week 1
Materials, T Domains, and Hosting
ools,
Week 2
Productivity
Week 3
Install WordPress
Week 4
Photoshop
Week 5
Photoshop Mockups
Week 6
Logos
Week 7
T tter Backgrounds
wi
Week 8
HT and CSS
ML
Week 9
JavaScript and jQuery
Week 10
WordPress T
hemes
Week 11
WordPress Navigation
Week 12
WordPress Plugins
Week 13
WordPress RSS Feeds
Week 14
WordPress Search Engine Optimization
Week 15
Project
Week 16
Share

4. Week 1
Materials, T Domains, and Hosting
ools,
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/1-materials-tools-domains-hosting.mp4

5. Materials, Tools, Domains, and Hosting
How does a small business promote its products and services online? Do you know how websites for
companies, special events, houses, people, bands, etc. are created and managed?
You buy a domain name, buy website hosting, install WordPress, customize the WordPress theme to get
the website looking good, add custom graphics with Adobe Photoshop, write content in pages and blog
posts, and add plugins to enhance the functionality of the website. The focus of this class will be on
putting together a WordPress website.
WordPress
wordpress.org/about
WordPress has accomplished some amazing feats.
Materials
drho.ro/digwp
I recommend reading the ebook Digging Into WordPress. It’s over 300 pages of WordPress
awesomeness.
drho.ro/lynda
I recommend getting a Lynda.com video tutorial subscription so that you can have expert video tutorials
guide you through learning Adobe Photoshop and WordPress. These programs are not easy to learn and
substandard tutorials cause frustration. Purchasing a Lynda.com video tutorial subscription will be the
best $25/month you have ever spent (on marketing education). Try a free one-day pass and decide for
yourself.
drho.ro/tutsplus
I recommend subscribing to Webdesigntuts+ and Psdtuts+ so that you can have access to tutorials that
demonstrate how designers are using Photoshop, WordPress, HTML, CSS, and jQuery in a cutting-edge
manner. These sites offer premium tutorials that you can purchase a la carte, or, you can pay $9 a month
for a premium Tuts+ membership.
tv.adobe.com
Adobe has free tutorials at Adobe TV, which you can search by product.
Tools
Adobe Photoshop, a text editor, and an FTP program.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 is in the computer labs and Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the current version. You can
download Adobe Photoshop CS5 at adobe.com and use it free for 30 days.
TextWrangler is a text editor available in the labs, and Chapter 1 of Digging Into WordPress recommends
other Mac and PC text editors.
FireFTP is a free FTP program that’s available in the labs, and Chapter 1 of Digging Into WordPress
recommends other Mac and PC FTP programs.
5

6. Domains
sixrevisions.com/resources/12-excellent-tools-for-picking-a-domain-name
smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/29/10-tools-find-register-manage-domain-names
Search for buying a domain name resources.
You should buy a domain name that is short, memorable, easy to get a tattoo of, and easy to shave into
your hair. Search domai.nr to see what’s available. Don’t buy an international domain name unless you
want to wait a month to get started. I buy domain names at GoDaddy. Don’t let GoDaddy pull any used
car salesman moves and upsell you fancy services. You should be aware that the address and phone
number you give GoDaddy will show up online. If you are concerned about privacy you might want to pay
extra to keep your address and phone number hidden.
Hosting
wordpress.org/hosting
drho.ro/mediatemple
Search for buying website hosting for WordPress resources.
I use Media Temple, and I have used GoDaddy in the past and it’s been fine. Just start with the cheapest
plan possible and don’t let your host pull any used car salesman moves and upsell you any fancy services.
6

7. Week 2
Productivity
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/2-productivity.mp4

8. Productivity
Productivity
evancarmichael.com/blog/2010/06/29/the-top-50-productivity-blogs-to-watch-in-2010
Search for productivity resources.
Google
google.com/ig
google.com/reader
Get a gmail account and import all of your email accounts into one gmail account.
Filter all of your email that is spam and stop deleting emails.
Don’t email yourself when something happens on Facebook and block people that Facebook spam you.
Start using Google Reader and iGoogle.
Dropbox
drho.ro/dropbox
Dropbox is available for Mac and PC and can be accessed via the web (on school computers).
1Password
drho.ro/1Password
You could also save your passwords in a Dropbox text file or with Google Bookmarks in your iGoogle.
Google Apps Standard Edition
google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html
google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=140034
google.com/support/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=12806
mail.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=12913
Create a Google Apps Standard Edition account.
Verify domain name ownership by customizing a CNAME or TXT record.
Customize your MX records.
Import your Google Apps email (You@DomainName.com) to your gmail (You@gmail.com).
Access your gmail with your email client of choice.
Subdomains and Subdirectories
kb.mediatemple.net/questions/242
help.godaddy.com/article/415
Be aware that you can create subdomains (AwesomeThing.DomainName.com) and subdirectories
(DomainName.com/AwesomeThing).
8

9. Week 3
Install WordPress
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/3-installation.mp4

10. Install WordPress
The Codex
codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress
wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-install-wordpress-on-your-site
Search for how to install WordPress resources.
Digging Into WordPress
Chapter 2 of Digging Into WordPress talks about how to install WordPress in a subdirectory. This requires
a couple of extra steps. If you don’t feel like worrying about this then just install WordPress in your root
html directory. Call your host for help with installing WordPress--you are paying for their help, and they
are usually good on the phone.
We are not going to come back to Digging Into WordPress until Week 10, so you can use this time to write
blog posts and pages.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=71212
Morten Rand-Hendricksen has a good WordPress 3.0 Essential training that covers the basics.
Douglas Rushkoff
rushkoff.com
Coercion is a great book. Rushkoff’s videos The Persuaders and The Merchants of Cool are totally
awesome.
Rob Walker
murketing.com
Buying In is great. Rob Walker maintains a cool WordPress and Tumblr blog.
Douglas Holt
How Brands Become Icons is a great book.
Books and Videos
drho.ro/marketing-class-materials/books-novels-literature-reading
drho.ro/marketing-class-materials/videos-and-documentaries
More of my marketing book and video recommendations.
10

11. Week 4
Photoshop

12. Photoshop
Learn Photoshop
mashable.com/2010/08/12/12-beginner-tutorials-for-getting-started-with-photoshop
mashable.com/2010/10/08/free-photoshop-tutorials
mashable.com/2010/04/11/youtube-photoshop-tutorials
Search for learn Adobe Photoshop resources.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk0=192
Deke McClelland’s One-on-One video tutorial series is awesome.
Adobe
tv.adobe.com/product/photoshop
12

13. Week 5
Photoshop Mockups

14. Photoshop Mockups
.psd to HTML to WordPress
You should understand the .psd to HTML to WordPress theme creation process. In Week 8 we will do
HTML and in Week 10 we will do WordPress.
psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/create-a-watercolor-themed-website-design-with-
photoshop-screencast
sixrevisions.com/tutorials/photoshop-tutorials/make-an-elegant-and-simple-blog-web-layout-
using-photoshop
Search for Photoshop website mockup resources.
GraphicRiver
graphicriver.net/item/mockup-website/40152
Search GraphicRiver for professional Photoshop website mockups.
ThemeForest
themeforest.net/category/wordpress?sort_by=sales_count&type=files&page=1&categories=wor
dpress
When you buy a WordPress theme at ThemeForest you usually get a Photoshop version of the website
mockup.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=67160
Chris Coyier has a series on WordPress 3.0: Creating and Editing Custom Themes that I can’t wait to
watch.
CSS-Tricks
css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/71-building-a-website-photoshop-mockup
css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/72-building-a-website-2-of-3-htmlcss-conversion
css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/73-wordpress-theme
14

15. Week 6
Logos
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/6-logos.mp4

16. Logos
logos, icons, gravatars, and favicons
psd.tutsplus.com/articles/web/40-brilliantly-illustrated-web-designs
psd.tutsplus.com/articles/7-principles-of-effective-icon-design
psd.tutsplus.com/articles/theory/know-your-icons-part-2-modern-icon-design
psd.tutsplus.com/articles/theory/know-your-icons-part-1-a-brief-history-of-computer-icons
Search for logo/icon design resources.
GraphicRiver
graphicriver.net/category/icons?sort_by=sales_count&type=files&categories=icons&page=1
graphicriver.net/category/graphics/illustrations?sort_by=sales_count&type=files&categories=gr
aphics/illustrations&page=1
Search GraphicRiver for professional icons and illustrations.
A lot of these files are vector .ai or .eps files, which are Adobe Illustrator files. Some of these files are .psd
files, which are Photoshop files. You can open Illustrator files with Photoshop.
Vectortuts+
vector.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/icon-design
vector.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/illustration
Search the icon design and illustration tutorial categories at Vectortuts+ (mostly Illustrator stuff).
Psdtuts+
psd.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/icon-design
psd.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/illustration
Search the icon design and illustration tutorial categories at Psdtuts+ (mostly Photoshop stuff).
Free Vectors
speckyboy.com/2008/09/29/80-of-the-best-vector-and-illustrator-free-resources
smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/09/50-free-high-quality-icons-sets
Search for free vector artwork resources.
Another way to look for a logo/icon artwork is to search Google Images. Search for what you want and
then filter by size=large and type=clip art. You want high resolution images of your artwork.
Fonts
fontsquirrel.com
To use these fonts in Adobe, on a mac, add the .ttf or .otf files to your user/Library/Fonts folder.
16

17. Photoshop Exchange
adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?s=3&o=desc&exc=16&cat=197&event=productHome
&l=-1&from=1
psd.tutsplus.com/freebies/exclusive-style-pack-%E2%80%93-15-incredible-photoshop-styles
psstyleaday.com/category/individual-photoshop-styles
psstyleaday.com/category/photoshop-styles-packs
Because Photoshop is so popular, there are lots of great free resources out there. Adobe’s Photoshop
Exchange is not necessarily the best place to get Photoshop resources, but it gives you a good idea of
the types of Photoshop resources that are available. For example, Photoshop layer styles are similar
to Illustrator graphic styles. Because Photoshop is more popular than Illustrator, there are more free
Photoshop layer styles available on the web.
17

18. Week 7
T tter Backgrounds
wi
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/7-twitter-backgrounds.mp4

19. Twitter Backgrounds
Twitter Tips
I think that learning how to use Twitter is like learning how to use Facebook--the more you use it the
more familiar you get with it.
sixrevisions.com/web-applications/10-great-tips-for-using-twitter-as-a-designer
psd.tutsplus.com/articles/inspiration/twitter-background-design-great-tips-and-gorgeous-
examples
smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/18/effective-twitter-backgrounds-examples-and-best-practices
fuelyourcreativity.com/free-psd-twitter-background-template
Search the blogs for Twitter tips and background design resources.
GraphicRiver
graphicriver.net/searches?term=twitter&type=files
Search GraphicRiver for professional Twitter backgrounds.
Textures and wallpaper
ae.tutsplus.com/articles/roundup/42-sensational-texture-packages-and-tutorials
smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/12/really-stunning-desktop-wallpapers
Try finding some textures or desktop wallpaper images that you like.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk1=43
Chris Orwig’s Photoshop for photography tutorials are awesome. Start with his Photoshop for
photographers tutorial, and then search his tutorials on creative effects, compositing, fashion retouching,
and athletic retouching.
lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk0=421
Maria Langer has a Twitter Essentials Training series.
19

20. Week 8
HT and CSS
ML
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/8-html-css.mp4

21. HTML and CSS
Learn HTML and CSS
vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/learn-web-design
sixrevisions.com/css/20_websites_learn_master_css
Search for learn HTML and CSS resources.
Google Code University tutorials
code.google.com/edu/submissions/html-css-javascript
Nice video introduction to HTML and CSS.
W3Schools
w3schools.com/html/default.asp
w3schools.com/css/default.asp
Great HTML and CSS resources.
Tuts+
net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/css-noob-to-ninja-the-complete-video-series
Great introduction to CSS video tutorial.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk0=29
Bill Weinman has a XHTML and HTML Essential Training beginner series.
Bill Weinman has a CSS for Developers beginner series.
firebug
getfirebug.com/video/Intro2FB.mp4
With knowledge of HTML and CSS you can customize your WordPress theme using Firebug and a text
editor.
HTML5 and CSS3
html5boilerplate.com
net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/subtle-css3-typography-that-youd-swear-was-
made-in-photoshop
sixrevisions.com/css/css3-demos-experiments
Search for HTML5 and CSS3 resources.
21

22. CodeCanyon
codecanyon.net/category/css?sort_by=sales_count&type=files&page=1&categories=css
Search CodeCanyon for professional CSS.
CSS3 Buttons
lab.simurai.com/css/buttons
You can also find free HTML and CSS to add to your WordPress website. For example, you can add these
CSS3 buttons to your website by adding some CSS to your style.css stylesheet and adding the correct
classes to your HTML.
22

23. Week 9
JavaScript and jQuery
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/9-javascript-jquery.mp4

24. JavaScript and jQuery
With knowledge of the basic JavaScript and jQuery syntax you can do cool things to a website. I wouldn’t
recommend that you spend a lot of time learning how to write JavaScript and jQuery, but you should
understand <script> tags, be able to plug and play JavaScript and jQuery, and know what it is capable of.
jQuery
net.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/jquery-for-absolute-beginners-video-series
webdesignerdepot.com/2009/12/24-clever-website-designs-that-combine-jquery-and-illustration
yourinspirationweb.com/en/30-websites-with-amazing-javascript-effects
Search for JavaScript and jQuery resources.
CodeCanyon
codecanyon.net/category/javascript?sort_by=sales_count&type=files&page=1&categories=java
script
Search the JavaScript for sale at CodeCanyon.
Anything Slider
You can also find free JavaScript and jQuery to add to your website. For example, you can add a jQuery
slider pretty quickly to your WordPress website by adding HTML to your WordPress theme files, CSS to a /
css directory, and jQuery to a /js directory:
css-tricks.com/anythingslider-1-4
webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/site-elements/how-to-start-using-jquery-sliders-in-your-
designs
It would be easier to use a WordPress plugin (Week 12) to add a slider to your website, but I think that this
is a good way to learn how HTML, CSS, and JavaScript work together on a WordPress website.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk0=20
Joe Marini has a jQuery Essential Training.
24

25. Week 10
WordPress T
hemes
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/10-themes.mp4

26. WordPress Themes
Digging Into WordPress
Chapters 3 of Digging Into WordPress discusses WordPress themes.
Free themes
smashingmagazine.com/2010/08/19/100-free-high-quality-wordpress-themes-for-2010
Search for free WordPress themes.
ThemeForest
themeforest.net/category/wordpress?sort_by=sales_count&type=files&page=1&categories=wor
dpress
Search ThemeForest for professional WordPress themes.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk0=841
Chris Coyier has a series on WordPress 3.0: Creating and Editing Custom Themes that I can’t wait to
watch.
FTP
fireftp.mozdev.org
wpbeginner.com/wp-themes/selecting-the-perfect-theme-for-wordpress
When you purchase or download a free WordPress theme you have to FTP your theme files to your /wp-
content/themes directory. You can do this with FireFTP or your FTP program of choice.
Firebug
blogigs.com/how-to-customize-wordpress-themes-with-firebug
Once you find a theme you like you should try to make some changes to its HTML and CSS using Firebug.
26

27. Week 11
WordPress Navigation
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/11-navigation.mp4

28. WordPress Navigation
Digging Into WordPress
Chapter 4 of Digging Into WordPress discusses navigation.
Layout
webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/design-theory/understanding-the-f-layout-in-web-design
Search for website layout resources.
Menus
codex.wordpress.org/Appearance_Menus_SubPanel
Customize your WordPress menus.
Sidebar
codex.wordpress.org/Appearance_Widgets_SubPanel
Customize your WordPress sidebar widgets.
Text widgets are especially helpful because they give you a lot of control over your sidebar content.
Footer
Try customizing your footer as well to link to important content on your website that you have not already
linked to in your header and sidebar.
28

29. Week 12
WordPress Plugins
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/12-plugins.mp4

30. WordPress Plugins
Digging Into WordPress
Chapter 5 of Digging Into WordPress discusses plugins.
Popular Plugins
wordpress.org/extend/plugins/browse/popular
Social Media
Pretty Link Pro – very cool for custom short links to tweet to your peeps (drho.ro/pww). Get the free
version.
Facebook Like – You should start a facebook page so that you know how they work.
Twitter Tools – Way more than I need, but it works.
Twitter Tweet Button – Tweetmeme buttons are so last decade.
RSS Feeds (next week)
FD Feedburner Plugin – Redirect your default WordPress feed (something like http://YourDomain.com/
feed/) to a FeedBurner feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/YourDomain).
Ozh’ Better Feed – Easy to customize your RSS feed.
Search Engine Optimization (next next week)
All in One SEO Pack – Easy, do it now.
Robots Meta – Your homepage, blog posts, and pages are the only things search engines should index.
Register your site with Google Webmaster.
Google XML Sitemaps – Submit your sitemap to Google Webmaster.
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – A little tricky, but SEO-expert-recommended.
Breadcrumb NavXT – A little tricky, but also SEO-expert-recommended.
Google Analyticator – Monitor your traffic.
Advanced Excerpt – Helpful if you want to show partial posts on your home page.
Backup/Safety/Smoothness
W3 Total Cache – Helpful for sites with lots of traffic.
No Self Pings – Have you started getting pingbacks?
WP-DBManager – Backup your database to your gmail. You still have to backup your theme files
manually.
Secure WordPress – If your blog gets hacked you should be proud.
Akismet – Spam prevention.
Comments
Clean Notifications – Nice if you get comments.
IntenseDebate – I wouldn’t worry about this unless you get comments.
30

31. Week 13
WordPress RSS Feeds
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/13-rss-feeds.mp4

32. WordPress RSS Feeds
Digging Into WordPress
Chapter 6 of Digging Into WordPress discusses RSS feeds.
Google Reader
google.com/reader
The best way to learn about RSS feeds is to start using Google Reader and FeedBurner, kind of like how
the best way to learn Twitter is to spend time using Twitter.
FeedBurner
feedburner.google.com
Redirect your default WordPress feed (something like http://YourDomain.com/feed/) to a FeedBurner
feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/YourDomain).
You will want to do is to allow people to subscribe to your updates with email. Activate this option is in
the /Publicize/Services/Email Subscriptions section.
After you burn your RSS feed with FeedBurner, you can use the FD FeedBurner plugin to ensure that your
website’s RSS feeds are being redirected to FeedBurner.
Link to your RSS and email RSS feeds in your website’s header, sidebar, or footer.
Partial RSS Feeds
codex.wordpress.org/Settings_Reading_SubPanel
Be sure that you are NOT generating summary RSS feeds.
Custom RSS Contet
You can use plugins like the Ozh’ Better Feed plugin to add custom content to your RSS feed. It might be
a good idea to addcopyright information or important links to your RSS feed’s footer.
32

33. Week 14
WordPress Search Engine Optimization
drho.ro/videos/screencasts/promotions-with-wordpress/14-search-engine-optimization.mp4

34. WordPress Search Engine Optimization
Digging Into WordPress
Chapter 8 of Digging Into WordPress discusses SEO.
Learn SEO
seomoz.org/learn-seo
Learn SEO at SEOmoz.
WordPress SEO
yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo
Search for WordPress SEO resources.
Lynda
lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk0=206
Jill Whalen has a series on SEO: Search Engine Optimization Getting Started.
SEO Plugins
All in One SEO Pack – Easy, do it now.
Robots Meta – Your homepage, blog posts, and pages are the only things search engines should index.
Register your site with Google Webmaster.
Google XML Sitemaps – Submit your sitemap to Google Webmaster.
Breadcrumb NavXT – Tricky, but SEO-expert-recommended. Try to get your breadcrumbs in header,
strong, or em tags.
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – Tricky, but SEO-expert-recommended. Try to add custom content to
the end of your posts in header, stong, and em tags.
SEO Tools
seomoz.org/dp/the-internet-marketing-handbook
In addition to Google Webmaster, there are lots of great SEO tools.
tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/diahigjngdnkdgajdbpjdeomopbpkjjc
I like the SEO for Firefox add-on and the Chrome SEO Site Tools extension.
34

35. Week 15
Project

36. Week 16
Share

37. Acknowledgements
Thank you to all of the educators who share their content online and to my students who listen to me
talk about it. Thank you to Sonoma State University for giving me the academic freedom, computers, and
software to be able to teach this stuff. Thank you to my family for letting me stay in school for so long
and supporting me along the way. Thank you to my friends for dealing with my oversharing.
Bio
drho.ro/marketing-professor/bio
Dr. Horowitz (@DrHoro) is a marketing professor at Sonoma State University who uses his marketing
ebooks and WordPress blog DrHo.ro to teach marketing classes. Dr. Horowitz teaches web design,
graphic design, video editing and search engine optimization skills in his marketing research, promotion
management, and retail management classes. Dr. Horowitz also teaches the wine business study abroad
class The Global Wine Industry.