The 4-Hour E-Commerce Site

• HIT RECORD!!!
• WEEK 3 - PLUG-IN PARADISE
• + - WP-SpamFree

  • Blocks virtually all comment spamwithout requiring a CAPTCHA solutionand is free for commercial use

    Akismet requires an API keyand payment for commercial use

    WP-reCAPTCHA plugin is a possible alternativebut requires visitor to solve a CAPTCHA;also requires an API key (but free for commercial use)

    Install and activate WP-SpamFree plugin

    Go to settings, scroll down, checkInstalled Correctly appears

    No need to change options unless youget a lot of trouble with comment spam

• + - Google XML Sitemaps

  • Produces an XML sitemap that searchengines can easily parse, helps SEO

    Add Google XML Sitemaps Pluginand activate it

    Settings -> XML-Sitemap:write a normal XML filewrite a gzipped filerebuild if contents changenotify Google, Bing, Ask.com about updates

    Submitting your sitemap:Google Webmaster Toolshttp://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

    Add your site and verify it

    Go to Dashboard -> Site configuration ->Sitemaps and add sitemap.xml.gz(the .gz is a compressed version of the file)

• + - Dagon Design Sitemap Generator

  • Produces a human-readable HTMLweb page sitemap, helps SEO

    Add Dagon Design Sitemap Generatorand activate it

    Settings -> DDSitemapGen:Hide future-dated postsHide password-protected itemsPages: 1 2 3 4 5Navigation at both top and bottomFull path to XML sitemap (excluding .gz)XML sitemap on every page

    Add page, go to HTML editing view andset the contents as follows:<!-- ddsitemapgen -->

    View page to check all is OK

• + - All in One SEO Pack

  • Helps your SEO

    Allows you to provide page descriptionsto search engines

    Allows you to control the title of each page

    Install and activate All in One SEO Pack

    Settings:Plugin Status to EnabledSet up Home Title and DescriptionRemove ' | %blog_title%' from post titleand page title format

    Page and post editors now displayAll in One SEO Pack options includingtitle and description settings

• + - GD Star Rating
  • Allows customers to rate each product
  • Install GD Star Rating plugin
  • Settings -> Features:Activate support for cache plugins
  • Settings -> Articles:Turn off insert rating code for individual pages
• + - WP Super Cache
  • Pages appear quicker, which helpswith conversion rates and SEO
  • Install and activate WP Super Cache
  • In Settings, select WP Cache and Super Cache enabled
  • On the settings page, make sureyou apply the "Mod Rewrite Rules"
  • Enable super cache compression andtest. If it doesn't work, disable it again
• + - FD Feedburner

  • Allows your feeds to be redirectedto Feedburner

    Probably helps SEO

    Saves you bandwidth

    Provides feed analytics

    Set up a feedburner account athttp://www.feedburner.com/

    "Burn" the feeds to your websiteby entering your feed linkse.g. http://example.com/feed/

    Pick a name for the feed address and click Next

    Select tracking options (all is fine) and click Next

    Install and activate FD Feedburner Plugin

    At Plugins->Feedburner Configuration:Enter the URL of your Feedburner feed, e.g.http://feeds.feedburner.com/example

    Add a new post to get your feed updated

• + - WP Favicon
  • Helps your site stand out in bookmark list;Probably helps with SEO
  • Use favicon generator:http://www.favicon.cc/
  • Download favicon.ico andupload to blog root folder with FTP
  • Conversion to .gif not necessary,but .gif may be animated if you wish
  • Install and activate WP Favicon plugin
• + - KB Robots.txt
  • Allows some control over whatrobots can do with your site
  • Only robots with good behaviourwill follow the rules contained within
  • You can edit robots.txt by handif you prefer, using a text editorsuch as PSPad or Notepad
  • Recommended link for details:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robots_exclusion_standard
  • Install KB Robots.txt plugin
  • In Settings -> KB Robots.txt:Enter what should appear in robots.txt
  • Example:User-agent: *Disallow: /wp-admin/Disallow: /piwik/Sitemap: http://dojotal.com/sitemap.xml.gz
• + - Add to Footer

  • Allows easy addition of items to your footersuch as name and address of business,copyright notices, links to T&Cs, etc

    Install and activate Add to Footer plugin

    Configure... and add whatever text you want

• + - Ultimate Google Analytics
  • Enable Google Analytics on your blog
  • Discussed in webinar 2
• + - Piwik Analytics
  • Enable Piwik Analytics on your blog
  • Discussed in webinar 2
• + - eShop plugin
  • Goes without saying!
  • Discussed in webinar 1
• + - Pretty Link
  • Not really necessary for an e-commerce site
  • If you use affiliate links, functions as a link cloaker
  • Allows good tracking and analytics of your data
• + - Week 3 Challenge
  • 1. Decide which plugins you will applyto one Wordpress blog
  • 2. Decide a date, time and time zonewhen this will be done
  • 3. Provide the URL for the blog thatyou will be modifying
  • 4. Add this information to the membersarea