WordPress Admins and Super Users may get to the point where they’d like to move to the next level of understanding and exploiting their WordPress systems – but talk of hooks, loops, and APIs is still gibberish that causes their eyes to glaze over.

This session will provide a gentle introduction to how dynamic websites function, learning to identify and begin breaking apart relevant programming languages, and investigate what and where WordPress’ moving parts are.

This presentation is suitable for anyone who 1. wants to start rolling up their sleeves and get their hands dirty; or 2. is curious and simply wants to understand how WordPress works behind the GUI scenes. Best practices and next steps will be outlined for further exploration.

Learning Outcomes:

Identify the source files of a WordPress installation.
View source files from the Dashboard.
Follow best practices (i.e. child themes) for editing source files.
Form a mental model of how database-driven web applications process and output content.
Understand the core functional elements of a WordPress installation (i.e. database and individual php files).
Understand the purpose and function of a WordPress theme and theme files and how themes interact with the WordPress core.

Presentation Slides »