Stephanie Leary

Writer and WordPress consultant

  • Books
    • Content Strategy for WordPress (2015)
    • WordPress for Web Developers (2013)
    • Beginning WordPress 3 (2010)
  • Blog
    • Fascism Watch (2016-17)
    • Content Modeling for WordPress series
    • WordPress Hidden Gems series
  • Work
    • Portfolio
    • Services
    • WordPress Plugins
    • WordPress Themes
    • Presentations and Interviews
    • on GitHub →
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How publishers could get more of my money (and make me happy to give it)

May 12, 2015 Stephanie Leary 1 Comment

I'm getting spoiled by self-published authors and the services that cater to them. Big publishers are increasingly disappointing in comparison. One of the most baffling aspects of big publishing is that publishers generally don't know who their readers are. Other than people … [Read more...]

for Authors, Publishing email marketing

Speaking at BEA Bloggers Conference, May 29

April 5, 2013 Stephanie Leary Leave a Comment

I'm delighted to be going to New York City in May to speak at the BookExpo America Bloggers Conference. I'll be on the Blogging Platforms panel, talking about how book bloggers can make the most of WordPress. Plus I'll be, you know, wandering around BEA for three days! I'm so … [Read more...]

Blogging, Events, for Authors, Publishing, WordPress bea

Improving IndieBound

April 4, 2009 Stephanie Leary Leave a Comment

Earlier this week there was a post on The Written Nerd about IndieBound (formerly BookSense), inviting booksellers and bloggers to share ideas on how it could better serve independent bookstores. I'm writing to the marketing person, but I thought I'd ping you guys for additional … [Read more...]

Books, for Authors, Web Design

Paged Media: web design for authors

August 3, 2006 Stephanie Leary 2 Comments

The web design for authors posts I've been doing have evolved into an actual business. Paged Media is a web design company devoted to authors. You know me; the designs will be standards-compliant, CSS-based, accessible, and search engine friendly no matter what. We're also … [Read more...]

for Authors, Web Design

Authors discussing web design

March 19, 2006 Stephanie Leary 4 Comments

Good discussion of what should go on an author's site over at LiveJournal. Of course, yours truly had to weigh in, but other people had interesting things to say too. My original comment exceeded LJ's character limit. I'll take that as the universe's subtle hint that I should … [Read more...]

for Authors, Web Design

Server log analysis

June 23, 2005 Stephanie Leary 6 Comments

I'm swamped with work, and in my free time I've been writing madly. And I'm getting back to that in just a second, but I wrote this up quickly as a reply to someone and then realized that it was too long and I really should just post it here instead. I just went through, for the … [Read more...]

for Authors, Life, Web Design

Things that make you look like an amateur on the web, part 3: just plain stupid

May 27, 2005 Stephanie Leary 3 Comments

Misspellings. I know of at least one NYT bestseller whose name is misspelled in her page title. There's no copyeditor between you and your web audience. And search engines won't recognize you if there's a typo in your name. Script kiddie language. ("R U sexxy?" Probably … [Read more...]

for Authors, Web Design

Things that make you look like an amateur on the web, part 2: special effects

May 27, 2005 Stephanie Leary Leave a Comment

Mouse droppings. As annoying as pop-up ads — and the only way to get rid of them is to leave the site. Mystery meat navigation. Your visitors should never have to guess where to click. Transition effects. Java plugins or applets. These things are guaranteed to crash … [Read more...]

for Authors, Web Design

Things that make you look like an amateur on the web, part 1: images

May 27, 2005 Stephanie Leary 1 Comment

(I realize lists of things you shouldn't do are less helpful than tips on what you should do, but let's get the basics out of the way first. I'll get back to the proactive stuff in a bit.) Backgrounds, borders, bars, and bullets taken from a free graphics site. You don't need … [Read more...]

for Authors, Web Design

Jonathan Strahan on author’s sites

March 22, 2005 Stephanie Leary Leave a Comment

Seems I'm not the only one with something to say… Provide information people expect. If you are an author and you are putting up a web page add a "News" section. In a fit of foolhardiness, actually call it "News". A website is a communications tool. Use it. Be clear, be … [Read more...]

for Authors, Web Design

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Fascism Watch

The Fascism Watch is a daily(ish) news roundup. View all the previous Fascism Watch posts »

Latest WordPress Book

Content Strategy for WordPress

A short book for content strategists and managers on implementing a complete content strategy in WordPress: evaluation, analysis, content modeling, editing and workflows, and long-term planning and maintenance.

Read the sample chapter

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WordPress for Web Developers

WordPress for Web Developers (9781430258667)

This is a book for professional web designers and developers who already know HTML and CSS, and want to learn to build sites with WordPress. The book begins with a detailed tour of the administration screens and settings, then digs into server-side topics like performance and security. The second half of the book is devoted to development: learning to build WordPress themes and plugins.

This is the second, much-revised and updated edition of Beginning WordPress 3, with a more accurate title. Everything’s been updated for WordPress 3.6.

WordPress for Web Developers is out now. See what's inside...

The best WordPress features you’ve never noticed

  • WordPress Hidden Gems: Screen Options
  • WordPress Hidden Gems: Bulk Edit
  • WordPress Hidden Gems: Private Status
  • WordPress Hidden Gems: Dashboard Feed Readers
  • WordPress Hidden Gems: Options.php

Content Modeling for WordPress series

  • Content modeling for WordPress, part 1: analyze content
  • Content modeling for WordPress, part 2: functional and organizational requirements
  • Content modeling for WordPress, part 3: a sample content model

This is an excerpt from Content Strategy for WordPress.My latest books are Content Strategy for WordPress (2015) and WordPress for Web Developers (2013). Sign up to be notified when I have a new book for you.

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