December 14th, 2010 by Mike
As I stated way back, WordPress is an Open Source application and its FREE. Now that sound great, but I think a little more information needs to be dispelled so that you have the full picture.
Although it is a Free application, it isn’t one that you can install on your home computer. You can, but it won’t do much for you from the world wide web side of things. As your home computer is far from web server which is what is needed to have your site available to the www. So, to start things off, you need a Host. The web Host is the entity that houses web servers in which your WordPress site will go. I am sure that each and everyone knows who Godaddy is? They are web hosts, but they are not the only ones. There are thousands out there. Some local, some national, some global. They each have different pricing and options. Bottom line, you will need a Host.
With that, and truly a MUST, is that you have a domain name. If you already have such, then you will most likely find that the entity in which you purchased your domain name, can also (and by default) can be you host. The entity that you purchased your domain name from, is the Registrar. And you being the owner of the domain, you are the Registrant. The registrant, that is you, own the domain. The registrar is simply the holding company. You can move your domain to another registrar or host. So, don’t feel like you have to host your site where you purchased it. Just a note, you can have a separate host and registrar. However, that means you are paying two entities instead of one, and it adds to making things not work as well. So, best thing to do, is keep them together.
With the hosting package, you usually get a few email accounts to use. Now that you have a host and a domain name, now you can install the WordPress App, build your site and have your online presence.
Many of the hosts provide assistance and tools to help you out. But, for many, this is not in their comfort zone and in that case, rely on others for assistance.
The good thing is that once all this behind the scenes stuff is taken care of, the rest is easy sailing.
December 5th, 2010 by Mike
When we say things go hand in hand we mean are talking about things that work together. The reason that WordPress is what it is today is, one, it works. It has been around for some time and has been developed and has grown with the times. Secondly, it is simple in form and structure in that anyone can learn to use it. Even if you have no computer skills, you can learn to use WordPress. Now, you may never be able to change the font of your menu, but you will be able to take a picture from your camera and place it on a post and add your content and be happy with your work.
And here goes the hand in hand part. Because of the above features, it is probably the most widely use Blog CMS software out there. And with that, it continues to get better, and have more features.
Many years back I devoted hours and hours to developing websites. And over those many years I developed an ungodly number of sites. Great! Well not really. As time went on, supporting all the sites became more of a headache then what is was worth. And one might think that all support made me money. Yes, it did, but it wasn’t worth it. The answer was in Content Management. Where as the developer, I built the framework. Customized the site to fit my clients needs. Then taught how to manage their site on their own. They no longer had to call me to add a name, change and address, or add a page. They, could do it themselves. Not only did that save time, but is saved them money. And we all like to save money.
With that I did my investigation, testing and what not and decided that WordPress was the way to go. I barely need to load up my web development tools anymore and I like it. My clients like so once again have another hand in hand process.
November 20th, 2010 by Mike
What is a Plugin. Well in the simplest of terms, in relationship to WordPress, it is some feature set that we ‘plugin’ to WordPress to make it better. For example, the basic WordPress Installation does not have a way to backup your contnet. However, you an install a backup plugin in Wordrpess that provides you that feature. Its like adding new appliances to your home, adding a bigger closet, or security system. It becomes part of your WordPress environment.
Once again, there are both FREE and pay-for plugins. In the many years I have been dealing with WordPress I have not bought a single plugin. So, if there is a feature you need or want, most likely it is out there.
Adding plugins to WordPress simply makes things easier, as any of these features you could program yourself if you knew how. But since most of us don’t, or better put, CAN’T, we rely on others that can. And I say that, as many of the plugins may ask for donation. Fee free to help them out as it is there hard work and effort that is making your site easier. And it is your support that keeps them on top of things and keeps the plugins updated.
There is a old adage, that deals having the right tools. The plugins are the tools and having the right tools is half the battle to a great site.
November 8th, 2010 by Mike
The first part of building a WordPress site, once the framework (or program is installed) is to do one of three things. First and the simplest is to browse the thousands of WordPress Themes. As stated, the theme define how your site looks. Is it one-column, or two? Is it red or blue? Where are the buttons? On the top, down the right or left side. Once we decide on how it looks we simply tell WP to use the theme and literally in seconds, the site transforms. And this transformation is only the design… it does not effect the content of the site. So, for example, a few months down the pike you decide you like a different theme, well in just a few clicks you can transform your site from one to another. Just think what that would have cost you to have a web person do? So, now you have a fully operational blog site. And as long as you are happy with how it looks, you are set. Now all you have to do is add the content.
However, what we might find is a Theme we really like, but we don’t like the colors. Or we want to use our own graphics. Well, that adds a few degrees of difficulty and we must learn how to customize our theme. Now, as many themes are FREE, there are themes that one can buy. And usually the difference between them is the feature set, or bells and whistles. A Free theme is kinda like set in stone unless you know how HTML code or PHP. Whereas, many of the themes you buy are designed to allow you to make changes to the theme. Changing colors, pictures, headers, footers etc.
The next step after that, which encompasses the remaining two options is to learn how to customize the site on your own. This requires learning HTML and CSS and maybe a little PHP. And the more you learn, the more you will be able to be in control. So, the remaining two options would be to take the default theme that comes with WordPress, or an existing Theme and make it yours through customization.
November 1st, 2010 by Mike
First off, what is WordPress? WordPress is a open source, content management, website framework designed for ‘blogging’. Looking at these components, one at a time. First is open source. That means that the ‘source’ code is open. Open in that is NOT propriety in that one must purchase it or a license to use it. The WordPress source is open, visable and there for others to use. And with this, many other people or often called 3rd Parties have developed features that can be added to WordPress to make it better. But more on that in a later post.
Secondly, is content management. That basically means that the content, the meat and potatoes of your site is easily maintained by the owner, an employee or a web guy without the need of special software or tools. And for the most part, now ‘web’ training is necessary. However, I will say now, and explain further in a later post, that the more you learn about how a web page works and WordPress operates, the better your site will be.
Lastly, a website framework designed for blogging. The quickest analogy that I can give you is that think of these as the framework of a house and the type of house. There are many types of homes, one-story, 5-bedroom, duplex etc. Thus the WordPress framework is build around the ‘blogging’ features. And as I stated, it is only the framework. How you make it look, depends on what are called Themes, which are basically developed by the user, or 3rd Parties and made available to you. The Themes basically define the way the site looks and feels. Much like that of home where the theme would define where the walls go, and the interior design.
Because of these features, WordPress has become a very large community. There a millions of people who use, there are tons of 3rd Party folks who have created custom Themes and Plugins to enhance the product. And with that, there becomes a great support community. There are untold number of books, but the best support comes from the web itself.
February 22nd, 2010 by Mike
Welcome, by the recent emails it seems that my Cousin Joel has been giving my name out again. What a fabulous man. I hope that he has provided you with some great knowledge and invaluable tools to help you in you new direction or venture. And beings that you are now at my site, good chance is that you interested at one of the those all-important tools – a ‘blog’ site .
If you would like to discuss the possibilities with me, I ask that you fill in a simple questionaire so that I may have a better idea of the project at hand. Once I review it and do any necessary homework, I will contact you personally to discuss the project. If there is a better time to call, please indicate so on the form. You can click the link below to access the form.
Blog Questionaire
Look forward to hear from you.
