Wordpress was originally designed as a free blogging system for the web but it is increasingly being used to build entire company, community and magazine websites. So what is it all about and why should I use it?
WordPress is an Open Source blogging system with many famous users backing it such as No 10 Downing Street, . The most common incarnations can be found in three formats – a blog hosted by WordPress at http://sitename.wordpress.com, a local hosted version blog created by installing it on a server with PHP and MySQL capability available from http://www.wordpress.org and the Multiuser version available from http://mu.wordpress.org [though there are not many examples of this currently].
If a company requires a website and the WordPress engine is chosen for this purpose then there are several things to consider:
Advantages
- Free open source code available for personal or commercial use – WordPress has been adapted for a more Content Managed System approach in recent years which allows the creation of whole websites using the system.
- Support from WordPress.org in terms of software updates and upgrades
- Support from a global WordPress community in the form of forums and template designers
- Use of strict, high quality coding standards compliant with all major browsers
- Ability to create additional functionality through the use of plugins
Disadvantages
- A good level of CSS knowledge and basic Photoshop and PHP [at least] are required to change and update a template
- Some groups claim that it is not a true CMS system as its primary development purpose was for weblogging or blogging
If you are looking to create a website for your company, organisation or academic project then WordPress is worth a look. Be aware that to create an individual feel to your site, it will require additional time and effort from a programmer and designer There are a variety of templates out there which will save a designer time but the trick is to apply these templates whilst remaining true to your company identity. You can see some examples of WordPress sites at www.simcoe.co.uk.
Templates
Popular sites for downloading templates are:
http://www.themeforest.net
http://wpremix.com
http://templatic.com
Most of the time you will only require a single user license for which you will normally pay between $30 and $75 [$US]. Its worth browsing these templates to see what WordPress can actually do for you and what it has helped create already.
A mini-website on a budget of $0.00
If you re on a budget or simply want to try the system out have a look at www.wordpress.com and sign up for an account. You can blog for free but there are a limited number of templates available to you and it is not as flexible as the version you download from www.wordpress.org and upload to your own server such as those purchased at 34sp.com.
If you want to see a brief video on signing up go to WordPress.TV and find out more. In addition, this YouTube video has been useful to some people too.
Community
This is just an aside really, but I’ve recently discovered BuddyPress for WordPress MultiUser which, if you are creating a site for a group or groups of like minded people, allows contribution to different group blogs or even hosting of personal blogs on the same server with the main site acting as an overview of sitewide activity. I have found that the BP Groupblog is a very useful part of this community based plugin. BuddyPress is excellent – but as of December 2009 seems to lack the ability to upload individual avatars for users. This will hopefully be resolved in a near-future update!
Conclusion
- Get some inspiration from the gallery, forum, wiki or online magazine examples
- Try out the online demonstration of the theme thoroughly
- Talk to your web designer about the pro’s and con’s of the template
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