Head First WordPress: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Creating Your Own Custom WordPress Blog

Whether you’re promoting your business or writing about your travel adventures, Head First WordPress will teach you not only how to make your blog look unique and attention-grabbing, but also how to dig into the more complex features of WordPress 3.0 to make your website work well, too.

You’ll learn how to move beyond the standard WordPress look and feel by customizing your blog with your own URL, templates, plugin functionality, and more. As you learn, you’ll be working with real WordPress files: The book’s website provides pre-fab WordPress themes to download and work with as you follow along with the text.

• Gain immediate experience with WordPress 3.0, the June 2010 release of the software
• Get your site up and running by setting up a MySQL database and creating configuration files
• Work with the Wordpress platform to create posts and pages, learn the difference between tags and categories, edit content, moderate comments, and manage spam
• Explore how to extend Wordpress with plugins and templates
• Convert custom designs (in HTML and CSS) into functional themes and use them in WordPress

We think your time is too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First WordPress uses a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep.

Jeff Siarto is a user experience and web designer currently calling Chicago home. He has two degrees from Michigan State University and was a student of the standards-based web design movement--aspiring to the likes of Cederholm, Zeldman and Meyer. Jeff is a die-hard coworker and helps organize Jelly Chicago, a coworking group that meets twice a week in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. When Jeff isn't pushing pixels, he enjoys cooking and eating (ok, mostly eating) and spending time with his wife on Chicago's west side and in Michigan with friends and family.