Above is my MIX10 session A Case Study: Rapid WordPress Design and Prototyping with Expression Web 3 in its entirety in Silverlight video format. It can be blown up to full screen and I highly recommend it as there are code examples.
In the session I referenced a bunch of different technologies and applications I use on a day-to-day basis. For those in attendance and those watching on the web here is the exhaustive list of links and tools for you to play around with. I will post a link to the video version of my session when it becomes available approximately 24 hours after the session itself.
The Unholy Quatern
The Unholy Quatern consists of 4 basic elements;
If you are only installing WordPress on your local computer there is no need to get WordPress from the original source – the Web Platform Installer will handle the installation for you. The same applies if you are using a different CMS under the WPI.
NOTE: If you are working in Windows 7 it will be necessary to run Expression Web 3 as Administrator if you want to set up the WPI version of WordPress as a site. Otherwise Expression Web 3 will not have permission to write to the folder and you’ll be banging your head against a wall for hours trying to figure out why it’s not working.
WordPress Code Snippets for Expression Web
I have created a downloadable version of the WordPress code snippets used in the session. They are availalbe – and frequently updated – at the Expression Gallery. The snippets work with any version of Expression Web and are quite literally plug-and-play. The current version of the WordPress Template Tools comes with a special snippet that lets you create new snippets. Snippets in the current version are:
- Custom Page Template tag
- Custom Field tag
- PHP parsing Custom Field
- Conditional Custom Field
- Image as Header
- Get blog/site URL
- Get current theme URL
- Get blog/site name
- Get blog description
- PHP include
Most of these are plug-and-play and those that are not are fairly easy to understand. They are all 100% standards-based and use current and up-to-date WordPress template tags.
I update the WordPress Template Tools on a random basis whenever I feel there is a new tag that will be useful for other people. If you have an idea for a template tag not currently in the list feel free to contact me with the suggestion.
