Want to get started blogging but have no idea where to begin? We have a great workshop for you that’s a part of WordCamp Portland. It will give you an introduction to using WordPress and will make the sessions over the weekend really valuable. The workshop will be held at the US Bank Corp Tower (111 SW 5th Ave) and will run from 9am to 4pm on Friday, September 16th.
Just a note before we get started: This workshop is meant for those with no prior experience blogging with any platform. If you’re currently blogging or are looking for a refresher on best practices the workshop is not for you. This class is for the people who are totally new to blogging.
We will walk each workshop attendee through the setup of a site on WordPress.com. You’ll learn how to use themes and widgets, publish various types of content, and take advantage of some of the other really cool features available on WordPress.com.
To participate in the workshop you will need to bring a few things with you. Don’t worry, it’s easy homework. The morning of the workshop you’ll need to have:
- a laptop with wireless card
- a title and tagline in mind for your site
- a folder of images, some of which should be large
- text written for at least two posts
- a blurb about yourself and an image for an About Me page
Since we’ll be teaching you how to use WordPress.com you’ll be able to change your posts and about page later. The posts and images you bring don’t have to be in finished, final draft form, but they should be something you’re comfortable working with for the day.
The workshop will partly be run by Happiness Engineers and others from WordPress.com. You’ll be hearing all the information straight for the source and get an introduction to the people who provide WordPress.com’s famous (and free!) 24/7 support. We’ll show you how you can get in touch with them after the workshop so that as you run into more questions you’ll know right where to go.
We’re really looking forward to having you join us for this workshop!
If you’re interested in an overview of how we’ll cover things the workshop schedule will look like this:
- 9:00am – Sign in and get coffee
- 9:10am – Welcome
- 9:40am – Setting up your new site
- 10:15am – Break
- 10:25am – An introduction to the WordPress.com Dashboard
- 10:45am – Break
- 10:50am – The basics of creating content
- 12:00pm – Lunch
- 1:10pm – Themes and custom design tools
- 2:00pm – Break
- 2:10pm – Customizing your site with widgets
- 2:50pm – An introduction to Gravatar profiles and social features
- 3:00pm – Break
- 3:10pm – How to post from anywhere
- 3:35pm – How to get support and some basic ground rules
- 3:45pm – Where you can go from here and what’s next
Any chance you’ll post the date for this? 🙂
Nice catch. 🙂 It’ll be Friday, September 16th.
Is it possible to work on a wordpress.org blog during this workshop? I am in the very beginning stages of setting up a blog and would like to work on my actual site if possible. Also, will the remainder of the content at wordcamp be too high-level for a newbie? Thanks!
The workshop will be geared toward WordPress.com sites so some of what we’re covering won’t apply to a WordPress.org site. It’s also meant for those who don’t currently have sites set up. We’ll really be walking through each step of things, from signup to everything else.
The rest of the content at the WordCamp will be a mix so there will be good sessions for new users as well as more advanced topics.