This talk will be given by Tim Bowen and go over the WordPress theme and plugins which make up TucsonDigitalArts.com.  We’ll go through basic CSS manipulation, PHP template editing, and plugin implementation.  The following features will also be explained:

• Integrating an Event Calendar (as well as a Google Calendar)
• Building Polls
• Newsletter sign up and management
• Forums
• Contact Forms
• Member Management
• and more!

Please come with snacks, drinks, suggestions and questions.  The talk will start shortly after 6:30 and last about an hour.

Location: 115 East Broadway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85701

Follow Up:

For those of you at this workshop I’ve uploaded the TDAC WordPress Theme and the Plugins folder to explore.

WordPress Download
http://wordpress.org/download/

WordPress Hosted Version
http://www.wordpress.com
Want to play with wordpress but don’t want to install it, and don’t care if you can’t modify the templates?

WordPress Codex
http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page
This is the official WordPress documentation wiki.

Template Tags
http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags
These are the calls you can make from any of your templates. I refer to this more than any other page.

Template Hierarchy
http://codex.wordpress.org/images/1/1d/wp_Template_Hierarchy.png
Which template do you need to edit when you want to make a change? This should help you find out.

WordPress Plugins
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
This is the master repository.

Favorite WordPress Plugins
http://www.blueprintds.com/2008/03/13/top-10-wordpress-cms-plugins/
http://www.creativeslice.com/ideas/wordpress/
Two good lists.

MAMP & XAMPP
Want to install WordPress on your local machine?
http://wordpress.org/download/
http://www.mamp.info/en/download.html (LAMP for Mac)
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html (LAMP for Windows)

Web Developer Toolbar
http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/
Every web developer should have this plugin installed in firefox. Amazing.

Also — WordPress 2.5 is coming out this week (or soon) It may make some of these plugins obsolete.

We’ll go through an entire basic installation of WordPress and also cover some essential template modification tricks. It would be helpful if you take a look at this before then:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress

Come with questions based on issues that come up when you’re going through it. Also, bring snacks or beer if you’re so inclined.

After the fact:

• The handout you never received during the talk

We had over 15 people show up for this TDAC Workshop. (photos below)

Monty Edmonds is already holding 3d learning night (see below) but we’re looking to expand what we cover. Instead of just getting together to schmooze, let’s share our skills and raise the bar for the whole design and tech community.

We’ve come up with a preliminary list of ideas for talks — things people can present, and things people want to hear — and you can vote on them below. Even better, come up with your own talk topic and add to the comments below. We have the space, we have a projector, and mid-town is never far away.

Please leave a comment with your suggestions.

The March Tucson Digital Arts Community meet-up will take place this Thursday evening. Please bring your drink of choice and/or snacks.

Thursday, March 20th at 7pm to 10pm
115 East Broadway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85701

Dress is casual, guests are welcome.

Below you can see some photos of this social event:

Montrose Edmonds, of Tripwire Arts (tripwirearts.com) will be host a 3d learning night on wednesday nights at 7:00pm. This is in addition to other TDAC functions, this will be supplemental for those with a strong interest in 3d animated film making. The specific options for this are still open. We want to stay away from button pushing exercises, but we will provide many good resources for self learning between sessions. I think a good route to go would be to develop Characters. My thought is start with character concepting on paper, move to modeling in 3ds max/blender/Zbrush, texture mapping in Max/zbrush, PhotoShop, Painter, then to Rigging in Maya or Max, animation in Maya or Max, Rendering with Mental Ray and finally compositing in Shake. Otherwise people can come with ideas they want solved or help thinking through projects. I am really open to ideas Contact Montrose at info at tripwirearts dot com to sign up or with questions.

M

The February TDAC meet-up will take place at the collaborative 115 design studio.

115 East Broadway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85701

A brief presentation about Content Management Systems will begin at around 7:30 and end around 8.

Please come to see my latest documentary, Green Green Water, screen at the Loft on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 7 pm. I have attached a flyer for it: The Loft Flyer

- Jamie Lee
Visionaries Filmworks

The next Tucson Digital Arts Community meetup will be held at 7pm Thursday, January 17th at the Hotel Congress lobby.

See you there!

The first meet-up of the Tucson Digital Arts Community will be happening Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 7p.m. in the lobby of the Hotel Congress.

We’re starting up this group again after a year hiatus, and we’re doing it right with a Web site and a promise of upcoming, regular events. Come join us, grab a drink, and get to know your fellow Designers, Programmers and Artists.

See you at 7p.m. at the Hotel Congress!