Lesson 1 – Managing the File Structure

In this video tutorial lesson you will learn how to effectively manage the file structure of your website.  Customizing the Thesis theme involves editing files created by Thesis for this purpose.  A key ingredient to properly managing the files on your site is to create and manage a mirror version of those files on your local computer.

We will start off by exploring the default file structure of both WordPress and the Thesis theme. And because it’s different in many different hosts, I’m going to do this in 3 of my hosting accounts. Each of those web hosting accounts has entirely different control panels and so we’ll look at the differences and the similarities between them. Next we’ll create a mirror file structure on our local computer.  Then we will configure FileZilla so that it synchronizes the views of both our remote website and our local computer.  With this completed we will create a local copy of our Thesis theme installation and finally we will prepare our site for customization.

In this lesson you will:

Understanding the Default WordPress and Thesis Theme File Structure

• Look at the control panels of BlueHost, Ipower Web and LFC Hosting
• Contents of the Hosting Root Directory
• Contents of the Website Root Directory
• WordPress File Structure
• Thesis Theme File Structure

Create a Local “Mirror” Copy of Your Site’s File Structure

• The Importance of Having a Local Copy of Your Customization File Structure
• Step 1 – Consolidate all local copies of WordPress and Thesis Theme Files
• Step 2 – Create a Central Location for All Websites
• Step 3 – Create the Mirror File Structure
• Other Recommended Folders

Configure Filezilla for Synchronized Browsing

• Get FTP Login Information (Bluehost, Ipower Web, LFC Hosting)
• The Difference in Terminology Between Different Hosts
• Configure FileZilla – General
• Configure FileZilla – Advanced
• Synchronized Browsing Demonstrated

Create a Local Copy of Thesis Theme Customization Files

• Connect with FileZilla
• Download Thesis Theme Files
• Browse Local Copy of Thesis

Prepare the Site for Customization

• Dashboard Warning Message
• Rename custom-sample folder
• Download custom folder
• Check Warning Messages