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Jeff Mathis
3,935 PointsUsing Wordpress
I have a pretty good idea at this point on how to build and structure websites. I am looking in to learn how word press works as well. Is using word press a smart thing to do? or is it kind of cheating and unnecessary considering i know how to build sites without wordpress?
2 Answers
Justin Horner
Treehouse Guest TeacherHello Jeff,
That's a great question. Everyone will have their own perspective on the use of WordPress vs. custom sites but in general I find that WordPress is a phenomenal tool for almost any simple web site. WordPress can significantly increase efficiency of maintenance due to its user-friendly, customizable front-end.
It is certainly a smart thing to do for the right project. Typically, when using WordPress for a project you will use your knowledge of building websites because you'll want to either create a custom theme or customize one you find or purchase. So don't think of it as cheating, because it isn't.
However, remember that it's always best to choose the right tool for the job. While there's plenty of power available in WordPress, sometimes you might need to interop with some platforms and services that might make the job more difficult to accomplish in WordPress.
There's always a place for completely custom solutions. The best course of action is to be able to work in both environments comfortably. Treehouse has amazing courses on WordPress by Zac Gordon so be sure to check them out.
I hope this helps.
D Berge
2,035 PointsI would say that it depends on the type of Sites you are building. A small, static (unchanging) site that only has a few pages... a CMS might be overkill. But there are all kinds of advantages to using popular CMSs like WordPress.
Short answer, YES. Becoming familiar with a CMS is a very, very smart thing to do. (My Preference is Drupal). Once you start working with it the value will become obvious immediately. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain. Go for it!
Jeff Mathis
3,935 Pointssorry..... what is CMS?
D Berge
2,035 PointsCMS = Content Management System. Where content is managed and served from a database.
Word Press is a great one to start with. You can build simple Blogs or large complex community sites, commerce sites, etc. Very flexible and powerful. Fun to play with too.
Jeff Mathis
3,935 PointsJeff Mathis
3,935 Pointsthanks for the response ! I'm going through the new "How to Build a wordPress Blog " by zac right now. It seems really interesting and can save a lot of time on projects. I understand the overall idea behind building a site.... i dont see why i wouldn't want to make it easier on myself! Just wanted to make sure it wasn't gonna hurt me in the long run. It seems like a really good resource to use while building sites. Could you give me a couple examples of when you would prefer to use Wordpress over building a site manually? Maybe some pros and cons to using wordpress that you have discovered with experience?