How user friendly is WordPress?

jbj

Poor old Geordie's array...
My DJ website is starting to look a bit tired and dated (professoinal sabotage by my brother who designed it and is also getting into the DJ game??? :shrug: :grin: )

Anyway I saw a really cool looking blog and thought THAT's what I want me site to look like.

Turns out it's this WordPress template: http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/270/4/9/puzzle_wordpress_theme_by_sandracz-d6o4k6f.jpg

I wouldn't want anything too big or complicated - a simple / elegant version of that ^ whereby you have a few "buttons" (if that's what those squares are called) for each page of the site with a picture, some text and then it links you to the main page.

i.e.

Moodlighting Button = A nice picture of my moodlighting set up and a small blurb "Create the perfect ambience for your special day (or some such shit) with bespoke moodlighting read more" and clicking it takes you to the moodlighting page with more pics, text and video.

How difficult would that be to do for a total noob a this stuff? The last website stuff I did was on Freeserve :eek:
 
The thing about that screenshot that you need to understand is that each of those buttons links to a blog entry. They are not links to pages.

That's okay if you carefully build your posts in order. However, if you go and edit a post or add new ones, that front page of buttons will change automatically to reflect the order of the posts by date.
It can be manipulated, but it might be a bit of a chore just to remember to do it.
The navigation along the top is for categories. So, clicking one will filter all of the blog entries down to just those tagged as Movies, for example.
So, it could work if you built your content, such as Mood Lighting, as a blog entry, and all the others and then never touched it again.

So, that's what I'd be concerned about with that particular screen shot.
That said, if the theme allows you to put page navigation along the top (it probably does) AND you've got enough things to blog about, you could have your fixed info on pages that are linked along the top and the buttons would be links to more dynamic content like photos from a recent gig.
That could look cool, but you have to be diligent in adding blog entries or it will be stale. The key is that the buttons are going to build over time and be sorted by date from latest to earliest. So, blog often and it will be a sharp looking site.


Otherwise, WP is pretty straightforward.
 
The thing about that screenshot that you need to understand is that each of those buttons links to a blog entry. They are not links to pages.

That's okay if you carefully build your posts in order. However, if you go and edit a post or add new ones, that front page of buttons will change automatically to reflect the order of the posts by date.
It can be manipulated, but it might be a bit of a chore just to remember to do it.
The navigation along the top is for categories. So, clicking one will filter all of the blog entries down to just those tagged as Movies, for example.
So, it could work if you built your content, such as Mood Lighting, as a blog entry, and all the others and then never touched it again.

So, that's what I'd be concerned about with that particular screen shot.
That said, if the theme allows you to put page navigation along the top (it probably does) AND you've got enough things to blog about, you could have your fixed info on pages that are linked along the top and the buttons would be links to more dynamic content like photos from a recent gig.
That could look cool, but you have to be diligent in adding blog entries or it will be stale. The key is that the buttons are going to build over time and be sorted by date from latest to earliest. So, blog often and it will be a sharp looking site.


Otherwise, WP is pretty straightforward.

I am about to build a site for my law practice, as I have not had one since Findlaw allowed you to have a free one years ago, other than a Facebook "like" page. I was going to try to use this template: http://wordpress.org/themes/vantage I want a "responsive" "splash" page, with links to bio info, etc. and to little articles of interest regarding areas of practice. Such as, information regarding dui and license suspension laws in Idaho, perils of bringing your legal Washington pot into Idaho, bankruptcy questions, etc., each page with a "call to action" call/email me button with contact info. I have never built a page, but plan on watching the youtube wordpress tutorials available on the wordpress.org site.

Thoughts?
 
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The thing about that screenshot that you need to understand is that each of those buttons links to a blog entry. They are not links to pages.

That's okay if you carefully build your posts in order. However, if you go and edit a post or add new ones, that front page of buttons will change automatically to reflect the order of the posts by date.
It can be manipulated, but it might be a bit of a chore just to remember to do it.
The navigation along the top is for categories. So, clicking one will filter all of the blog entries down to just those tagged as Movies, for example.
So, it could work if you built your content, such as Mood Lighting, as a blog entry, and all the others and then never touched it again.

So, that's what I'd be concerned about with that particular screen shot.
That said, if the theme allows you to put page navigation along the top (it probably does) AND you've got enough things to blog about, you could have your fixed info on pages that are linked along the top and the buttons would be links to more dynamic content like photos from a recent gig.
That could look cool, but you have to be diligent in adding blog entries or it will be stale. The key is that the buttons are going to build over time and be sorted by date from latest to earliest. So, blog often and it will be a sharp looking site.


Otherwise, WP is pretty straightforward.

Right thanks for the heads up.

So..... and forgive me if I'm being dense and not understanding what you just said:

One potential way I could get round that is:

Have the Home page updating with little blogs, feedback blurbs, new pics and stuff (so the buttons will change order on that)

and then along the top have categories: About Me, Packages, Moodlighting, Previous clients etc...

And could have it that you click on those and it would take you to a different page with different buttons for each one and providing I didn't change anything on those pages, it would stay in the order I put it?
 
Also what's the difference in as you say, the buttons linking to a blog instead of a page?

And if I didn't want them going to new blogs (aside from on the home page) could I disable the link feature so it was just text or an image but you couldn't click on it or have it take you anywhere?
 
Wordpress is easy to get started with but it takes a bit of learning to fully exploit. Ot really helps if you have an understanding of CSS stylesheets, especially if you use a template and want to tailor it to your own needs.

Its definitely NOT a quick blog platform like Blogger for the casual user, but it is very comprehensive and you can build beautiful blogs with ut
 
That page you used as an example looked to me like a Windows 8 desktop. Tastes vary, but to me that's a big phail.....
 
Right thanks for the heads up.

So..... and forgive me if I'm being dense and not understanding what you just said:

One potential way I could get round that is:

Have the Home page updating with little blogs, feedback blurbs, new pics and stuff (so the buttons will change order on that)

and then along the top have categories: About Me, Packages, Moodlighting, Previous clients etc...

And could have it that you click on those and it would take you to a different page with different buttons for each one and providing I didn't change anything on those pages, it would stay in the order I put it?

If the them allows for it, I would put links to pages rather than categories, But I think that's what you mean when you say About Me, Packages, etc...
Build that content in pages rather than posts.
WordPress differentiates them, but the process of creating them is pretty much the same learning curve.

The clicked-through pages would not likely have buttons like the home page. It could be made to do that, but the buttons you're seeing on that home page is a feed of all of the blog posts, not links to other content pages. The code that makes that feed work will only draw in blog posts. It is possible to "hack in" the same look and feel and have static links to other content pages, but if you're more interested in linking between what will be mostly static content, then you will be fighting the nature of Wordpress and the available themes. It CAN be done, but it's kind of not natural.
 
I like the fact that it looks that way - most other DJ websites use boring templates or are very similar - the point of my idea is to stand out from the pack right from the get go.

In the odds of brides looking at it and going:

- that's really different, I'm going to have a look at this

or

- That looks like windows 8, PASS

I think the first will win hands down.
 
Also what's the difference in as you say, the buttons linking to a blog instead of a page?

And if I didn't want them going to new blogs (aside from on the home page) could I disable the link feature so it was just text or an image but you couldn't click on it or have it take you anywhere?
Not as it is in that theme. Those buttons represent a feed from the blog posts.
As I said above, though, you could make it do what you want but it will take some coding, and as wok said, you'll need to learn CSS to really take advantage of the theme features.

99% of picking the right theme has more to do with it's functionality than its looks. Everyone thinks it's the other way around until they start to try and make it do what they thought it would do for them.
 
If the them allows for it, I would put links to pages rather than categories, But I think that's what you mean when you say About Me, Packages, etc...
Build that content in pages rather than posts.
WordPress differentiates them, but the process of creating them is pretty much the same learning curve.

The clicked-through pages would not likely have buttons like the home page. It could be made to do that, but the buttons you're seeing on that home page is a feed of all of the blog posts, not links to other content pages. The code that makes that feed work will only draw in blog posts. It is possible to "hack in" the same look and feel and have static links to other content pages, but if you're more interested in linking between what will be mostly static content, then you will be fighting the nature of Wordpress and the available themes. It CAN be done, but it's kind of not natural.

Cool thanks for the info.

Sooooooooo (and again forgive me for being dense...

The stuff on the top links to static pages (e.g. you click on Mood lighting and it takes you to the mood lighting page just like any other link on a website)

However the boxes on the front page are all links to blog content

Sooooooooooo the most straight forward way to work it would be to have the top linking to the actual pages of the sites and the buttons all linking to blogs, photos videos etc...?

i.e. the best way to use this template would be to have the top links linking to pages within the site just like any other website then using the buttons on the front page to upload fresh content like blogs, pictures, Vlogs etc... I'm thinking I could put song lists from the weekend's gigs, video Q&A sessions, gig logs etc... on there to keep the thing changing up.

Is that what you mean?
 
I am about to build a site for my law practice, as I have not had one since Findlaw allowed you to have a free one years ago, other than a Facebook "like" page. I was going to try to use this template: http://wordpress.org/themes/vantage I want a "responsive" "splash" page, with links to bio info, etc. and to little articles of interest regarding areas of practice. Such as, information regarding dui and license suspension laws in Idaho, perils of bringing your legal Washington pot into Idaho, bankruptcy questions, etc., each page with a "call to action" call/email me button with contact info. I have never built a page, but plan on watching the youtube wordpress tutorials available on the wordpress.org site.

Thoughts?
That theme is set up with page links in the top navigation. So, this one does what you want in that regard.
 
Cool thanks for the info.

Sooooooooo (and again forgive me for being dense...

The stuff on the top links to static pages (e.g. you click on Mood lighting and it takes you to the mood lighting page just like any other link on a website)

However the boxes on the front page are all links to blog content

Sooooooooooo the most straight forward way to work it would be to have the top linking to the actual pages of the sites and the buttons all linking to blogs, photos videos etc...?

i.e. the best way to use this template would be to have the top links linking to pages within the site just like any other website then using the buttons on the front page to upload fresh content like blogs, pictures, Vlogs etc... I'm thinking I could put song lists from the weekend's gigs, video Q&A sessions, gig logs etc... on there to keep the thing changing up.

Is that what you mean?
Yep. That's what the theme does as it is built. IF it lets you have page navigation instead of categories along the top.
I am almost 100% certain that it does - as most allow for custom menus - but I have seen a few that don't let you futz with them without editing the theme code.
 
And I just found the documentation on the theme.

You can absolutely change the top navigation menu to show pages instead of the categories.

So, you can do exactly what you described.
 
I’ve run Wordpress since 2009 with no trouble. Wordpress is about as simple as a CMS gets. If you can figure out how to install it you can figure out how to do almost anything you’ll need to do as a small business. With the right hosting provider you don’t even have to install it; just install your theme. I recommend that you hire a competent designer to customize your theme so you don’t end up with same site as ten other DJ’s, tho. Whoever designers your flyers can probably help you or knows someone who can. Also, make sure that you pay for a good responsive theme like Pagelines DMS so your site works on mobile devices. Most web traffic, especially for young people, comes from phones and there’s no point having a web site if it isn’t easy to use on a tiny touch screen.
 
So I got my domain name registered and my site hosted via Bluehost. (stevethompsonlaw.com real creative I know, but I want people to be able to find it easily ) I installed Wordpress, and loaded "Vantage" as a theme. Now I am stuck for customizing it. I will do some more searching for instructions, and a buddy of mine will be able to help me later. I think I only really need to find the "control panel" or whatever and that then I will be able to mess with it pretty intuitively. But I am confused about what control panel or whatever to be using to load photos, sliders, change content, etc.
 
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