How To Be A Rockstar WordPress Designer: WordPress 3 Revision!

I don’t have the first email anymore :(

klaria[at]msn.com

Moved to a new computer – email long gone – what now?

Dont have my original email.. what should I do?

I also do not have the original email, and I don’t see any information about this on the Rockable Press site… What do individuals like myself do to get our updated copy??

I love the new wordpress 3.0 features. Really makes template development easier.

I’m having the same problem as everyone else. Clicked on the link in my original purchase email and was given a reference number, but no promised follow up email was send to me:(

Perhaps this announcement was a bit premature?

This is definitely something I could use, but any chance this will be available in the paperback version?

I am an expert Joomla Templates designer who decided to design wordpress themes. This book is all I need to start my adventure with wordpress. Just bought the book :)

I got the current version and was surprised by how many out-of-date references in the text there are, such as referring to WP 2.7 as the latest version or referring to IE6 and 7 as major browsers with no mention of Chrome. How thoroughly did the authors go through the manuscript to reflect the changes to WordPress from 2.7 and MU to 3.0?

Hi there,

I’m skimming through the update just now, I don’t have the original PDF here in work but I’m seeing numerous references to 2.7 and then on page 138 it talks about the default Kubrick theme instead of TwentyTen.

I still think this is a great title and the template files are great to have as well. It just has a feeling of having been rushed out for 3.0.

An additional chapter with info on hosting and theming multiple WP sites or something would have made this a really worthwhile purchase.

Cheers.

Purchased. I took the PDF to a printshop to make a nice booklet for myself to work with. Can’t wait to get started! :)

Nearly paid full whack for it but after reading the latest comments – I’ll think I’ll sit on the fence for a bit.

I’m a WordPress amateur but was after something that explained what’s in 3.0.

I have purchased the first ebook and have been going through some of the tutorials but I have noticed a few typos and a few things that are not very clear and I had to “bridge the gap” myself.

Overall, I am happy but I also feel that this may have been rushed a little too soon and should have been proofread a few more times to make sure it is clear and the code structure is solid. It is not too much of an issue if you have some experience with themes but it you don’t…….oops!

Bought the book, turns out some of the code doesn’t work, there are spelling and grammar mistakes throughout. I am having particular problems following the wp_nav_menus section in chapter 4/5. It just doesn’t work.

I’ve seen a comment which states that the book shouldn’t be called WordPress 3.0. I’m new to this and the book, far from making me love WordPress, is making me hate it. Also I have tried to send Collis Ta’eed and friends but no reply.

Bit of a let down really, since Rockable has such a strong brand.

I agree with Surya Osborne. I have same exact problems as him. I made it to chapter 5 and the examples either do not work or are unclear on where exactly to edit/change stuff. The wp_nav_menus section just does not work for me either. Ive given up trying to guess stuff with this book. Please rewrite the book with easy to follow instructions and not have to do any guess work. Ive given up on this book any one else recommend any good books to get started where the instructions don’t make you guess what to do?

Hell, I haven’t been able to get past Chapter3 on the HTML part because of lack of clarity! I have the 2010 revised version.

What I don’t like about the book is that when the author wrote the code for each part of the tutorial he did not clarify exactly where to place the code, and at the end of the HTML part the author should have reinstated the ENTIRE code in a few pages just so that it is easier to recheck in case something was missed, instead of making the reader have to go through page by page back into the entire chapter.

I also found many errors on the 2010 revised edition (thus far on Chapter3). Sometimes, the author’s code will not match the subsequent pages. Example: He declared a div for the mini portfolio section named:

“” on page 75, but changed the name to “” on page 88.

This can get confusing. I understand that it is not an HTML book for beginners and I am not a beginner. I am revisiting HTML after not touching it for an entire year.

I did not find the HTML sample file helpful because the code did not match the PDF book at all!

I’ve a tendency to agree with a lot of the above posts in that elements of the tutorials are confusing and appear to either skip stages or instruct the reader to do something and then go and test the result when the tutorial instructions haven’t set up the necessary steps/parameters for the ‘result’ to work.

An example of the above appears to be in the wp_nav_menus section in chapter 4/5, where we are told to put code into the header.php file, add some pages etc and then view our new menu in all its glory…..
However, at this stage in the tutorial, we’re dealing with an index.php that has had all the code inside it replaced with the original index.html code and no call has been made to include header.php – so obviously no wp_nav_menu is going to show up! Maybe I’ve missed something here, but I don’t think so.

Also disappointed to set up the Recent Posts section (I just skipped the wp_nav_menu bit) which comes complete with instructions to include an if statement that checks that any posts matching the ID of the Featured Post don’t show up in Recent Posts. However, after completing the steps, there appears to be errors in the code because not only does the Featured Post show up in Recent Posts, there’s also this bit of stray code on the previewed WP page above all the Recent Posts (ID != $featured_ID) { ?> ). Because I was convinced I was doing something wrong, I installed the ‘finished’ theme that ships with the book to double check, however the exact same error is present in that theme!

Don’t like to moan, but in a re-revised issue of a book written by a company like Envato….well….it’s a bit sloppy. I’m sure I’ll learn some good tips and and techniques by continuing reading, but I kind of doubt that I’ll be a Rockstar WordPress Theme Designer by the end of it. Maybe a Busking one…… :P