Can I Update My Own Website? Part 2: WordPress

Last week I mentioned several available options that allows one to update their own website. Click here if you have not read that posting. That will give you the background for this posting.

In this posting, I will discuss one of those options. WordPress.

WordPress is being used more and more. Not only has it become one of the main ‘blog’ options for blog sites, it is becoming more and more popular as an option for designing a ‘non-blog’ website. The beauty of WordPress is that there are zillions of templates to choose from, or, if you find the right website designer, they can customize your WordPress site to your liking.

Using WordPress doesn’t mean your site needs to be a blog. It can be just a ‘normal’ website ‘hooked’ into WordPress. This hook allows you to easily update your site. Below is a screen shot of what the WordPress interface looks like. It is almost like using Word to update your site, except that WordPress converts your content into industry-standard html (the programming language behind every web page).

In WordPress, you type in your content than use the icons above the preview area to format your text. You can also use the icons to include images, video, and audio. The only disadvantage I see with WordPress is that you do not see the rest of the page (banners, menu bar, etc.) while you are updating the content. However, you can do this with just a click of a button. There is a Preview option to see your updates before going live. The only other ‘disadvantage’ may be if you want to fully customize your site, is finding a website designer that can customize your site into WordPress. (This is a good place for a shameless plug! …Onward! Studios is able to do this.)

Next week we’ll look at another option called CushyCMS, that also allows you to update your website. In the meantime, if you have any questions about WordPress, or if you have used WordPress and want to share your experience, leave a comment below.