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 A comprehensive masterclass to
becoming an instant expert

Welcome to
WORDPRESS
WordPress is one of the most advanced content management systems on the
planet. Not only does it ofer simple ways to maintain your website, but endless
customisation options mean you can add plugins and widgets to fantastic pre-built
themes. What’s more, with WordPress you don’t have to stick to what they give you,
it’s possible to buld your very own theme framework – and this book will walk you
through how. Inside you will ind in-depth guides to essential settings,
recommended themes and plugins, and loads of tutorials for personalising your
blog or site. WordPress is a treasure trove of goodies and it’s amazing what you can
achieve with the assistance of CSS, HTML and Photoshop. This newly revised edition
will help you build on your existing knowledge, so you can become a true
WordPress genius.
 WordPress
Imagine Publishing Ltd
Richmond House
33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth
Dorset BH2 6EZ
 +44 (0) 1202 586200
Website: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
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Distributed in the UK, Eire & the Rest of the World by

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Tel 0203 787 9060 www.marketforce.co.uk

Distributed in Australia by
Gordon & Gotch Australia Pty Ltd, 26 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest, NSW, 2086 Australia
Tel +61 2 9972 8800 www.gordongotch.com.au

Disclaimer
The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the
post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this bookazine may
be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are
recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the bookazine has
endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change.
This bookazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

WordPress Genius Guide Seventh Edition © 2016 Imagine Publishing Ltd

ISBN 978 1785 464 485

Part of the

bookazine series
Contents
Everything you need
to become a WordPress PAGE
master and expand the 82
functionality of your blog

Master
the new
update
Page 8

PAGE
74
GETTING STARTED
16 The Settings 38 Control user profiles 74 Convert a static site with a
22 Use widgets in WordPress 40 Back up your WP blog child theme
23 Get to grips with plugins 42 Secure your WP site 78 Create a mobile-friendly site
24 Manage your 82 Transform HTML to WP
WordPress Comments THEMES 90 Merge WordPress sites
26 Posting WordPress content 48 The 20 best
28 Mastering the Media Library WordPress themes PLUGINS
30 Getting hosted with WP 58 Create your own theme 102 Pro guide to plugins
34 Set up a host 66 Build a responsive 108 Edit widgets and plugins
36 Manage your WordPress theme 112 Protect your blog from spam
different domains 70 Customise a WP theme 116 Increase site visits with SEO

66 WordPress
Mac OS X Genius Guide
 WordPress
Genius Guide

PAGE
168

PAGE PAGE
112 142
120 Add a social author box -
122 Build a WordPress slideshow
122 Schedule your blog posts
p- t
Create a rotating
CUSTOMISATION r
130 Add multiple
moving backgrounds
BEYOND WORDPRESS
132 Create an animated logo
154 Master Google
with CSS3
160 Speed up Word
136 Build circular
on-hover navigation 164 Code an input f i
138 Create animated buttons with CSS
with CSS3 168 Design layered ba
142 Code a fixed image scroll- in Photoshop
over effect 172 Create an eCom we
element with

77
 A New Era

WordPress:
A New Era
VERSION 4.4 INTRODUCES A HOST OF EXCITING NEW
FEATURES. TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT’S ON OFFER, AND THE
BEST THEMES AND PLUGINS TO COMPLEMENT THE RELEASE

8 WordPress Genius Guide

 WordPress
Genius Guide

WordPress 4.4: What’s new?

AS VERSION 4.4 IS THE NEXT MAJOR RELEASE OF WORDPRESS, THERE ARE MANY NEW FEATURES.
FIND OUT WHAT YOU NEED TO IMPLEMENT NOW
THE NEW RELEASE of WordPress 4.4 is nicknamed
‘Cliford’, after the jazz trumpeter Cliford Brown. Each
major release of WordPress comes with a new default
theme. This new theme Twenty Sixteen offers a fluid grid
design, flexible header, optional sidebar, selection of colour
schemes and more.
Some exciting changes and improvements and some
noticeable new features are also in the latest update.
WordPress users will be happy to hear that
images will now be responsive out of the box.
You will no longer need to crop images
WordPress users will be happy to hear images will now be
responsive out of the box. You will no longer need to crop
images or supply mobile-friendly images. As soon as you
upload images in WordPress, it will automatically crop
them to size. All images will be included in the srcset
attribute, browsers can now select the best size and serve
the appropriate image without wasting bandwidth with
improved performance.
Undoubtedly the biggest news for developers is the
initiation of the inclusion of the REST API in WordPress
core. This means developers can start working with the
WordPress API with their own existing applications. Be
aware that this is just the first release of the infrastructure,
the endpoints are being rolled out in the next release.
There are major improvements to the taxonomy too –
terms in taxonomy can now have metadata like posts and
users. There are also under-the-hood improvements to
multisite networks, performance improvements to the
Customizer, and comment queries and output.
Version 4.4 is now available for immediate download, so if
you haven’t done so already, start updating your
WordPress website now at wordpress.org/download.

The big new features
7 WAYS THAT VERSION 4.4 HAS TRANSFORMED WORDPRESS
Responsive images
In WordPress version 4.4, users will no longer be
required to use CSS or other techniques to serve
appropriate images sizes to diferent screen sizes.
WordPress will automatically crop the correct image
size and serve to the user’s browser.
This is accomplished with two image attributes:
srcset and sizes. Browsers now select the most
appropriate size and downloads it. This conserves
bandwidth and speeds up loading time.
Twenty-Sixteen Theme
This brand-new theme is built with mobile-first and
responsive in mind, so you can be assured it looks
great on any device.
It is a modernised approach to an ever-popular
layout with its horizontal masterhead, an optional right
sidebar and displays author details on the left on blog
posts. Twenty Sixteen comes in four diferent colour
schemes. It is minimalistic, uses great typography, is
well-structured and incredibly well-designed.
New embeds
Previously WordPress has allowed you to embed videos,
tweets and other trusted sources using oEmbed. This
can be easily achieved by copying and pasting the URL
into the visual editor. With 4.4, all WordPress websites
have become a trusted oEmbed source. This means
any one can embed your posts onto any other
WordPress-powered website.
The embedded content on a website will pull across
the complete title, excerpt, featured image if one is
available, and it will also include sharing links and
number of comments.
Further oEmbed providers are now supported
including Cloudup, Reddit Comments, ReverbNation,
Speaker Deck and VideoPress.

REST API Taxonomy term meta Comment query Multisite

One of the most exciting news of this
release is that the REST API
infrastructure has finally been
integrated into the core. This will bring
joy to theme authors and plugin
developers. You can start using the API
in your theme or plugin by replacing
the existing admin-ajax.php endpoints.
WordPress has been working hard in the
last release cycles to improve taxonomy.
With WordPress 4.4 comes a major
update to the taxonomy system. Terms
can now have metadata associated with
them, just like posts and categories.
There is a new standard table called
wp_termmeta.
The comment form has gotten a lot of
love for both frontend and backend. In
the frontend the comment form outputs
the comment textarea first, followed by
the name, email and website. This
focuses on usability, making leaving
comments easier and accessibility – it
makes keyboard navigating smoother.
improvements
There are further improvements to
WordPress 4.4 especially for
developers and multiple website
owners. With a new introduction of
WP_Network class and a function called
*_network_options, it makes it easier for
developers to use multiple networks.

Takashi Irie
TWENTY SIXTEEN THEME DESIGNER
TWITTER.COM/TAKASHIIRIE

The theme was designed on a harmonious

fluid grid with a mobile first approach. This
means it looks great on any device

WordPress Genius Guide 9

 A New Era
Speed up WordPress
When a visitor lands on your website,
you only have a few seconds to grab
their attention. However a sluggish
website can test a visitor’s patience.
There are things you can do to ensure
you WordPress website loads faster. You
can select a reliable and optimised-for-
speed hosting provider, as well as a
WordPress theme or framework that is
built for speed. Then you can reduce the
number of plugins and remove any
unwanted ones. Also use a caching
plugin like W3 Total Cache and a Content
Delivery Network. Finally ensure all
images are optimised, this can be
achieved with plugins such as EWWW
Image Optimiser.
Mega: a
multipurpose
WordPress
theme
Mega is a brand-new WordPress
theme released earlier this year and
has become the best-selling theme
of January 2016. It is a fully fledged
multipurpose theme, jam-packed
with features. It includes a super
page builder, over 100 options,
advance theme options, multiple
layouts, unlimited colours and more.
Multipurpose
You can use the Mega
WordPress theme for a
multitude of purposes. Mega
can be set up as a standard
website, a creative studio,
agency, startup, portfolio
and even an online shop for
selling goods.
Super page builder
Mega comes with a
lightweight drag-and-drop
page builder interface. This
makes creating content
efficient and faster. You can
select from an unlimited
amount of layouts and
support for over 600 fonts.
10 WordPress Genius Guide
WordPress SEO
Having an amazing looking website is no
good if you have no visitors. An essential
part of building trafic is SEO. Optimising
your WordPress website starts with
writing quality content that people want
to naturally share. Also provide social
media sharing buttons so readers can
help promote your content, and ensure
that your WordPress theme is responsive
and mobile-friendly. Speed is also crucial
so make sure your website loads fast
and you can use an SEO-optimised
theme and SEO plugin to give you a
boost. To identify which parts of the
website is underperforming and to keep
track of visitors, use analytics such as
Google Analytics.
Disabling responsive
If you decide that you want to use your
own image solution, you can disable it
globally by adding this code below your
functions.php file:
001 remove_filter( 'the_content',
'wp_make_content_images_
responsive' );
You will most likely want to disable the
srcset attribute as well, so all of the
images will only have a src attribute as it
did previously.
001 function disable_srcset( $sources
){
002 return false;
003 }
004 add_filter( 'wp_calculate_image_
srcset', 'disable_srcset' );
Add Google Analytics
Tracking visitors and understanding how
your website is performing isactually
very important. There are a few methods
to adding Google Analytics to WordPress.
You can use a Google Analytics plugin or
simply copy and paste the Google
Analytics tracking code directly into the
header.php right before the closing </
head> tag. The best practice though is to
add it into the functions.php:
001 <?php add_action('wp_head',
'add_google_analytics');
002 function add_google_analytics()
{ ?>
003 // Paste your Google Analytics
code here
004 <?php } ?>
Myriad elements
This WordPress theme
comes packed with 29
elements including
accordions, buttons, social
media icons, gallery,
contact forms, callouts and
multiple columns that are
fully customisable with over
100 options.
Advance Theme
Options
Mega provides an Advance
Theme Options Panel. This
gives users great
customisability over the
theme. You can select from
almost an unlimited
typography, colour
schemes, heading styles
and much more.
Retina ready
There is no need to optimise
images for Retina-display
devices. Mega comes
Retina-display ready. This
means images will instantly
look sharp and clear on
mobile devices including on
iPhone, iPad and MacBooks.

Adding Google Fonts Customise Post Editor Remove admin toolbar Increase engagement
Head to google.com/fonts, select a font The WordPress post editor uses
and embed it. Use a plugin or add TinyMCE a web-based WYSIWYG editor.
Google Fonts to WordPress by Enable the hidden TinyMCE buttons
enqueuing the font in functions.php: by adding the code on FileSilo into
001 function wpb_add_google_ functions.php:
fonts() { 001 function enable_more_
002 wp_enqueue_style( 'wpb- 002 buttons($buttons) {
003 google-fonts', 'http:// 003 $buttons[] = 'fontselect';
004 fonts.googleapis.com/css?fam 004 $buttons[] =
ily=Open+Sans:300italic,400itali 005 'fontsizeselect';
c,700ital 006 $buttons[] = 'styleselect';
005 ic,400,700,300', false ); 007 $buttons[] = 'backcolor';
006 } 008 $buttons[] = 'newdocument';
This will also ensure compatibility with 009 $buttons[] = 'cut';
diferent languages. 010 $buttons[] = 'copy';
001 add_action( 'wp_enqueue_ 011 $buttons[] = 'charmap';
scripts', 'wpb_add_google_fonts' ); 012 . . .
Bulan
bit.ly/1L2Mu3T
Bulan is a professional free WordPress blogging theme. It is perfect for serious
bloggers. Besides being beautifully designed it also comes with features for you
to easily customise.
The Voux
bit.ly/1NTUILw
Voux is perfect for any online magazine, journalism or fashion-based website. This
WordPress theme comes with Visual Composer, social media sharing and more.
WordPress
Genius Guide
The WordPress admin toolbar contains Encouraging visitors to return and
quick links and can be useful at times. increasing readership will always create a
But it can be distracting at times and in swarm of returning trafic and
the way whilst viewing the front-end engagement with your visitors. There are
website. You can in fact disable this by a variety of methods to increase the
simply going to the WordPress engagement with your visitors. Firstly
Dashboard, heading over to Users>Your you could set up a mailing list, have
Profile and deselecting ‘Show Toolbar visitors sign up to newsletters and
when viewing site’. regularly send them email updates. You
If you want to permanently remove can achieve this by using MailChimp and
this globally you can add the following its plugin (en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/
code snippet into the functions.php: mailchimp-for-wp).
001 add_filter('show_admin_bar', Followed by using the Bloom eMail
'__return_false'); Opt-In plugin (elegantthemes.com/
This will completely stop the toolbar plugins/bloom). This plugin will
from showing. Alternatively as always automatically open up a pop-up with an
there is a plugin that accomplishes this. email sign up form to increase signups.
Parallax One Plus
bit.ly/1PEGfc
Parallax is a clean and elegant WordPress theme for multipurpose use. It comes
with full-width parallax header, a one-page layout and is WooCommerce ready.
Origin
elegantthemes.com/gallery/origin
The Origin is a stunning grid-based WordPress theme. This theme is ideal for
photographers or any image-heavy type website. This theme has fully powered
ePanel theme options.
WordPress Genius Guide 11
 A New Era

Child theme
EVER WONDERED WHY CUSTOM
WORK HAS BEEN OVERWRITTEN?

Top tip HAVE YOU EVER customised a WordPress

theme, made modifications and then
WordPress by default only noticed that a new update has been
provides basic content fields. released for the theme that you had
But you may need more been working on? Then did you later find
flexible data fields for radio that when you tried to update your theme,
buttons, image uploads, a your website broke and lost all the changes?
data picker, a colour This is where the power of child theme
picker and so on. comes into play.
No longer will you have to be afraid of updates,
overwriting your custom code. A child theme will
preserve your changes separately, whilst maintaining the
main parent theme updates. A child theme will also help
make your theme future-proof. Previously you could easily

10 must-have plugins
WORDPRESS IS GREAT OUT OF THE BOX, BUT IF YOU NEED ADDITIONAL
FUNCTIONALITY TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE MUST-HAVE PLUGINS
Jetpack
jetpack.me
Jetpack is a bundle of useful plugins in one. Jetpack
features include enhanced social sharing, enabling
users to subscribe to posts and comments, and
much more.
W3 Total Cache
bit.ly/1mv7vOv
Faster load time is crucial as it impacts user experience
as well as SEO performance. W3 Total Cache will
optimise WordPress for speed and performance
with browser caching, minify and Content Delivery
Network support.
iThemes Security Pro
ithemes.com/security
IThemes Security Pro help patch common security
holes and vulnerabilities, protecting you from attacks.
This plugin not only defends your site from brute
force attacks, it also blocks bad users, enforces strong
passwords and more.
WooCommerce
woothemes.com/woocommerce
Start selling with WooCommerce: an eCommerce
plugin. It comes bundled with payment gateway
providers including PayPal.
Yoast SEO
yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo
No website can survive without trafic – optimising
your website for SEO is crucial. This plugin packs all the and that’s why the @import method is not
SEO optimisation you need for all your content pages,
page analysis, sets up XML sitemaps and more.
Contact form 7
wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/ recommended practice: to use wp_enqueue_style in our
Contact Form 7 lets you quickly and easily add multiple
contact forms on your website without extra code.
Advanced Custom Fields
bit.ly/OR3bIm
Advanced Custom Fields plugin can help transform your
WordPress website into a fully fledged CMS.
Disqus
bit.ly/1kGaAZQ
The Disqus plugin can make commenting easier
and more interactive. It helps your site load quicker,
comments are SEO-friendly, prevents spam and more.
BackupBuddy
ithemes.com/purchase/backupbuddy
With BackUpBuddy you can schedule database and file
backups, have them stored in ofsite storage, including
on the cloud, and easily migrate your website.
Akismet
wordpress.org/plugins/akismet
Akismet is an intelligent spam-fighting plugin. It checks
comments against the Akismet Web service to identify
if a comment is spam or not.
set up a child theme by making use of the @import query
in your stylesheet:
@import url(“../css/style.css");
You can then apply your custom changes below this.
However this method has some drawbacks with certain
browsers, JavaScript frameworks and performance issues
recommended practice.
Just like how the Twenty Sixteen theme uses an
enqueuing method for scripts and styles, we can use the
same enqueuing method for our child theme. This is the
child theme’s functions.php. To start off, let’s set up a child
theme directory and inside create two files: functions.php
and style.css. Then inside the child theme’s functions.php
copy the code below and paste it in:
001 <?php
002 function theme_enqueue_styles() {
wp_enqueue_style('parent-theme', get
template_directory_uri() .'/style.css');
003 wp_enqueue_style('child-theme', get_
stylesheet_directory_uri() .'/style.css',
array('parent-theme'));
004 }
005 add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'theme_
enqueue_styles');
When adding the above function this will ensure both
the parent and child stylesheets are included. On the
above we included the array(‘parent-theme’), as a
dependency parameter in the child theme. This
parameter works by ensuring that the parent stylesheet is
loaded first and followed by the child theme’s stylesheet.
You can now safely open up your child theme’s style.
css and begin adding in your own custom code. After
doing this you will then be able to continue to update
your parent theme without the fear of losing your
custom changes.

12 WordPress Genius Guide

 WordPress
Genius Guide

Multilingual WordPress Website GET AN EASY-TO-READ SITE FOR A

GLOBAL AUDIENCE
The best method for providing for multilingual audiences is to use a
multilanguage plugin. There are a variety of multilingual plugins,
including Polylang.
Firstly install and enable the free Polylang plugin (wordpress.org/
plugins/polylang). Once installed head over to Settings>Languages.
From here you can configure the languages that you require, the
default language and translate the site title and description.
When you edit or add a new page/post, simply add your main
language content and you will notice on the right that there are now
language meta boxes. By clicking on the + button for the selected
language you can enter content for that specific language. Following
this translate your categories and tags. Then head to Posts>Categories
and click on the plus icon next to each language for a translation.
Finally under Appearance>Widgets, you will want to add a language
switcher so that visitors can switch between languages.

You can configure the languages that you require,

the default language and translate the site title and description
Multisite
Managing more than one WordPress
website? The WordPress Multisite is a
feature that allows users to create a
network to handle multiple websites
under one WordPress installation. To set
up Multisite in the wp-config.php file add
the following:
001 define('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE',
true);
Now a Network Setup item will appear
under the Tools menu. From here go to
‘Create a new Network of WordPress
Sites’, now configure the site address and
follow the on-screen instructions.
Jetpack offline
Jetpack is a fantastic WordPress plugin
with a host of features. However this
plugin only works when you are online
and connected to WordPress.com. When
you are ofline or working locally you
receive a notice to activate Jetpack. To
remove this notice, set Jetpack to ofline
mode and in debug mode add the
following to your wp-config.php file after
the wp_bug line:
001 define('JETPACK_DEV_DEBUG',
true);
This plugin will be set to development
mode in the Jetpack settings page.
Enable SSL
Security is crucial for any website
especially for WordPress. Adding a SSL
certificate will help in encrypting
sensitive information. You will need to
purchase and install a SSL certificate on
your web server. Once enabled, anyone
accessing the admin section will
securely connect using HTTPS as
opposed to the non-secure HTTP. Once
SSL certificate is installed add:
001 define( 'FORCE_SSL_ADMIN',
true );
The WordPress administration part of
the website will be set as HTTPS.
Disable oEmbed
WordPress 4.4 introduced the ability to
allow others to embed your WordPress
post onto other third-party websites. If
you don’t want others to share your
post on their website, you can simply
download and install the Disable
Embeds (wordpress.org/plugins/
disable-embeds) plugin.
Simply by enabling this plugin
oEmbed will be automatically disabled,
which means that no other websites
will be able to embed your post. There
is no need to make any setting
changes to this plugin because it works
straight away.

SEO-friendly themes
When selecting a WordPress theme,
make sure that you look out for
SEO-optimised themes. This is because it
will go a long way when it comes to
pleasing search engines. Take a look and
see if your website is fast loading, as this
is actually an SEO factor. You can also
see if a theme comes with rich snippet
support, uses semantic markup and
whether is it fully responsive. Yes using
SEO plugins will also help you with these
elements, but if your underlying theme
is not actuall SEO-friendly then it could
all have an impact on your overall search
engine rankings.
Move Comment text
Did you prefer the comment field at the
bottom? Use this to rectify it:
001 function wpb_move_comment_
field_to_bottom( $fields ) {
002 $comment_field =
$fields['comment'];
003 unset( $fields['comment'] );
004 $fields['comment'] =
$comment_field;
005 return $fields;
006}
007 add_filter('comment_form_
fields', 'wpb_move_comment_
field_to_bottom' );
Debugging WordPress Unwanted <head> info
On a live website it is never a good idea
to display all of the errors that have
taken place. The best practice in this
case is to log all the errors in a LOG file.
In the wp-config.php file, add the
following code:
001 define('WP_DEBUG', true);
002 define('WP_DEBUG_LOG',
true);
003 define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY',
false);
Now you can safely review error logs
without it being displayed on the
front-end website.
WordPress by default adds a lot of
unwanted things in the <head>
including the WordPress version, RSD
link, Shortlink and more. You can
remove all of this by adding the rest of
the code below to the functions.php:
001 function remove_header_
info() {
002 remove_action( 'wp_head',
'rsd_link' );
003 remove_action( 'wp_head',
'wlwmanifest_link' );
004 remove_action( 'wp_head',
'wp_

WordPress Genius Guide 13

Getting started
The top tools and techniques
16 The Settings
Get to grips with the depths of WP settings

22 Use widgets in WordPress

Learn how to cusotmise your blog

23 Get to grips with plugins

Add an extra element to your website

24 Manage WordPress
Comments
Start discussions on your blog

26 Posting WordPress
content
Format your posts and get used to editing

28 Mastering the Media

Library
Take control of the 4.0 Media Library

30 Getting hosted with WP

Explore the things to consider about hosts

34 Set up a host
Get your blog self-hosted easily

36 Manage your different

domains
Handle your domains with ease

38 Control user profiles

Add contributors and authors to your site

40 Back up your WP blog

Never lose your content again

42 Secure your WP site

Fight the hackers with ease

By achieving mastery over

the settings and their options
you’re halfway to turning your
blog into a success

14 WordPress Genius Guide

 WordPress
Genius Guide

WordPress Genius Guide 15

 Getting started

The Settings
MASTER THE SETTINGS AND GAIN FULL CONTROL OF YOUR WORDPRESS BLOG

Site title
Once added, your site’s
title will appear at the top of Timezone
the browser window, so Ensure your blog’s
make sure it’s memorable timezone city is set
and catchy! correctly to ensure that
post scheduling works.
Some apps also rely on
this being setup

Style Date
How do you want the date to
appear on your blog?
Choose from one of the
available options or select a
custom format
Set E-mail
When you setup WordPress,
your email address is
required for sending plugin Start Date
and moderation updates to. If you plan on using
You can change it by calendar plugins, use the
updating this field Week Starts On drop down
to select the first day of
your week

CONFIGURING YOUR WORDPRESS website correctly is vital to getting
your blog working effectively. Options for discussion, managing media,
specifying a home page and managing permalinks and much more can
be accessed via the Settings screens. Need to determine how comments
are displayed, or how avatars appear? Want to specify how many blog entries
should appear on a single page? All of these options, and more, can be managed in
the Settings menus, which is split into six sections: General, Writing, Reading,
Discussion, Media and Permalinks. If you are able to achieve mastery over the
settings and their options, you will be halfway there in terms of turning your blog
into a success.

Name your blog

01: Site title details 02: Specify the URL 03: Manage the timezone
Your site must have a title and a tagline. Both are Specify if WordPress is installed in a subfolder on Setting the right timezone for your blog will help
important, but the tagline is particularly vital for your domain in the WordPress Address (URL) field. with scheduling posts and managing plugins. You
ensuring the most basic level of SEO. Site Address (URL) is the URL for readers to use. can configure a Date Format and a Time Format.

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Writing Settings Top tip

WANT TO UPDATE YOUR BLOG VIA EMAIL? CONFIGURE WRITING SETTINGS!
THE WRITING SETTINGS page covers a range of
options, from deciding how emoticons should
appear to specifying update services.
One of the most powerful options in the
WordPress Settings menu is found here, the ability
to post by email. While you will probably have
access to a WordPress mobile app (available on
almost all smartphones) there is a chance that you
may have restricted access in some situations. In
this scenario, you can use the ‘Post via email’ tool
Using Press This can
to specify a Mail Server and Port, a Login Name/
email address used solely for this purpose and a
streamline your
Password. Because any message sent to the email workflow considerably,
address will be published automatically, these allowing you to embed
details should remain secret. You can also specify
a Default Mail Category for your emailed posts.
images or post or
Note that there is also a Default Post Category create drafts on
option (along with Default Post Format) for posts the fly.
added in the usual manner. Remember to always
click Save Changes.

Email Post
Category To post by email, ensure
Setting a default post you have entered a mail
category can save a lot of server name, and also
time when writing posts, create a unique email
creating drafts and using address to send your
the Press This bookmarklet posts to

Password
If you have trouble creating a
password for posting by email,
use one of those created at
random by WordPress and
displayed here

Press This Ping Posts

The Press This bookmarklet Add ping services to help
can be dragged to your publicise your blog. You can
browser’s toolbar. Use it to find a list of update services
clip media from any web to include in this field on the
page to include on your blog WordPress.org website

Emoticons and more

01: Formatting emoticons 02: Press This bookmarklet 03: Ping Update Services
If you’re a blogger who likes to use emoticons, use Drag this bookmarklet to your browser favourites Get more views for your blog by adding a list of the
the Formatting option to specify whether you bar. When you spot a post you want to link to, click most popular update services to ping. The more
would like WordPress to show graphical smilies. Press This to copy the link into a draft post. you add, the more services will pick-up your posts.

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 Getting started

Reading Settings Top tip

MANAGE HOW YOUR BLOG DISPLAYS POSTS, AND WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND
By configuring the
IS YOUR BLOG a blog, or is it a website? There are page option to be set in order to display a flexible two email text boxes
many reasons for using WordPress as a content home page.)
management system, and if this is the path you’ve Significantly, the Reading Settings also display the
with some amusing
chosen then heading to the Settings>Reading screen Follower Settings, one of the key ways to introduce promises about your
will enable you to alter what the front page of your site your blog to readers who follow your blog or one of blog, you can ensure
displays. If you want to show the blog, then display the posts on it. Here, ensure you add a professional,
Your latest posts. However, if you want a static page customised response rather than relying on the
readers return
to be displayed, use ‘A static page’ to select the default option, and make sure your reader feels regularly.
appropriate option from one of the drop-down welcome. After all, you want them to come back again
menus. (Some WordPress themes require the static and again!

Front page
Whether you’re using
WordPress as a blog or as a
content management
system for a static website, Blog count
use ‘Front page’ displays to How many posts do you
configure as needed want to see on your blog’s
front page? You can
configure this setting here,
clicking the arrows to adjust

RSS Feeds
Search RSS/Atom feeds are created
Want to keep your blog automatically each time
private and off the radar? your blog is updated. Use
Tick the Search Engine this counter to determine
Visibility box to discourage how many recent items
Google and other services should be included
indexing your site

Email text
Enter a custom email
message to your readers in
these fields, introducing
your blog and its aims when
someone follows your blog
or posts

Page display

01: Blog page count 02: Feed management 03: Search Engine Visibility
The blog page on your site is set to display ten Syndication feeds (such as RSS/Atom) display ten If you don’t want your site to be picked up by
posts by default. Increasing this will provide more feeds, and this can also be increased. Choose search engines, the best way to do this is to select
content for your readers. whether to display the full article or a summary. ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’.

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Discussion Settings
ENCOURAGE DISCUSSION AND BUILD COMMUNITY ON YOUR BLOG, WHILE MINIMISING SPAM
CONFIGURING THE DISCUSSION settings correctly will enable you to make a
definitive statement about what you expect from your readers, and what they
should expect from your blog.
Use the ‘Allow people to post comments on new articles’ option to accept
comments in the first place (individual post settings will override this). Move onto
the ‘Comment author must fill out name and e-mail’ and ‘Users must be registered
and logged in to comment’ options to require your readers to take responsibility for
their comments. Team these settings with the Akismet plugin and you can virtually
guarantee your readers zero comment spam when they visit your blog. Show
readers you have a spam-free blog and they’ll join in with the discussion.

Pingbacks
Sending and receiving
pingbacks with other blogs is
an automated method of Move On
creating reciprocal links. These Keeping old articles live by adding new
defaults can be overridden on comments to them will affect caching
individual posts on your site. Close comments on older
articles to reduce this

Approval
To reduce spam, you
can determine that
comments must be
manually approved.
To save time, force
commenters to
have previously
approved comments Moderation
To help with moderating
comments, specify words,
Use alerts URLs, names, email
You need to know when addresses and even IPs to
comments arrive on your be held for moderation
blog, especially when a
moderation action is
required, so enable these
email alerts

Top tip
Don’t restrict your
readers too much from
Reduce spam and readers will be encouraged commenting, lest you
scare them of. Try the
to join in with any discussion you inspire Comment author must
fill out name and
e-mail option.
Moderate and manage comments

01: Using nested comments 02: Comment moderation emails 03: Moderation and Blacklist
Make reading comments easy for readers by using Use the ‘Email me whenever’ and the ‘Before a The Comment Moderation and Comment Blacklist
nested comments, the method of indenting each comment appears’ settings to have email alerts fields can be used to filter out comments from
reply to a single comment. sent to you when comments require moderation. spammers and troublesome users.

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 Getting started

Media Settings
SPECIFY DIMENSIONS FOR IMAGES ADDED TO YOUR BLOG FOR UNIFORM MEDIA RICHNESS

Resize
The default dimensions for thumbnails
Pixels and featured images can be resized on
How wide and how high your blog from this screen, along with
should your images be? any images you include in posts
These dimensions are
measured in pixels and can
be easily adjusted
Cropping
Rather than having your thumbnail images
appear extremely small, use the cropping
option to have WordPress crop them to show a
segment of the image

Uploading
Specifying which directory
images are uploaded to
should occur during setup.
To change, alter this file
path. You can also specify a
full URL path
Saving
Made changes? Remember
to save them and then check
how the images are sized on
your main blog page,
adjusting anything that
doesn’t seem right

GETTING THE IMAGE sizes right on your blog is very important. One
wrong dimension and your layout could struggle to contain the information
you’re sharing!
Hopefully this won’t happen, and certainly shouldn’t with WordPress’ Media
Settings, where image sizes can be specified to the pixel for thumbnails, medium
and large images. Just input the sizes you want and click Save Changes. You can
also decide whether to crop thumbnails or have them resized to the exact
dimensions you selected.
Be aware that some themes will override any dimensions you add here, so to
make sure they’re being applied check the Theme Options page where appropriate.
It is also possible to instruct WordPress to upload images to a specific file path,
but in most cases you won’t want to change this.
Image sizes can be specified to the
pixel for thumbnails

Fine-tune your images

01: Specifying image dimensions 02: Check image sizes 03: Organise your images
Setting a new dimension for your images is easy. You shouldn’t just leave it at that, however: open Ensure that the ‘Organize my uploads into month-
Once the width and height have been added, save your blog’s front page and check that the image and year-based folders’ option remains ticked.
changes. Fine-tune by using up and down arrows. sizes have been applied correctly. Disabling can result in problems later.

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Permalink Settings Top tip

YOUR BLOG WILL LIVE OR DIE BY YOUR PERMALINK CHOICE. CHOOSE WELL!
PERMALINKS CAN BE a problem for many users. So
many blogs have fallen by the wayside simply because
the owners didn’t understand the importance of using
permalinks to build attractive URLs, addresses that
search engines are likely to index favourably.
Instead, these blogs were left to struggle with URLs
of the format www.yourblog.co.uk/?p=123. It tells
Google nothing, and it tells you nothing.
WordPress’ Permalink Settings provides you with the
option to choose four easy-to-read permalink styles,
If you run a busy blog
each of which includes useful information. (Note with regular updates
that changing permalink style may cause problems
with some plugins, which will need time to re-index
throughout the day, use
your posts.) the Day and name
With a choice made, all you need to do is click Save
permalink. For less busy
Changes and wait a couple of moments before
checking your website. The original URL format will still blogs, choose Post
work and any links to it will resolve (hence “permalinks”) name.
but it is now masked with something that is more
user-friendly, and ideal for Google to index.

Permalinks
Select the permalink format
you would like to create
“friendly” URLs for search
engines and readers to use to
The choice find content on your blog
There are so many
permalink formats to
choose from, making a Other tags
choice should be based If these permalink settings
on how often your blog aren’t to your liking, a number
is updated of alternatives are available,
with a vast selection of these
listed on WordPress.org

Customised
To use one of the custom
permalink formats, select
Custom Structure and enter
it into the space provided,
taking are to include
necessary spaces
Categories
You can also select a
category-based structure
for your permalinks, by
specifying a Category base
(such as “topics”) in the
corresponding field

Customise permalinks

01: Which permalink option? 02: Set Custom Structure 03: Category base permalinks
Choosing the correct permalink option depends on You may also consider a custom structure for Tag- and category-based permalinks can also be
your strategy for SEO and promotion. It can also be focusing on employing user- and search engine- established, but this only really works if your blog
based on how regularly your blog is updated. friendly permalinks for your blog entry URLs. has a heavy reliance on categories and limited tags.

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 Getting started

Using widgets in WordPress

WIDGETS CAN ADD INTERACTIVITY TO A WORDPRESS SITE
WIDGETS ARE NOT the most well-known
feature of WordPress, but you will likely
see them in action every time you visit a
WordPress powered site. A selection of
useful examples is built into the platform by default and
these can be customised in limited ways, but you can
also use the text widget as a method of quickly adding
your own code to the home page. Whether you want
to show the latest posts or display a gallery of images,
carefully placed widgets can act as a gateway to what Widgets can act as a
would otherwise be hidden areas of your site and you
can also download specialist widgets on almost any
gateway to what would
topic. The main point to remember with widgets is that
overuse can lead to an ugly interface so try to limit
be otherwise hidden
their use to only the ones that add worth to your site areas of your site
and which look consistent with your site.

Customise
The Editor can be used to Defaults
customise the areas holding The default widgets
your widgets using code. You included in WordPress
can build consistency can be customised in
limited, but useful ways

Sidebar
A sidebar with too many
widgets can look busy and
draw the visitor’s attention
away from your content

Plugins option
Widgets are available from
the Plugins option. It’s not Text widget
obvious, but many are The text widget is a gateway
available to try for you to use your own
code to add something
special to your page

Find and edit widgets

01: A compatible theme
You need to make sure your theme
supports widgets before you start. Go
to Appearance and then select the
Widgets option. The available areas
for widgets will be displayed
alongside a list of widgets.
02: Find new widgets
Widgets are stored in the plugins
area and can be found by searching
for ‘widgets’. Before selecting any
widget, click the Details option and
then Screenshots to ensure it will fit
your site design.
03: Edits and previews
Go to Appearance / Customise to see
a preview of your main page. In the
left-hand column you can now
customise each widget and see the
changes previewed immediately. It’s
simple and very eficient.
04: Use your code
The text widget included by default
looks quite innocuous, but you can
use embedding code, Javascript and
HTML to add advanced functionality
to your sidebar without using a
specialist widget.

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Get to grips with plugins

PLUGINS CAN MAKE ANY WORDPRESS SITE UNIQUE
IT IS EASY to be all too consumed by web
design and producing quality content
when setting up a WordPress blog, but
plugins should never be ignored because
they are the jewel in the crown of the platform and
can help to make any WordPress site unique,
intuitive and a generally better experience for the
reader. Used wisely, they can add useful features, but you
should be careful to not use too many as this can lead
to slower performance and a bloated design which Plugins are the
does little more than confuse. Each plugin is different
and each will come with its own set of instructions so
jewel in the crown of
we will concentrate on giving advice on the best ways to
use individual plugins and the system as a whole. If you
the platform
use them for just the features that you require to be your blog which will keep visitors coming back time and
essential, they will add a huge amount of capability to time again.

Add new plugins

There are literally thousands
of useful plugins available by
simply clicking this button

Suspicious plugin
If you suspect a plugin is
causing performance
issues, deactivate it to
test the theory

Visit the site

Change settings The plugin sites are great
The settings for each plugin, sources of added
if available, will be located in information and for
the left sidebar sourcing developer help

Edit plugins
You can edit plugins by hand
if you are versed in the art of
PHP coding

Choose your plugins wisely

01: Limit your plugins
When you first click the Plugins
option you will likely see two plugins
already installed. You should activate,
or install, Akismet as it deals with
spam comments, but remember to
not use too many plugins.
02: Add new plugins
Click ‘Add new’ to see plugins that are
available and then search for any
relevant term. Before installing any
plugin tap on the Details option to
ensure it is compatible with your
WordPress version.
03: Plugin options
When a new plugin has been
installed, if there are settings
included you will see them in the left
sidebar at the bottom. The settings
are separated from your main
WordPress installation for stability.
04: Edit the plugins
Most plugins can be edited by hand
and if you know how to code, simply
click the Edit option for the plugin
in the main list to be taken to the
.php file for that plugin. You have
complete control.

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 Getting started

Manage TUTORIAL WITH A POPULAR blog you should be

OBJECTIVE attracting at least a couple of comments
Efficiently manage per post. It’s great to engage with your
WordPress comments,
block spam and readers, but sometimes they can prove
make changes based on
problematic, leaving links to unsavoury sites, being

WordPress
site policy
aggressive to other readers or simply spamming.
TIME REQUIRED Fortunately, WordPress ofers a collection of tools
30 minutes
that you can use to deal with bad comments, such as
marking them as spam (in conjunction with the Akismet

Comments plugin that installs with WordPress), viewing the history

ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR BLOGGING IS TO SPEAK
TO PEOPLE, BUT WHEN THEY BEGIN TALKING BACK
YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE SURE THEIR VOICES ARE HEARD
ABOVE THE NOISE
of your commenters and tracing their IP address. You
can even edit comments that are left on your blog.
Once you have got to grips with these tools, you’ll be
able to manage comments efortlessly, perhaps
scheduling a time to login and check for any pending
thoughts and problems that might arise from them.
Keep your readers happy!
01 Quickly check comments
You can start checking your comments by
signing into the Dashboard and clicking on the
Comments menu… but it’s a bit slow, isn’t it? So stop it.
Instead, whenever you’re signed into your WordPress
site, use the WordPress Admin Bar that is striped across
the top of your site’s posts and pages.
The fourth icon from the left is a speech bubble. Click
to jump straight to the comments page.

Top tip
Allowing the use of
avatars in comments
will allow for you to
identify diferent users
more easily. Which is
great for being user
friendly as well as
02 Comments page dissected
You’ve probably used the comments page
before, but do you really know it? As well as the ability
adding a splash of to switch between All, Pending, Approved, Spam and
colour to the page. Trash views, you’ll find bulk actions and a filter to
distinguish comments and pings from other blogs.
The left column displays details about the
commenters, their email and IP addresses. The middle
column displays the comment and the date it was left.

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using the menu, enabling you to trash, edit,
mark as spam and much more
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are collected in a separate page where they
can be reviewed and bulk deleted or restored
if mislabelled

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04 Editing
comment
a
Although you may
reasonably consider your
blog a bastion of free
speech, there might be
cause to alter a comment
slightly, perhaps for legal
reasons or to remove a
link if you don’t feel that it
is relevant.
This is easily done by
hovering over the
comment with your

03 Bulk editing comments

While it is easy to approve or mark comments as spam
individually, what do you do if you need to discard with several
mouse pointer and
selecting one of the two
editing options, Quick Edit
unwanted items of feedback from visitors? or Edit. With your changes
WordPress features a bulk comments management tool, just tick the made, click Update
box to the left of each comment you want to reclassify, then use the Comment to save.
drop-down menu to select the appropriate action.

Outsourcing comments
05 Identifying commenters
Who is commenting on your blog?
More to the point, who is spamming or trolling
your readers? Use the information on the left,
particularly the email address and IP address to
view any data collected by WordPress about
the commenter.
If you consider a commenter to be trouble,
you can use an IP blocking plugin like Ban User
By IP to prevent them engaging with your blog in 01: Facebook comments
the future. Rather than leave your web server to
handle comments, employ third party
services. Readers who leave feedback
through a Facebook comments plugin
will lure friends with similar interests.

06 View comment history

With any luck you’ll collect a group of regular commenters as your
blog grows, and you can check their activity over time by clicking on the IP
07 View post
comments
If your blog is particularly busy with many
address and viewing all comments sent from the same device. comments on various posts, you might
You can also view the background to an entry in the Comments screen by prefer to moderate your readers’ thoughts
hovering the mouse over a comment and clicking History, which will show if on a more focused basis. This is possible
the comment has been moderated. by clicking the post title on the right-hand
side of the Comments screen.
The edit post view will open, and you’ll 02: Plugin to Disqus
find the comments for that post Disqus is popular, used on newspaper
websites and WordPress blogs alike.
somewhere beneath the text entry box, Like Facebook, it ofers a single sign-in
where they can be edited, reclassified as so readers don’t have to login each
spam, etc. time they visit your site.

03: The Jetpack plugin

To coax responses from your readers,
activate the comments function in the
Jetpack plugin, enabling readers to
sign-in with existing Facebook, Twitter
and WordPress.com accounts.

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 Getting started

Posting TUTORIAL
OBJECTIVE
Post new content to your
WordPress blog

TIME REQUIRED
WHEN CREATING A blog, no matter what
platform you are using, the content is by far
the most important aspect of what you are
building. It builds a readership initially, it will

WordPress
keep visitors coming back and it will help improve your
10 minutes clout with the all important search engines. Content
should be formatted in a consistent manner and it
should be obvious as to what the topic is, and

content
WordPress is well placed to help you create attractive
online articles without the need to code every piece of
formatting in each paragraph. You can still use
advanced code when necessary, but we will highlight
some general rules for content creation and also show
UNDERSTAND HOW TO QUICKLY POST PROFESSIONALLY
you some of the more useful features available on the
FORMATTED AND ATTRACTIVE CONTENT, AND HOW TO
WordPress platform. If you remember that content is
SCHEDULE YOUR POSTS IN A LOGICAL ORDER SO THAT YOUR
king, your blog will be much more popular than you
BLOG IS REGULARLY UPDATED
ever expected.

01 The formatting bar

Even if you like to code your posts by hand,
take some time to familiarise yourself with the
formatting bar. It is much quicker in normal use for
formatting text, adding bullet points and especially
for inserting media. If you wish to see and amend
the underlying code, just click the Text option and
continue working.

Top tip
With the recent 4.0
update, if you’re
writing a long post, the
toolbar, previously
known as the kitchen
sink, will stick to the
top of the window so
you can access it
at all times!
02 Focus on content
The WordPress dashboard can be a busy
place to work in, but clicking the Distraction Free Writing
icon top-right will remove all of the extra tools and let
you work in a much cleaner environment. Your work will
be saved as you continue and it could replace your
standard writing software.
<top>
s
Try to format your text and post layouts
in the same way for each article as this
adds consistency to the overall look of
your blog
<left>
s
Make time to categorise every post you
write as you are publishing it. This will
make site navigation much easier for
your readers

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04 Perfect
previews
You will see a preview
option in the right-hand
column when adding new
posts and you should
always use this before
publishing any content.
When selected it will show
your content exactly how
your readers will see it
and will highlight any
inconsistencies. Don’t rely
on just your knowledge

03 Insert Media
Try to use the automated tools to add images to any post.
You will be able to add a description for the image and also more
and assume everything
looks correct.

information which is useful for search engine results. Media is often

overlooked as a method of gaining more trafic so use the tools
WordPress ofers to increase your readership.

Publish your blog post

05 Displaying code
The use of <code> and </code>
to surround text is useful for transforming
code into a format that looks realistic. It
will immediately make the reader
understand what they are looking at and
is particularly useful if you are
demonstrating code within a much longer
article that is filled with varied content.
01: A public post
By default all of your posts should be
set for public viewing, but you should
double check this by clicking the
Visibility option in the publish panel on
the right.

06 Edit the stylesheet

To change the font for all of your posts, navigate to Editor and then
look for the Stylesheet (style.css) file. When opened, you should see the
07 Understand
styles
writing
Clicking the Toggle Toolbar option will
Global font choices at the top and all you need to do is type over the current bring up a selection of new formatting
font and change the font weight, size etc. You can also insert your own tools to use and the headings option
preferences, but back up the contents of the file before making changes. which is the most important. Appropriate
use of headings will draw the readers into
the content of your post and make it less 02: In the future
likely that they will skim past it without Click the ‘Publish immediately’ option
and then select a time and date of your
fully engaging in your work. choosing. The publish icon will change
to Schedule and when clicked the post
will be saved.

03: Published and

scheduled
See an overview of your content by
clicking ‘Posts’ in the left-hand sidebar.
Scheduled items will be listed at the
top with publishing date displayed.

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 Getting started

Mastering TUTORIAL IN ADDITION TO the text you publish

OBJECTIVE within your WordPress blog, you’ll have a
Uploading, editing and wealth of media assets alongside. Whether
allocating images or
video via the WordPress it’s images, video or sound clips, WordPress

the Media
Media Library makes the process of managing these files via the
TIME REQUIRED Media Library. Accessible via the latest version 4
10 Minutes Dashboard sidebar, you will find all of the existing
uploads itemised chronologically by default. As you
add more this list can invariably grow fairly large and

Library
THE WORDPRESS MEDIA LIBRARY IS ESSENTIAL FOR MANAGING
the Media Library is therefore essential for
good WordPress housekeeping. Over the next few
steps we’ll guide you through the more important
features of the Media Library, along with deeper
pointers for advanced use. With a focus on uploading,
editing, attaching and detaching media, plus a
YOUR BLOG ASSETS, CHIEFLY IMAGES AND VIDEOS. HERE WE
glimpse at the Add Media facility, you should find
EXAMINE THE LATEST VERSION AND HOW TO PERFORM THE KEY everything required for a quick course in WordPress
ACTIONS, SUCH AS UPLOADING AND EDITING media management!

01 The Media Library

The Media Library is found below the Posts
option within the Dashboard sidebar. Hover over the
option and a popup menu has direct links to the Library
or Add New facilities. Selecting the Library provides
access to the typical list view, itemising each file
currently uploaded. You can also toggle the Gallery view
to preview every file with larger thumbnails.

Sidebar Uploaded files Options Add new Uploaded to

5IF
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Uploaded files are Hover over an asset The Add New button ‘Uploaded to’
is located below the in chronological in within your launches the Upload identifies the post
Posts section of the order by default, library and link .FEJB
TDSFFO
XIJDI
the asset is
WordPress listing a thumbnail options to Edit, is where you can attached to. ‘Author’
Dashboard sidebar preview, filename
and file type
Delete Permanently
and View appear
browse or upload
new files
identifies who
uploaded the post 02 Uploading files
Click the Add New button with either view
selected and you will be presented with a dotted box.
Here you can simply drag and drop multiple desired
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Library opens by browse. Each file should not exceed the maximum file
listing the size (8MB) and if you do experience problems, you may
uploaded files
chronologically, switch to the built-in browser upload instead.
giving basic
details on name,
file type, the user
who uploaded and
the current
attachment

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04 Edit
media
Once files are uploaded,
an Edit link appears below
the upload box. You can
also access the Edit
options from the main
Media Library and this
where you assign
information to the asset.
The fields are the same
for each type and will be
applied by default to that
file when added to a post.

03 Various file types

Typically you will be uploading images and video. WordPress
accepts JPG, JPEG, .PNG and GIF, along with MP4/M4V, MOV, WMV, AVI,
Name, Caption and
Description can be set
and you can also grab the
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WordPress Genius Guide 29

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The book of
Scottish story
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: The book of Scottish story

historical, humorous, legendary, and imaginative,
selected from the works of standard Scottish authors

Author: Various

Release date: November 8, 2023 [eBook #72064]

Language: English

Original publication: Edinburgh: The Edinburgh Publishing

Company, 1876

Credits: Richard Tonsing, Susan Skinner, and the Online

Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK

OF SCOTTISH STORY ***
Transcriber’s Note:
New original cover art included with this eBook is
granted to the public domain.
 THE BOOK

OF

SCOTTISH STORY:

HISTORICAL, HUMOROUS,

LEGENDARY, AND IMAGINATIVE.

SELECTED FROM THE

Works of Standard Scottish Authors.

“Stories to read are delitable,
Suppose that they be nought but fable;
Then should stories that soothfast were,
And they were said on gude manner,
Have double pleasance in hearing.”
Barbour.

EDINBURGH:
THE EDINBURGH PUBLISHING COMPANY.
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO.
 EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY THE COMMERCIAL PRINTING COMPANY,
22 HOWE STREET.
 PREFACE.

Next to its Ballads and Songs, the Stories of Scottish Literature are
the most characteristic exponents of the national spirit. Allowing for
the changes which time and the progress of civilization have effected
in the national manners and character since the beginning of the
present century—the era to which the Stories chiefly refer—they shall
be found to delineate the social and domestic features of Scottish life
as faithfully as the Ballads do the spirit and sentiment of an earlier
age; or as the daily press reflects, rather than portrays, those of the
present day. While Songs—the simple expressions of feelings and
sentiments, musically rendered—change, in so far as they exhibit
habits and manners, yet their form is lasting. Not so the Ballads,
whose true historical successors are Prose Stories, as Novels are
those of Romances.
Whether we account for it on the theory that a larger infusion of
the imaginative and romantic elements, characteristic of the Celtic
race, gives additional fervour to the Scottish character, or otherwise,
it is a fact that in no other community, on the same social level as
that of the peasantry and working-classes of Scotland, has this form
of literature had so enthusiastic a reception. There can be no doubt
that this widely diffused and keen appreciation, by an earnest and
self-respecting people, of Stories which are largely graphic
delineations of their own national features, has been the chief
stimulus to the production of so large and excellent a supply as our
literature contains.
The present Selection is made on the principle of giving the best
specimens of the most popular authors, with as great a variety, as to
subjects, as is compatible with these conditions.
The favourable reception of the issue in the serial form, both by
the press and the public, is looked upon by the projectors as an
earnest—now that the book is completed—that its further reception
will be such as to assure them that they have not fallen short of the
aim announced in their prospectus, viz., to form a Collection of
Standard Scottish Tales calculated to delight the imagination, to
convey interesting information, and to elevate and strengthen the
moral principles of the young.
Edinburgh, August 1876.
CONTENTS.
The Henpecked Man, John Mackay Wilson
Duncan Campbell, James Hogg
The Lily of Liddisdale, Professor Wilson
The Unlucky Present, Robert Chambers
The Sutor of Selkirk “The Odd Volume,”
Elsie Morrice, Aberdeen Censor,
How I won the Laird’s Daughter, Daniel Gorrie
Moss-Side, Professor Wilson
My First Fee, Edin. Literary Journal,
The Kirk of Tullibody, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
The Progress of Inconstancy, Blackwood’s Magazine,
Adam Bell, James Hogg
Mauns’ Stane; or, Mine Host’s Tale, Aberdeen Censor,
The Freebooter of Lochaber, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder
An Hour in the Manse, Professor Wilson
The Warden of the Marches, Edin. Literary Gazette,
The Alehouse Party, “The Odd Volume,”
Auchindrane; or, the Ayrshire Tragedy, Sir Walter Scott
A Tale of the Plague in Edinburgh, Robert Chambers
The Probationer’s First Sermon, Daniel Gorrie
The Crimes of Richard Hawkins, Thomas Aird
The Headstone, Professor Wilson
The Widow’s Prediction, Edin. Literary Journal,
The Lady of Waristoun, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
A Tale of Pentland, James Hogg
Graysteel John o’ Groat Journal,
The Billeted Soldier, Eminent Men of Fife,
Bruntfield, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
Sunset and Sunrise, Professor Wilson
Miss Peggy Brodie, Andrew Picken
The Death of a Prejudice, Thomas Aird
Anent Auld Grandfaither, &c., D. M. Moir
John Brown; or, the House in the Muir, Blackwood’s Magazine,
Traditions of the Old Tolbooth of Edinburgh, Robert Chambers
The Lover’s Last Visit, Professor Wilson
Mary Queen of Scots and Chatelar, Literary Souvenir,
A Night in Duncan M‘Gowan’s, Blackwood’s Magazine,
The Miller and the Freebooter, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder
Benjie’s Christening, D. M. Moir
The Minister’s Widow, Professor Wilson
The Battle of the Breeks, Robert Macnish
My Sister Kate, Andrew Picken
Wat the Prophet, James Hogg
The Snow-Storm, Professor Wilson
Love at one Glimpse, Edin. Literary Journal,
Nanny Welsh, the Minister’s Maid, Daniel Gorrie
Lady Jean, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
The Monkey, Robert Macnish
The Ladder-Dancer, Blackwood’s Magazine,
The Elder’s Death-Bed, Professor Wilson
A Highland Feud, Sir Walter Scott
The Resurrection Men, D. M. Moir
Mary Wilson, Aberdeen Censor,
The Laird of Cassway, James Hogg
The Elder’s Funeral, Professor Wilson
Macdonald, the Cattle-Riever, Literary Gazette,
The Murder Hole, Blackwood’s Magazine,
The Miller of Doune, “The Odd Volume,”
The Headless Cumins, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder
The Lady Isabel, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
The Desperate Duel, D. M. Moir
The Vacant Chair, John Mackay Wilson
Colkittoch, Literary Gazette,
The Covenanters, Robert Macnish
The Poor Scholar, Professor Wilson
The Crushed Bonnet, Glasgow Athenæum,
The Villagers of Auchincraig, Daniel Gorrie
Perling Joan, John Gibson Lockhart
Janet Smith, Professor Thomas Gillespie
The Unlucky Top Boots, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
My First and Last Play, D. M. Moir
Jane Malcolm, Edin. Literary Journal,
Bowed Joseph, Robert Chambers
The Laird of Wineholm, James Hogg
An Incident in the Great Moray Floods of 1829, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder
Charlie Graham, the Tinker, George Penny
The Snowing-up of Strath Lugas, Blackwood’s Magazine,
Ezra Peden, Allan Cunningham
Young Ronald of Morar, Literary Gazette,
The Broken Ring, “The Odd Volume,”
A Passage of My Life, Paisley Magazine,
The Court Cave, Drummond Bruce
Helen Waters, John Malcolm
Legend of the Large Mouth, Robert Chambers
Richard Sinclair; or, the Poor Prodigal, Thomas Aird
The Barley Fever—and Rebuke, D. M. Moir
Elphin Irving, the Fairies’ Cupbearer, Allan Cunningham
Choosing a Minister, John Galt
The Meal Mob, Edin. Literary Journal,
The Flitting, “My Grandfather’s Farm,”
Ewen of the Little Head, Literary Gazette,
Basil Rolland, Aberdeen Censor,
The Last of the Jacobites, Robert Chambers
The Grave-Digger’s Tale, “The Auld Kirk Yard,”
The Fairy Bride, Edin. Literary Journal,
The Lost Little Ones, “The Odd Volume,”
An Orkney Wedding, John Malcolm
The Ghost with the Golden Casket, Allan Cunningham
Ranald of the Hens, Literary Gazette,
The French Spy, John Galt
The Minister’s Beat, Blackwood’s Magazine,
A Scottish Gentlewoman of the Last Century, Miss Ferrier
The Faithless Nurse, Edin. Literary Gazette,
Traditions of the Celebrated Major Weir, Robert Chambers
The Windy Yule, John Galt
Grizel Cochrane, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
The Fatal Prayer, Literary Melange,
Glenmannow, the Strong Herdsman, William Bennet
My Grandmother’s Portrait, Daniel Gorrie
The Baptism, Professor Wilson
The Laird’s Wooing, John Galt
Thomas the Rhymer, Sir Walter Scott
Lachlan More, Literary Gazette,
Alemoor, Chambers’s Edin. Journal,
Tibby Fowler, John Mackay Wilson
Daniel Cathie, Tobacconist, Edin. Literary Almanac,
The Haunted Ships, Allan Cunningham
A Tale of the Martyrs, James Hogg
The Town Drummer, John Galt
The Awful Night, D. M. Moir
Rose Jamieson, Anon.
A Night at the Herring Fishing, Hugh Miller
The Twin Sisters, Alexander Balfour
Albert Bane, Henry Mackenzie
The Penny Wedding, Alexander Campbell
Peat-Casting Time, Thomas Gillespie
An Adventure with the Press-Gang, Paisley Magazine,
The Laird of Cool’s Ghost, Old Chap Book,
Allan-a-Sop, Sir Walter Scott
John Hetherington’s Dream, Old Chap Book,
Black Joe o’ the Bow, James Smith
The Fight for the Standard, James Paterson
Catching a Tartar, D. M. Moir
 THE BOOK OF

SCOTTISH STORY.
 THE HENPECKED MAN.

By John Mackay Wilson.

Every one has heard the phrase, “Go to Birgham!” which signifies
much the same as bidding you go to a worse place. The phrase is
familiar not only on the borders, but throughout all Scotland, and
has been in use for more than five hundred years, having taken its
rise from Birgham being the place where the Scottish nobility were
when they dastardly betrayed their country into the hands of the first
Edward; and the people, despising the conduct and the cowardice of
the nobles, have rendered the saying, “Go to Birgham!” an expression
of contempt until this day. Many, however, may have heard the
saying, and even used it, who know not that Birgham is a small
village, beautifully situated on the north side of the Tweed, about
midway between Coldstream and Kelso; though, if I should say that
the village itself is beautiful, I should be speaking on the wrong side
of the truth. Yet there may be many who have both heard the saying
and seen the place, who never heard of little Patie Crichton, the
bicker-maker. Patie was of diminutive stature, and he followed the
profession (if the members of the learned professions be not
offended at my using the term) of a cooper, or bicker-maker, in
Birgham for many years. His neighbours used to say of him, “The
puir body’s henpecked.”
Patie was in the habit of attending the neighbouring fairs with the
water-cogs, cream-bowies, bickers, piggins, and other articles of his
manufacture. It was Dunse fair, and Patie said he “had done
extraordinar’ weel—the sale had been far beyond what he expeckit.”
His success might be attributed to the circumstance that, when out of
the sight and hearing of his better half, for every bicker he sold he
gave his customers half-a-dozen jokes into the bargain. Every one,
therefore, liked to deal with little Patie. The fair being over, he
retired with a crony to a public-house in the Castle Wynd, to crack of
old stories over a glass, and inquire into each other’s welfare. It was
seldom they met, and it was as seldom that Patie dared to indulge in
a single glass; but, on the day in question, he thought they could
manage another gill, and another was brought. Whether the sight of
it reminded him of his domestic miseries, and of what awaited him at
home, I cannot tell; but after drinking another glass, and
pronouncing the spirits excellent, he thus addressed his friend:—
“Ay, Robin” (his friend’s name was Robin Roughead), “ye’re a
happy man—ye’re maister in your ain hoose, and ye’ve a wife that
adores and obeys ye; but I’m nae better than naebody at my ain
fireside. I’ll declare I’m waur: wife an’ bairns laugh at me—I’m
treated like an outlan’ body an’ a fule. Though without me they micht
gang an’ beg, there is nae mair respeck paid to me than if I were a
pair o’ auld bauchels flung into a corner. Fifteen years syne I couldna
believed it o’ Tibby, though onybody had sworn it to me. I firmly
believe that a gude wife is the greatest blessin’ that can be conferred
upon a man on this earth. I can imagine it by the treasure that my
faither had in my mither; for, though the best may hae words atween
them occasionally, and I’m no saying that they hadna, yet they were
just like passin’ showers, to mak the kisses o’ the sun upon the earth
mair sweet after them. Her whole study was to please him and to
mak him comfortable. She was never happy but when he was happy;
an’ he was just the same wi’ her. I’ve heard him say that she was
worth untold gold. But, O Robin! if I think that a guid wife is the
greatest blessin’ a man can enjoy, weel do I ken that a scoldin’,
domineerin’ wife is his greatest curse. It’s a terrible thing to be
snooled in your ain house—naebody can form an idea o’t but they
wha experience it.
“Ye remember when I first got acquainted wi’ Tibby, she was doing
the bondage work at Riselaw. I first saw her coming out o’ Eccles kirk
ae day, and I really thocht that I had never seen a better-faured or a
more gallant-looking lass. Her cheeks were red and white like a half-
ripe strawberry, or rather, I should say, like a cherry; and she seemed
as modest and meek as a lamb. It wasna very lang until I drew up;
and though she didna gie me ony great encouragement at first, yet, in
a week or twa, after the ice was fairly broken, she became remarkably
ceevil, and gied me her oxter on a Sunday. We used to saunter about
the loanings, no saying meikle, but unco happy; and I was aye
restless whan I was out o’ her sight. Ye may guess that the shoemaker
was nae loser by it during the six months that I ran four times a-
week, wet or dry, between Birgham and Riselaw. But the term-time
was drawing nigh, and I put the important question, and pressed her
to name the day. She hung her head, and she seemed no to ken weel
what to say; for she was sae mim and sae gentle then, that ye wad hae
said ‘butter wadna melt in her mouth.’ And when I pressed her mair
urgently—
“‘I’ll just leave it to yoursel, Peter,’ says she.
“I thocht my heart wad louped out at my mouth. I believe there
never was a man sae beside himsel wi’ joy in this warld afore. I fairly
danced again, and cut as many antics as a merryandrew. ‘O Tibby,’
says I,
‘I’m ower happy now!—Oh, haud my head!
This gift o’ joy is like to be my dead.’

“‘I hope no, Peter,’ said she; ‘I wad rather hae ye to live than dee
for me.’
“I thocht she was as sensible as she was bonny, and better natured
than baith.
“Weel, I got the house set up, the wedding-day cam, and
everything passed ower as agreeably as onybody could desire. I
thocht Tibby turning bonnier and bonnier. For the first five or six
days after the weddin’, everything was ‘hinny,’ and ‘my love,’ and
‘Tibby, dear,’ or ‘Peter, dear.’ But matters didna stand lang at this. It
was on a Saturday nicht, I mind, just afore I was gaun to drap work,
that three or four acquaintances cam into the shop to wush me joy,
and they insisted I should pay off for the weddin’. Ye ken I never was
behint hand; and I agreed that I wad just fling on my coat and step
up wi’ them to Orange Lane. So I gaed into the house and took down
my market coat, which was hangin’ behint the bed; and after that I
gaed to the kist to tak out a shilling or twa; for, up to that time, Tibby
had not usurped the office of Chancellor o’ the Exchequer. I did it as
cannily as I could; but she had suspected something, and heard the
jinkin’ o’ the siller.
 “What are ye doing, Patie?’ says she; ‘whar are ye gaun?’
“I had never heard her voice hae sic a sound afore, save the first
time I drew up to her, when it was rather sharp than agreeable.
“‘Ou, my dear,’ says I, ‘I’m just gaun up to Orange Lane a wee
while.’
“‘To Orange Lane!’ says she; ‘what in the name of fortune’s gaun to
tak ye there?’
“‘O hinny,’ says I, ‘it’s just a neebor lad or twa that’s drapped in to
wush us joy, and, ye ken, we canna but be neebor-like.’
“‘Ay! the sorrow joy them!’ says she, ‘and neebor too!—an’ how
meikle will that cost ye?’
“‘Hoot, Tibby,’ says I, for I was quite astonished at her, ‘ye dinna
understand things, woman.’
“‘No understand them!’ says she; ‘I wish to gudeness that ye wad
understand them though! If that’s the way ye intend to mak the siller
flee, it’s time there were somebody to tak care o’t.’
“I had put the siller in my pocket, and was gaun to the door mair
surprised than I can weel express, when she cried to me—
“‘Mind what ye spend, and see that ye dinna stop.’
“‘Ye need be under nae apprehensions o’ that, hinny,’ said I,
wishing to pacify her.
“‘See that it be sae,’ cried she, as I shut the door.
“I joined my neebors in a state of greater uneasiness o’ mind than I
had experienced for a length o’ time. I couldna help thinkin’ but that
Tibby had rather early begun to tak the upper hand, and it was what
I never expected from her. However, as I was saying, we went up to
Orange Lane, and we sat doun, and ae gill brocht on anither. Tibby’s
health and mine were drunk; we had several capital sangs; and, I
daresay, it was weel on for ten o’clock afore we rose to gang awa. I
was nae mair affected wi’ drink than I am at this moment. But,
somehow or ither, I was uneasy at the idea o’ facing Tibby. I thought
it would be a terrible thing to quarrel wi’ her. I opened the door, and,
bolting it after me, slipped in, half on the edge o’ my fit. She was
sitting wi’ her hand at her haffit by the side o’ the fire, but she never
let on that she either saw or heard me—she didna speak a single
word. If ever there was a woman—