How to Use the WordPress Customizer

In this lesson in our WordPress series we will learn how to use the WordPress Customizer. Customize is where you design the website including the header, footer, and overall design decisions.  In addition, you use Customize to create menus for the website.  Think of Customize as where you work on everything except for the <main>…

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Setting Up Your Freelancing Business

I recommend that students of Web Development try to find freelancing gigs in order to learn their trade and make a little money at the same time. This article describes how to set up the business side. (See the separate articles on What to Charge and How to Find Clients.) Choose a Name for your…

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Finding Freelance Website Gigs

Are you getting started as a web developer and ready to find a freelancing gig? This article will help you find clients for freelance website gigs. You can add to your experience and portfolio as a web developer through freelancing while you are a student and supplementing your income after you start a career job.…

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WordPress Skill Levels (IMO)

I created this break out of the various WordPress skill levels for my Web Design students at Saint Paul College. These levels are my opinion and may differ from the opinions of other WordPress developers. I provide this information to my students so they can put their learning about WordPress into context of where they…

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How WordPress Works

If you only know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, it can be challenging to wrap your head around how WordPress works. With HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you create and publish files to a hosting server. With WordPress, the website content and settings are not stored in the website files. Instead, the content is stored in database tables. In this article we’ll explain what the database tables are and how the website files interact with them.

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Why are most websites made with WordPress?

As of this writing, WordPress powers 43% of the World Wide Web. And, of websites using a content management system, market share is 64%. Why are so many websites made with WordPress? This article explains why WordPress dominates the web development marketplace. A strong understanding of WordPress is critical for students of web development.

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“What Should I Charge?”

If you are an aspiring web designer or developer, I recommend that you look for opportunities to work on websites to build your portfolio. Perhaps you find a family friend that needs help with their website. Perhaps you hear about a possible internship. At any rate, you have found a possible client who needs your…

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Don’t Make Me Think Discussion Questions

In the Web Design course I teach at Saint Paul College we read Don’t Make Me Think, Revised (3rd Edition)*  by Steve Krug. I searched the Internet for existing study questions and failed to find them. Hence, I will be writing my own discussion questions. I hope you find these discussion questions useful. If you…

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Getting Started on a New Web Design

When I am working on a new website, it sometimes can be hard to know how to get started on the design. I start by looking at competitor websites and I ask my clients to send me links to websites that they like. While not everything is done exactly in the order below, the process…

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Programmer Portfolio Websites

In the Web Fundamentals course I teach at Saint Paul College, I require students to create a final project website. The final website project gives students an opportunity to develop and publish a website demonstrating the skills that they learned in class. Most students choose to make a portfolio website for their final project website.…

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