WordPress has become the web standard for Content Management System (CMS) sites, especially for sites requiring blog capability. WordPress has become popular because WP users find it very easy to create and maintain their websites. Because WordPress is open source software it’s code base and features are continually evolving. Currently, of all new domain websites created, 22% are done with WordPress.
Few websites are coded or designed anymore by one web person. In the same vein, the content (text, images, forms, links) of the website are usually contributed by multiple authors and editors; the so-called content providers. Websites are so complex nowadays, no web designer, web programmer, or content provider has the skill set to develop an entire Web 2.0 site alone. Website creation is a collaborative experience in the web 2.0 generation, many different users doing different tasks for the final website experience.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS). The content of the website resides in a database. The webpages are created on-the-fly when a specific page is requested by the web browser. Keeping the website content in a database is much more efficient and expandable, than keeping static webpages in a web server directory.
The beauty of a WordPress site is that it is ever-evolving from many contributors worldwide. There is the core WordPress code currently at version 3.2 and there are WordPress themes associated with each WordPress installation that control the design and style of the site. This site uses a slight modification of the “TwentyEleven” theme. There are thousands of WordPress plugins that extend WordPress’ functionality beyond what the core WordPress installation offers. A WordPress site initially only requires a WP installation, selection of a desired theme, and activation of some WP plugins to gain extra site functionality. Thereafter, content providers start pouring in the site’s content; pages, widgets, posts, links, images, polls, etc.
WordPress is another technology that uses the cloud. Your WP database is up in the cloud. There is no software to buy or install. A WP site is created entirely within your web browser. There is a public side (like your homepage) and a private side to your WordPress site. The private admin pages are where the content providers create and update your site. WordPress’ Dashboard is the entrance to working on your website. The Dashboard is very adjustable and flexible to how content providers wish to work. WordPress’ new post/page editor can create new blog posts or new pages in a visual view or HTML coding view. The WordPress Dashboard is also where you can periodically update your WP and WP plugins software when needed, not when your web guy gets around to doing it.
Another advantage of having a WordPress CMS site, is that browsers don’t just download web content into only web browsers anymore. A WordPress site can easily port web content into smartphones (iOS/Blackberry/Android) and computer tablets like Apple’s iPad or HP’s TouchPad with no additional work.
The rest of this article describes various web technologies that any WordPress installation could have, starting with site navigation.
Organizing your site’s menus is a drag and drop task. In the past, this required a web programmer and coding. No more, the end-user can easily create or adjust the site’s navigational structure visually with cursor-dragging of menu items.
Most websites have a left or right sidebar area for displaying additional content (called sidebar widgets) related to the main content area. By simply dragging and dropping selected widgets, the content provider can customize the sidebar column. Examples are sidebar calendars, Twitter or RSS feeds, or maybe a localized weather widget. This site uses the Google Translation widget to provide translated views of the site’s content instantly.
I use the nextGen WP plugin to generate photo galleries. In the past, photo galleries required separate software that did not integrate well with the rest of the website. NextGen is a photo gallery plugin that was developed to work specifically with WordPress, no having to move to a photo gallery site outside of your site. Clients can easily upload, optimize, label, and organize their photo collections and embed these nextGen galleries anywhere into their blog posts or pages.
Google Analytics is integrated into each page of this WP site. Google Analytics, along with a careful SEO techniques will ensure good search engine results displayed directly with the site’s Dashboard. With a WordPress site, I believe, an expensive Search Engine Specialist is no longer necessary for good search engine results.
Having Google interactive maps directly within WordPress is a nice visual supplement to your geo-related content. Creating Google map titles with your own custom overlay (customized map labels) and publishing the map to any location, size and scale makes your post better. These HTML5 maps are created with a Mapquest® map editor plugin and display on all mobile devices without Flash technology.
WordPress also has a plugin to embedded Google Calendars into your WordPress pages. This calendar syncs with your desktop computer and smartphone calendars as well.
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Many businesses have a Facebook Fan page, WordPress posts can be setup to be published to Facebook accounts directly from WordPress.
A new feature with WordPress 3.2, is a full screen editor, allowing you clutter-free space to concentrate on writing.
Another new feature of WordPress 3.2 is the option to make a post “sticky”, which adds the sticky post to a Featured Posts area on your homepage. The browser can click through your most important current content.
WordPress sites can easily be ported to mobile devices (there are currently 6 mobile platforms: iOS, Android, WebOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, Nokia, plus the tablets like iPad. Mobile themes sense smartphone viewing and re-format the client’s content to different mobile device sizes. Not only does the WordPress site look good on mobile devices, site content providers can update their site’s on the go from their smartphones with WordPress Mobile Apps.
I have the capacity to host WordPress sites I build. This means I can build, host, and serve a client’s whole web presence. No ISPs. No third parties. No extra charges. This keeps it simple and saves $.
- $20/month web hosting
- $30/month web hosting with email
- Web Database (SQL) no charge
- Hosting billed once a year.