An overview of the media tools available in WordPress.org, WordPress.com, various external plugins, and Jetpack: where to find them, how to apply them, and what they can do.

1. WordPress Media
Tools for Creatives
I’m Denise Williams and I can be found at @lettergrade
Images and Galleries, Audio and Video, Caring and Sharing

2. Where do the
features live?
.ORG, .COM, EMBEDS AND PLUGINS
Images and
galleries
HOST YOUR OWN OR EMBED LIKE A CHAMP
Audio and
video
HOW TO PLUG FOR OPTIMUM PLAY
Portfolios CURATE YOUR OWN COLLECTION
Caring,
sharing
EXTENDING YOUR CONTENT REACH
UNDERSTANDING YOUR OPTIONS
Download slides with full urls: www.slideshare.net/lettergrade

3. Content and
custom
websites
(Tables!)
Skateboard
magazines
Alt-weekly
newspapers
Corporate
magazines
and websites
iPad Newsstand
and Google Play
publications
Content and
custom websites
(WordPress!)
Happiness
Engineer on
Jetpack and
WordPress.com
1997 2014
My whole career, I’ve been helping content producers make stuff

4. Where? Why?
PLATFORMS AND NETWORKS

5. Flickr: Give us all of your images!

6. WHY DO I NEED MY OWN WEBSITE?
• social networks come and go, but pages indexed by
search engines last forever
• no surprises about how your work can be used
• find a hosting provider with terms of service that
reflect your values (and a dispute resolution track
record to match)
• control how your work is displayed, and represent
your branding, business, and creative persona
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

7. “He walks in flanked by half a dozen sexy female soldiers inspired by the
Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation video.”

8. Know which networks will respect copyright and abuse process.

9. WHY DO I NEED MY OWN WEBSITE?
• social networks come and go, but pages indexed by
search engines last forever
• no surprises about how your work can be used
• find a hosting provider with terms of service that
reflect your values (and a dispute resolution track
record to match)
• control how your work is displayed, and represent
your branding, business, and creative persona
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

10. WordPress.org: Choose your own host! (And pay for it.) Customize at will!

11. WordPress.com: Free hosting, snazzy features. Less freedom to customize.

12. Add features to WordPress.org sites with free plugins from the repository.

13. Install the Jetpack plugin to add .com features to your self-hosted .org site.

14. WHERE DO FEATURES COME FROM?
• WordPress.org core features, included in the
software
• plugin repository for individual plugins to add
features to self-hosted sites
• WordPress.com-hosted sites come with extra
features built in
• the Jetpack plugin offers some of those
WordPress.com features to self-hosted sites
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

15. Kristin Hersh is the best.

16. CASH Music is a nonprofit offering open source digital tools to artists.

17. FANSITE: Kristin Hersh, of Throwing Muses, 50 Foot Wave, and CASH Music

18. Images and Galleries
HOSTING, EMBEDDING, DISPLAYING

19. WORDPRESS.ORG IMAGE FEATURES
• Media Library image management
• Drag and drop images from the post editor
• Light image editing tools
• Basic gallery shows image thumbnails
• Options: order, number of columns, the destination
link
• Embeds of approved image services
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

20. TAH-DAH! The gallery included in core WordPress is pretty basic.

21. Core WordPress allows you to change destination link and # of columns.

22. Lookit! It’s a Flickr image kindly shared with Creative Commons licensing.

23. Paste the url of the Flickr page…

24. A full list of embed-enabled services can be found in the Codex.

25. Search the plugins repository for additional gallery display functionality.

26. IMAGES AND GALLERY PLUGINS
NextGEN Gallery
Powerhouse gallery plugin with upload management, editing, and display and slideshow
styles that offer lightbox and transition effects. Also offers ability to add watermarks.
WP Photo Album Plus
A lot of the slideshow and display features you’d expect, plus a ton of related widgets and
some search, commenting, and rating features designed specifically for these galleries.
Awesome Flickr Gallery
Load whole galleries of photos from your Flickr account.
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

27. WordPress.com sites have built-in fancy image features.

28. .COM IMAGES AND GALLERIES
• All the native WordPress.org functionality plus…
• Tiled galleries in a number of different styles
• Carousel slideshow
• Image and gallery widgets for sidebars
• Network widgets (Instagram, Flickr, etc)
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

29. The gallery included in core WordPress is pretty basic.

30. Square tile galleries at WordPress.com

31. Circle tile galleries at WordPress.com

32. Tiled mosaic galleries at WordPress.com

33. The WordPress.com Carousel for gallery display

34. IMAGE FEATURES IN JETPACK
• Tiled Galleries
• Carousel
• Gallery Widget
• Photon Image Delivery
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

35. Audio and Video
HOW TO PLUG FOR OPTIMUM PLAY

36. YouTube and Vimeo urls can be copy/pasted and will work automatically.

37. Embed a SoundCloud track or playlist simply by pasting its url in your post.

38. Save mp3s to your WordPress.org media library and offer them as playlists.

39. AUDIO AND VIDEO PLUGINS
Compact WP Audio Player
Alternate audio player that’s responsive and mobile-friendly.
Yendif Player
Adds subtitle support, playlists, custom upload interface.
CASH Music Platform Connection
Allows you to insert CASH Music tools via shortcode.
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

40. Some networks like Bandcamp have customized their embeds for .com

41. Playlist and video functionality is similar, but you’ll need to upgrade hosting.

42. .com offers themes specifically designed for musicians and videographers.

43. Portfolios
THE WORDPRESS.COM PORTFOLIO POST TYPE

44. Caring, Sharing
EXTENDING YOUR CONTENT REACH

45. SHARING PLUGINS
Pinterest “Pin-It” Button
Includes buttons on site as well as enhanced pinning features.
Tweetable Shortcode (Pro)
Allows you to choose powerful sentences inside your posts and make them tweetable
with a click.
Social Media Feather
Easy sharing icons for many social networks, with add-on effects.
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

46. Plugin: Social Media Feather

47. .COM SOCIAL FEATURES
• Publicize
• Sharing buttons
• Social media display widgets
• Reblog button
• The WordPress.com Reader
• Subscriptions
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

48. Settings > Sharing gives access to Publicize and Sharing features.

49. WordPress.com sharing buttons show up at bottom of content.

50. The WordPress.com Reader

51. JETPACK SOCIAL FEATURES
• Publicize
• Sharing buttons
• Social media display widgets
• Subscriptions
Where/why? Images Audio/Video Caring/SharingPortfolios

52. I’m Denise Williams and I can be found at @lettergrade
Thank you!
www.slideshare.net/lettergrade

53. lettergrade.ca
twitter.com/lettergrade
automattic.com
wordpress.org
wordpress.com
wordpress.org/plugins
jetpack.me
WordPress.org Resources
http://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds
http://codex.wordpress.org/Audio_Shortcode
http://codex.wordpress.org/Video_Shortcode
Plugins
http://wordpress.org/plugins/nextgen-gallery/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-photo-album-plus/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/awesome-flickr-gallery-plugin/
http://jetpack.me/support/tiled-galleries/
http://jetpack.me/support/carousel/
http://jetpack.me/support/extra-sidebar-widgets/gallery-widget/
http://jetpack.me/support/photon/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/compact-wp-audio-player/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/yendif-player/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/cash-music-platform-connection/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/pinterest-pin-it-button/
http://tweetable.handypress.io/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/social-media-feather/
LINKS AND CREDITS
WordPress.com Resources
http://en.support.wordpress.com/space-upgrade/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/videopress/
http://jetpack.me/support/videopress/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/wordpress-com-for-music/
https://wordpress.com/themes/filter/music/
Dispute Resolution
http://transparency.automattic.com/2014/09/01/sorry-ms-jackson/
https://www.eff.org/pages/who-has-your-back-copyright-trademark-2014
Kristin Hersh is the best
twitter.com/kristinhersh
kristinhersh.com
kristinhersh.cashmusic.org
cashmusic.org
Creative Commons Licensing
http://creativecommons.org
http://creativecommons.ca
Credits
for sample site images presented in accordance with Creative Commons (and with thanks!)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ziowoody/431526511
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125645780@N07/15333418951
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsearles/6389699501
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsearles/518546751
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lfletcher/245146426
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesyeramian/158407725
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lfletcher/120040188
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lfletcher/87132155