I finally began a much needed website overhaul, and hope it might be helpful to someone if I cover a little about the process.
TL;DR
The “Too Long; Didn’t Read” version is that I chose to go with WordPress rather than build from scratch, and that might be as much as you care to hear. But if you’re currently deciding how to proceed with your own site, read on, maybe I’ll cover something you don’t already know.
Here We Go
There’s practically an infinite amount of resources out there to compare and contrast all your options when it comes to website design and management. Others are far more qualified than I to tell you about that, so I’ll just cover my use case and reasoning without as many details.
What are Your Website Needs?
My business is somewhat small and service-based. This means most people go to my website to make sure I’m legitimate, or to find my contact info. I don’t sell products online (yet?), and I don’t have a retail location. All of this means my website needs are rather minimal, but I want the ability to expand it with business growth.
I built my original site essentially by hand (modified boilerplate bootstrap). It wasn’t bad, but it was “static” which means no blog, and no quick additions to content. I’m not really a web developer, or a graphic designer, but I could create a back-end to allow quick blog-like posts. I could keep adding to that back-end to allow media uploads, login pages, and on, and on… and on. This becomes a rather daunting idea, and an IT professional hiring a web developer is unthinkable (not really, I’m just pretty stubborn), so a framework is in order. There are a lot of frameworks out there, known as CMS, or Content Management Systems. This is where WordPress comes in.
How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the WordPress
It’s funny, I’ve repeatedly criticized WP in the past for boxing users into a particular style, or a cookie cutter design. This supposed helpful system, forcing you to work around and sift through the available plugins to get something akin to what you want. Yet, here I am, and I hereby retract some of my previous complaints. WP has changed quite a bit since my last experience. It’s just so darn easy to get rolling with a clean looking site, and the sheer amount of resources for WP is staggering.
Below is a simplified process, if you plan on following along.
- Don’t take out your wallet – WordPress won’t cost you a penny to install.
- One Click – Most web hosts have a single-click installation wizard, generally you can follow the default settings. Don’t be afraid, if something goes wrong it’s usually just as easy to uninstall and start over.
- Fill in the blanks – Just swap the placeholder content with your own information, and that’s it for day one.
- Fine tune – After the initial celebration, test out other themes or try some plugins until you get everything perfect.
“It Would be Fun,” They Said
If the idea of doing this on your own gives you the heebie-jeebies, give me a call. For the Independent, I can train on-site. For the busy, I can set it up completely.
-Mike