WordPress For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Customer Reviews

• Practical how-to manual  Mar 2, 2008 (60 of 61 found this helpful)

  I bought this book because it was the only comprehensive beginner's guide to WordPress that I could find, and it was also up to date (important in this rapidly changing field). This was my first "Dummies" purchase; I've always hated that title and the implicit putdown it conveys.
  
  I was pleasantly surprised. Lisa Sabin-Wilson knows her stuff, she writes well, and the advice is practical and easy to follow. The book uses a logical progression, teaching us step-by-step what WordPress is, what it can do, and where you can go to find further resources. Sections address important topics such as plugins, self-hosting, theme selection and development, migrating your blog from another site, and much more.
  
  I was mostly looking for a guide on using WordPress as a website content management system (CMS), and although one chapter does address this, I wish the book had covered this in more depth. Also, I would have liked to read more about design and style issues. However, no one book can do it all, and at almost 400 pages this book was long enough. (Although it's a very quick read; it took me only one morning to get through it, and not all chapters will be relevant to every reader.)
  
  I recommend it to anyone wanting to gain basic familiarity with WordPress (and related technical jargon), see whether it's the thing for you and, if so, get started using it.
  

• Best Wordpress book thus far  Nov 14, 2007 (38 of 39 found this helpful)

  Prior to Wordpress for Dummies being published, the other Wordpress books out there were very limited or not extensively covered. For those of you who have tried to use Wordpress before, I know the Wordpress Codex or documentation may seem overwhelming due to its extensive coverage. This book does a great job of really giving you the ins and outs of Wordpress. The author tries to cover the most important features of Wordpress without trying to overwhelm the readers and does a very good job of it. I really liked the part about the author covering the MU feature of Wordpress as well as covering the common used template tags in addition making the templates, 'the loop' and template files easy to understand for beginners. If you are already proficient with CSS/XHTML and want to take your blog/sites to the next level, this book is for you. However, this book does NOT teach you CSS/XHTML (does provide other resources in the book) so I would suggest you pick up another book for that. If you want to know about WP and blogging in general, this book is for you.

• Excellent for beginners and some tips for later  Dec 19, 2007 (40 of 42 found this helpful)

  This is actually the book I wish I had been there when I first started out with blogs and especially WordPress. A lot of time is spent addressing what blogs are and what they can do and then going through how to set up a WordPress.com account or how to install the WordPress.org software on your own site. Most of the book is really set up and functionality. While most of this information can be found on the web, having this book beside you would make the task so much easier. If you already have your blog all set up and in use, most of the book is of far less use to you. I find myself in that category since I run a number of person blogs, a couple of corporate WordPress sites, and have installed the software a number of times. The two parts then that I could really get my teeth into are the section on theme customization with an explanation of many of the variables, and the second detailing the author's top ten plug-ins. I found some items there that I had somehow overlooked before and are coming in quite handy.
  
  So, why the 4 star rating? If you are just starting out, you really need this book. Pick it up before you start. And for you it will stay with you for a while and be a 5 star. If you have been doing this for a while, there will only be a couple of chapters of real value to you, so it will most likely be a 3 star. Average them together and what do you have? 4 stars!

• Nightmare In Progress  Apr 17, 2008 (19 of 21 found this helpful)

  
  The two books :
  WordPress Complete by Hasin Hayder
  and
  WordPress for Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
  are worthwhile sources for the individual that lacks the expertise to setup the WordPress program. Now don't misunderstand what I say next. If you are a complete novice, get the books. Be fully aware that both books will NOT be sufficient to reach normal insanity while getting WordPress setup, if you're requirements go beyond the norm. Am familiar to Blogging and a bit aware of WordPress usage, but it became a total nightmare to reach the results that I was looking for. Seriously lacking are examples of "how and where" to actually insert / place what was being expounded upon. Seemed that every set of "how to" was chopped off at the most critical point and leaves one floundering and frustrated, Both books and even the official sites lack the explicit "where to insert" the talked on code. Many so called experts suffer from the "I know it so well" syndrome" that they overlook the "critical" aspect from a novices point of view. To have elaborated on a specific subject, without giving the most crucial bit of information "showing an example of where" is, to me a cardinal offense. It is recognized that it is near impossible to cover every detail required for total success with an installation, but what is covered, SHOULD be presented with clear and full details. There is no middle ground here. You are either sailing along smoothly, or you are floundering from lack of crucial details. I was in the latter group. WordPress by the way is a neat program, and for most users, will be relatively easy to master. If you have certain specific needs, be prepared to sweat it through, along with much aggravation.

• Quite good for the novice to intermediate WordPress user  Feb 10, 2008 (15 of 16 found this helpful)

  I've found that the Dummies book run the gamut from very, very bad to very, very good. I am pleased to report that "WordPress for Dummies" by Lisa Sabin-Wilson is very, very good.
  
  This book will be useful to novice WordPress users (like myself) through, I suspect, intermediate users.
  
  The first part is a tad on the slow side as Sabin-Wilson reviews the true basics. But she is trying to cover a good part of the waterfront here, helping truly inexperienced users as well as those who may have used Blogger, MovableType or other blogging platforms.
  
  By Chapter 3, though, Sabin-Wilson begins to hit her stride, delving deeper into the hosted version of WordPress, examining its details.
  
  With Chapter 6, she begins transitioning into a surprisingly comprehensive exploration of WordPress. Chapter 9, about altering PHP templates, is a model of clarity that all technical writers could benefit from studying. It is concise and clear, while handling some very sophisticated subjects.
  
  By the time Sabin-Wilson gets to Chapter 16 ("Beyond Blogging: WordPress as a Content Management System"), the reader is comfortable with this advanced subject.
  
  Overall, she does a truly fine job of introducing the reader to WordPress, how it operates, how it can be modified and expanded. Her language is always remarkably clear and her focus intense. This is one of those essentially technical books that is actually a pleasure to read. Keep it at your side while you explore WordPress, either hosted on your own or the WordPress site, and you'll become highly proficient in a surprisingly short time.
  
  Jerry