Showing posts with label WordPress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WordPress. Show all posts

Monday, July 16, 2012

Do You Know How to Start a WordPress Blog?

A multitude people every day flock to the internet's search engines searching for information on how to start a WordPress blog. This occurs for good reason, WordPress is the best blogging platform out there. The most successful bloggers in the world use it, as well as unknowledgable blogging newcomers. It is open source material, meaning that any individual can use it, at no cost to them. In this short article I would like to educated you on how to start a WordPress blog, and even a little trick that you can utilize to make the process as laid back as possible.

To begin making a WordPress blog, you first require a theme. There are hundreds of free themes, which are the basic look that you blog will have. The theme includes all aspects from the layout to the colors that are used in the design. If you would like, you can even have a theme custom created for you, or you can purchase a premium theme with lots of built in features. I myself use a premium theme with a few customizations. It's great.To decide on a theme, all you are required to do is meander your way through the massive library that WordPress provides. When you pick one out and have a basic thought of what your blog will appear like, you will want to get a web hosting plan.

Web Hosting

This process is really simple, although sometimes it can give the image that it is very challenging. In fact, the entire process can take a few as five or ten minutes.There are hundreds of different web hosting companies available, and you should have to take a little time to find one. A very helpful method to save this time is to look to a well known blogger in the blogging community. You should find out what already established bloggers are using and then go from there. If people are using a company, that must mean that they are going to be useful. If you happen to be consulting a WordPress installation and setup service to get your blog going, you can trust what they have to say about web hosts.

I myself have tested out a number of different hosts and been happy with all of them. The majority of web hosting companies have the same usable features, just small spreads in their price structure. At the point which you have purchased your own web hosting plan, you will need to install WordPress. This process can be as easy or as hard as you would like to make it. With web hosts that utilize a c-panel type of interface, set up can be fairly straightforward.

It can get a tad confusing, and that is why I encourage that you have a person with experience do it for you if it is your first experience using WordPress. At the point that you have your blog installed, you will be required to configure certain things inside the WordPress administration options. You will have to edit your email address and blog password. You can change your login username if you would like. The biggest thing that you will need to do with your new blog is install the most popular and important plugins.

Plugins are features that you install on your blog to add much increased functionality. These plugins will add a lot, including automatic backup of your blog so you don't lose any of your hard work, and cut out spam commenters. It really all depends on what you would like, there is a plugin for pretty much every situation and use that you can think of.

This bas been a basic concept on how to start a WordPress blog.

Do You Know How to Start a WordPress Blog?

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

WordPress Themes or Bespoke Web Design?

WordPress is currently the most popular publishing platform in the world with over 25 million people choosing to use it! The question is 'why is it so popular..?' The answer is not that difficult because, it's so easy to use you could teach your granny to use it! In-fact your granny could download it and have a professional looking business up and running in no time at all!

Great, let's do it gran we pay , sort out some hosting and where do we go now... well... hmm... er? There are so many free templates and pre-made themes on specialist websites like Themeforest. These are great for start-up companies to use but does that make it the right thing to do?

Web Hosting

"Hey I'm on a budget so it's cost effective to use a pre-made template! Of course, using something of the shelf is a no-brainer because you get off the ground and your up and running with the big boys, shoulder to shoulder, doing business but, actually hang on! Looking at all these other websites... hmm! They look familiar? I know where I've seen that before, I was going to buy that one because it look different and individual... eh, what the!"

Ok, sorry about the third person in my head there! The fact of the matter is that pre-made templates are not unique and the danger is that you get diluted in an already (over 25 million!) saturated world of WordPress websites! Although they are cost effective, using them will become frustrating because of the inflexibility of using them. My guess is that you'll buy one to do one thing and another to do something else and then another..... the dilution starts!

Let's make no bones about it, I love WordPress because it's full on and I only have to use what I need! The core is like having 2000bhp engine under the bonnet! But, you can drive it like a first time driver or an F1 super star! This is ultimately how time and money can be saved, through bespoke development of only what is needed!

Bespoke means unique and flexible and that's something you don't get with pre-made templates.

Having a website that is not only unique but easy to use is going to save you time when it comes to adding your content. We design only what is necessary and what you want or need. With a pre made theme you might not like a certain bit of functionality, you want the logo moved in the header, you want to change something but you can't, it's the way the theme was designed and thats it! Also, you might have to figure out where to put special bits of content if it's not well documented in the 30 page manual!

So be careful about using pre made themes, although you'll end up spending less money the time you might waste in the end will make up for that and actually cost you more!

What are your thoughts, do you use them, have you had any frustrations with them?

WordPress Themes or Bespoke Web Design?