book

WordPress Power Toolkit

by Matt Wagner, Richard Mansfield

January 2025

Beginner to intermediate

368 pages

11h 42m

English

Manning Publications

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prefaceacknowledgmentsabout this bookWho should read this bookHow this book is organized: A road mapAbout the code and prompts/responsesSoftware requirementsliveBook discussion forumVisit the book’s blogabout the authorabout the cover illustration
1.1 Why WordPress wins1.2 Why use artificial intelligence1.2.1 AI produces first-rate results1.2.2 What can AI do for you?1.2.3 You move from creator to curator1.3 How to use artificial intelligence1.4 Which AI system should you use?1.4.1 Which system to use?1.4.2 How I used AI in this book1.5 Mastering AI prompting1.5.1 Role1.5.2 Job1.5.3 Context1.5.4 Format1.5.5 Putting the elements of prompting together1.5.6 Asking the right questions1.5.7 How many words?1.5.8 AI itself can improve your prompts1.5.9 Inserting your role1.5.10 Learning the Chain of Thought method1.5.11 GPT o1 does chain of thought on its own1.5.12 From the horse’s mouth1.5.13 Can AI auto-prompt itself?1.5.14 Generating HTML1.5.15 Two prompting resources1.6 A 13-step program: Creating a great website with WordPress1.6.1 Choosing the best hosting service1.6.2 Preplanning1.6.3 Setting up the site structure1.6.4 Writing in a conversational style1.6.5 Choosing the right plugins1.6.6 Site design basics1.6.7 Advanced design1.6.8 Fine-tuning design the easy way1.6.9 Managing media1.6.10 Setting up a blog page1.6.11 Making money1.6.12 Optimizing your site for AI and search engine ranking1.6.13 Using analytics to build and keep your audience1.6.14 Resources: Where to go from hereSummary
2.1 Choosing the right version of WordPress2.2 Signing up with a first-rate hosting service2.2.1 Choosing your domain name2.2.2 Setting up a practice site2.2.3 A hosting service checklist2.3 Visiting your backend2.4 Hiding your site while it’s under construction2.4.1 Asking AI to leave your site alone2.5 Saving your work2.6 Ensuring site security2.7 Automating backups2.8 Managing site access2.8.1 Understanding the various user roles2.8.2 Monetizing via subscriptions2.8.3 Password-protecting pagesSummary
3.1 Focusing your site3.2 Specifying site goals3.2.1 The 10 types of websites3.2.2 Five questions to answer3.2.3 A consultation with Claude AI3.3 Create a hierarchy3.3.1 Site structure: Parent and child pages3.3.2 Ask AI to create your page hierarchy3.3.3 AI can create an entire site for you3.3.4 Using menu plugins3.3.5 Making the menu brief, simple, and clear3.3.6 Ask AI to simplify your menu3.3.7 Menu alternatives3.4 Avoiding long-scroll3.5 Make good use of links3.5.1 Links are valued by site visitors and designers alike3.5.2 How to create the four types of hyperlinks3.5.3 Using buttons as links3.6 Managing your menu3.6.1 Customizing your menu3.6.2 Making child page menu linksSummary
4.1 Choosing the best typography4.1.1 Understanding AI multimodality4.1.2 Choosing the best font size4.1.3 Selecting a typeface4.1.4 Ten popular typefaces4.1.5 A typography checklist4.1.6 Getting AI’s objective opinion of your typography4.2 Writing in the right style4.2.1 Setting the tone4.2.2 Transforming a stiff paragraph4.2.3 Conjuring a simulacrum4.2.4 Using the Hemingway app4.3 Making a great first impression4.3.1 Hooking visitors4.3.2 Finding design inspiration using AI4.3.3 Using Canva4.3.4 A home page checklistSummary
5.1 Installing the essential plugins5.1.1 Advanced Editor Tools5.1.2 WP Rocket5.2 Installing the best plugins5.3 Turn on auto-updating5.4 Avoid adding too many plugins5.5 Preventing plugin conflicts5.6 Adding Jetpack to your site5.7 Dealing with the EU cookie law5.8 Ensuring accessibility5.9 Adding a sidebar5.10 Creating your own plugins and widgets with AI5.10.1 AI generates a widget5.10.2 AI generates code5.10.3 Modifying AI CodeSummary

6.1 Choosing an appropriate theme6.2 Use an up-to-date theme6.3 Avoid installing multiple themes6.4 Don’t modify theme code files6.5 Take advantage of the Appearance > Customize screen6.6 Consider the psychology of color6.7 Pay attention to layout6.7.1 Achieving balance without symmetry6.7.2 Considering Mondrian’s classic balancing act6.7.3 It went haywire6.7.4 White space versus negative space6.8 Using the rule of thirds6.8.1 Mastering cropping to emphasize the focal point6.8.2 Testing the rule of thirds in action6.8.3 Asking AI for a decision6.8.4 Considering some other design rules6.9 Analyzing site design with AI6.9.1 Trying a modern minimalist home page6.9.2 GPT chooses the winner6.9.3 Asking AI to improve a flawed designSummary
7.1 Creating a contemporary design7.2 Understanding CSS styling7.2.1 Exploring the role that HTML plays in page design7.2.2 Looking at what CSS brings to HTML7.2.3 Enter CSS7.2.4 What is the cascade?7.2.5 The order of the style sheets in the cascade7.3 Using the Inspector7.4 Mastering YellowPencil7.4.1 Automatically generating CSS code7.4.2 Understanding CSS animation7.4.3 Try animating7.4.4 Bringing in AI7.5 Understanding CSS scope7.6 Working with CSS classes7.7 CSS in Gutenberg7.8 Inpainting and outpaintingSummary
8.1 Displaying the right amount of media8.1.1 Testing page-load speed8.2 Avoiding inappropriate images, audio, or video8.3 Storing video on YouTube8.3.1 How to upload a video to YouTube8.3.2 Embedding your video in a page in your site8.3.3 Embedding a YouTube video in your site8.3.4 Modifying the video player8.4 Using the right image sizes8.5 Positioning media effectively8.6 Providing accessibility8.6.1 Why you should do it8.6.2 Finding an accessible theme8.7 Understanding permissions, attribution, and other legalities8.7.1 Mastering paraphrasing8.7.2 Further legal questions8.7.3 Finding free media8.8 Using the Gutenberg media blocksSummary
9.1 Blog defined: An overview9.2 GPT to the rescue: How to write for your blog9.3 Creating a custom GPT: AI-generated message titles9.3.1 Creating your own GPTs: A use case9.3.2 Modifying a custom GPT9.3.3 Advanced custom GPT options9.4 Using categories and tags9.5 Hiding date stamps on blog posts9.6 Vetting incoming messages9.6.1 Vetting messages by hand9.6.2 Using AI to vet incoming messages automatically9.6.3 Parsing and judging posts9.7 Using GPT’s custom instructions9.8 Understanding memory in GPT version 4o and later9.9 Promoting your blog9.10 Harvesting email addresses9.11 A fun AI IQ testSummary
10.1 Nine ways to monetize a WordPress site10.2 The wrong way to monetize10.2.1 Advertising the right way10.3 Choosing the right e-commerce plugin10.3.1 Why WooCommerce dominates this space10.3.2 Where to get help10.4 Any drawbacks?10.4.1 An alternative to WooCommerce10.5 Be sure to use Secure Sockets Layer10.6 Using a good call to action10.6.1 AI-generated surveys10.6.2 Optimizing conversion10.7 Taking advantage of marketing10.8 The final checklistSummary
11.1 Learning new optimization tactics11.2 Using good keywords11.2.1 Ask AI for good keywords11.2.2 Asking AI to scan sites11.2.3 Using long-tail keywords11.2.4 Improvements in ranking11.2.5 Understanding Intentions11.3 Employing Google Search Console11.4 Using the AIOSEO plugin11.4.1 Managing the sitemap11.5 Employing backlinks11.6 A checklist of blunders11.7 How AI affects SEOSummary
12.1 The purchase funnel12.1.1 AI enters the picture12.2 Understanding the elements of analytics12.2.1 Page views12.2.2 Unique visitors12.2.3 Bounce rate12.2.4 Average session duration12.2.5 Conversion rates12.2.6 Click path12.3 Tracking options12.3.1 Form submission tracking12.3.2 Google Ads tracking12.3.3 File downloads tracking12.3.4 Video plays tracking12.3.5 Outbound link tracking12.3.6 Affiliate link performance tracking12.3.7 Age, sex, and interest reports12.3.8 Average scroll depth12.3.9 The value of tracking12.3.10 Analytics via AI12.4 Four excellent analytics plugins12.4.1 MonsterInsights12.4.2 Site Kit vs. MonsterInsights12.4.3 Crazy Egg12.5 AI as site critic12.5.1 What are AI agents?12.6 Two AI heads are better than one12.6.1 Getting better AI responsesSummary
13.1 Exploring WordPress resources13.1.1 AI, of course13.1.2 WordPress forums13.1.3 The WPBeginner website13.1.4 Facebook groups13.1.5 Local groups13.2 The end of human supremacy13.3 Understanding AI domains13.3.1 The Go incidents13.3.2 The divinely inhuman move number 3713.3.3 More possibilities than there are atoms in the universe13.3.4 A “masterpiece” according to GPT13.3.5 Artificial super intelligence13.4 Resources for news on AI developments13.4.1 AI news sites13.4.2 YouTube video resources13.4.3 Social media groups13.4.4 Company Blogs13.4.5 Online Courses13.4.6 Popularized AI research paper aggregators13.4.7 Advanced AI research papers13.4.8 Attending AI conferences13.5 Going forwardSummary
A.1 Setting up your practice site

Overview

Create stunning and effective WordPress websites with easy-to-use AI tools—no code required!

Whether starting from scratch or improving an existing site, WordPress Power Toolkit gives you the skills to create professional sites powered by the limitless potential of artificial intelligence. You’ll learn to use AI for your content and visuals, and even help you build your own WordPress plugins and widgets.

Inside WordPress Power Toolkit you’ll discover hands-on ways to:

Utilize AI to build new WordPress sites or improve existing ones
Understand how AI enhances all aspects of site content and design
Become an expert prompt engineer for communicating with AI
Generate HTML, CSS, plugins, and widgets with AI
Optimize multimedia, blogging, monetization, SEO, and more

Plus, this all-practical guide is full of important information about the tasks AI still can’t do for you, from picking the right hosting service, to defining your site’s goals. The skills you learn for working with AI are universal—you can easily adapt them to get an AI assistant's expert help with almost any other task.

About the Technology
WordPress is a powerful website builder that anyone can use. Now, AI systems like ChatGPT make it a snap to greatly improve the appearance and content of every site. These amazing AI assistants can even automatically refine your site’s design, edit your text, and increase the size of your audience. This book will help you use AI and WordPress to build the websites you’ve been dreaming of!

About the Book
WordPress Power Toolkit shows you step-by-step how to design, build, deploy, and polish websites by mastering GPT, Midjourney, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and other powerful AI assistants. You’ll learn to write great prompts to get the best text and graphics, have AI generate CSS to perfect your site’s theme, use AI to enhance blog posts, and more! Along the way, you’ll learn hundreds of ways to use AI for any cognitive or creative activity.

What's Inside

Master AI prompting
Create professional site designs
Use AI to generate impressive content, page designs, HTML, CSS, plugins, and widgets
Have AI enhance your multimedia, search rank, and ecommerce success

About the Reader
For WordPress users at any skill level.

About the Authors
Richard Mansfield is the bestselling author of more than 45 books on computing. He teaches three online WordPress certification courses.

Quotes
Provides a methodical and clear step-by-step approach. An excellent resource!
- Deepi Kang-Weisz, Peel District School Board

Unlocks the future of web development with AI.
- Srikar Vedantam, Volvo Group

Expert step-by-step guidance to expand your WordPress skills with AI.
- Andrew L. Kwabula, Rehoboth Consulting Engineers

Unravels the binary threads of creativity and code. And brace yourself—the future of web development is generative!
- Julien Pohie, Thoughtworks