Wordpress

Last month when I started working at Switch Up Web, I began to teach myself Wordpress.

Wordpress is a popular blogging platform and Content Management System (CMS). At first I was reluctant, my background is in hand coding and I couldn't see how a heavily template-based platform could ever look fully custom. I had heard good things but I mostly dismissed them as the ravings of people who are afraid of code. Now that I am a (lightly) seasoned Wordpress person, I can confirm that those good things I heard are true.

In addition to being easy to use from a programming standpoint, Wordpress is also easy to hand off to a client. The 'Dashboard' allows you to set how much access you want to give to certain users. Have a client who shouldn't go near the back-end? Just reduce their user permissions. If someone needs a content change on a page, they don't need to call you at 3 o'clock in the morning, they can do it themselves. It requires a computer skill level about the same as using Microsoft Word.

I am officially a convert.


If you are interested in getting started with Wordpress, you can download it here: wordpress.org

To help you along, here's a list of my current favorite plugins:

WooCommerce - An excellent shopping cart that allows integration with PayPal and many other popular payment methods.

ContactForm7 - Simple and straightforward contact form that inserts into a post or page via a shortcode.

RegenerateThumbnails - Automatically resizes images in your Media Library when you make an update to image sizes.

EventsManager - Organizes upcoming events and allows people to register for them and buy tickets.

MeteorSlides - An easy to manage slideshow that allows for linking to a specific page or post.

Get-a-Post - Allows you to use shortcodes in theme files to pull in a specific post.