Building a Fast and Minimal WordPress Blog

Introduction

• Creating a personal blog can enhance your online presence and serve as a portfolio for potential employers.
• WordPress is a preferred tool for building blogs despite its reputation for being slow and insecure.
• The guide offers a step-by-step process to build a custom WordPress blog focused on speed and minimalism.

Setting Up

1. Local Environment

   • Use Local WP for quick and easy setup of a local WordPress environment.
   • Install the classic editor and advanced custom fields as initial plugins.

2. Custom Theme Development

   • Use the blank slate theme as a starting base.
   • Modify theme files using VS Code, renaming and setting up the new "coder blog" theme.

Customizing the Theme

1. Homepage Customization

   • Create a static homepage in WordPress.
   • Build a custom PHP template (page-home.php) for the homepage.
   • Integrate pre-built static site HTML and CSS into your theme.

2. Content Management

   • Utilize WordPress content and custom fields (using ACF) for dynamic content management.
   • Replace hardcoded static content with dynamic WordPress content.

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)

• Create custom fields for better content management.
• Add fields like "homepage title" and "homepage image" for better customization and control.

Posts and Articles Setup

1. Display Recent Posts

   • Display the latest five WordPress posts on the homepage.

2. Create Articles Page

   • Setup a separate page for listing all blog posts.
   • Update individual post views using single.php from WordPress theme files.

Migration to Production

• Use WP Vivid plugin for migrating local site to production environment, hosted on SiteGround.

SiteGround Hosting

• SiteGround provides excellent support, updates, and maintenance.
• Offers robust hosting services suitable for WordPress with automated updates and daily backups.

Conclusion

• Building a WordPress site from scratch without unnecessary plugins ensures speed and security.
• Encouragement to watch the full tutorial video on creating custom themes.

Additional Resources

• Link to companion video on building custom WordPress themes.
• Call for feedback and suggestions for more WordPress-related content.