Resources

What is WordPress? WordPress is a very popular Blogging platform and CMS (Content Management System), developed with the AMP Platform. It is estimated to be used by over 35% of all websites on the internet today. It is designed to be easy to use by non-programmers, but very powerful behind the scenes, with almost complete customization being possible. This makes it a good choice for developing sites for clients who want the ability to maintain their sites.

Get WordPress
Download the WordPress v.6.6.1 zip file: wordpress6.6.1.zip
Download WordPress from wordpress.org/download/

WordPress Themes
Here are two "Classic" WordPress themes from earlier releases of WordPress:
Twenty Sixteen: twentysixteen.zip
Twenty Twenty (this is the theme used in the illustrations): twentytwenty.zip

And a third party theme from Theme Isle...
Neve Neve is a full featured "Classic" theme which is very versatile: Neve 3.4.3 (neve.zip)

What is a "Classic" theme? The latest WordPress themes included with WordPress releases are "Block" themes, using JSON and Javascript to customize the theme appearance. Historically, themes have used PHP templates for this purpose and are now known as "Classic" themes. There are advantages to both approaches, and both approaches are expected to be used into the future, with "hybrid" themes becoming common currently. The AMP JAM exercises use the "Classic" theme approach of developing "child" themes to customize the main theme's features. The links above will download themes you can use with the AMP JAM exercises.

Installing a WordPress Theme. You may be able to install a new WordPress theme from directly inside WordPress by going to the Dashboard's Appearance > Themes menu option and clicking the "Add New" button. You will see a large directory of available themes. If you are looking for a specific theme, type the name into the search box. When you mouse over the theme's thumbnail image, you will see an option to install the theme. This will download the theme files into the "themes" directory, and the theme will appear in the Dashboard's main theme listing, where you can activate it.

The automatic install approach will not work if you are using a server that doesn't allow WordPress to install files (this may also be a problem with a localhost installation that has restrictive firewall settings). In this case, download the theme files directly (from the WordPress list or from the links above) and manually move them into the wp-content/themes directory in your WordPress installation. The new theme will then appear in your themes list in the WordPress dashboard, and you can activate it.

How to best use WordPress. It is best to avoid "fighting" with WordPress. WordPress is developed to be used with the WordPress design pattern as a guiding principle. While it is possible to engineer all sorts of complex structures behind the scenes, using the structure of WordPress makes it possible for others to build on your work.

Many people have contributed plug-ins and themes to the WordPress eco-system. This makes it possible to add on every conceivable feature to your sites. However, keeping things simple will pay off in terms of speed and responsiveness of the site.