WordPress, Much More than Blogging Software
Posted on November 21, 2007
More and more in real world development projects I’m finding WordPress to be a robust Content Management System that is very configurable for developing small to mid-size websites. The functionality and extensibility of WordPress is ever increasing for rolling your own CMS.
In addition to my continued development of ets-lindgren.com, the main website for ETS-Lindgren, I’ve been a busy beaver at work on some key projects. In October we launched a new marketing initiative for WiMAX Radiated Performance Testing (WiMAXRPT) which entailed a website and flash video launched from conception to production in a couple of weeks using a WordPress platform at wimaxrpt.com.
A Prime Example of a WordPress Project
As a freelance project, I’ve been tasked to revamp the site onedayacademy.com. The current site as of this posting is quite common to many web 1.0 sites, created with online tools with static information to distribute information:
The initial visual prototype starts with a stream-lined, clean and reductionist approach. While the end result may go through some cosmetic adjustments, this basic design gives me the basic architecture and layout to start the development process.
When I started into this project, I by-passed WordPress. My initial research was centered on Drupal, Joomla and other CMS platforms. As I delved more into the scope requirements of the site and potential extensibility of WordPress, WordPress emerged as the leading contender for the project.
I’m certain there are many developers who would argue otherwise. But here are a few key factors in my decision:
- I know WordPress very well. While you could call it a cop-out, given my short time-line it looks to be a solid choice for the development of this specific site.
- WordPressMU. WordPressMU is a very powerful install of WordPress that allows a non-techie admin to setup new users and blogs on the fly. This was a critical requirement for the site. Being an academic environment, it allows all faculty members to have their own website/blog.
- The WordPress community is impressive. I’m blown away by the rapid development of new plug-ins and functions being rolled daily in the community. The developer community is a huge factor in selecting any CMS platform.
So there you have it. I’ll be blogging some of the step-by-step processes to developing this site as I go along. This may prove instructive for some and certainly handy as one persons process for developing a project.
What are your development experiences with WordPress or other CMS platforms?
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Comments
9 Responses to “WordPress, Much More than Blogging Software”
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Looks great Phil! I bet the customer is really happy!
Thanks Mike. He seems pleased. I guess five and a half years of being a webmaster in higher-ed is good training for developing educational sites. Next phase is building-out the rudimentary functionality which always posses some challenges.
Good post Phil. I am getting ready to start a small site for a client and I think this might be a good solution for him. It will be relatively static but using wordpress will give us options to make changes quickly and easily.
As you know, I’ve always been a serendipity weblog guy but I might just give wordpress a shot based on your recommendation.
SB
Scott, I think if you are looking for developing a small site you certainly couldn’t go wrong with WP. It really is quite excellent for that purpose. While I’ve used pre-set templates in the past, I’m currently using the Sandbox template which I’m finding to be almost easier if it requires a good amount of design tweaks as you build-in the styling instead of revamping a pre-existing one. As always I’m glad to answer any questions that I can if something comes up.
I’ll definitely be interested in following how your project develops. I hadn’t thought about using WP like you described in this post. We run an installation of WP at my university, but we have yet to fully utilize it. However, as we look into evaluating new course management tools (to replace our existing WebCT CMS), there is potential for aggregating tools such as WP in compliment or as alternatives to all-in-one applications. What I emphasize to our faculty is it depends on what you want to achieve. Some want all the features of a full CMS, whereas others only want to do a couple things, such as provide feedback and out-of-class activities for the students. In these cases, the blog platform is ideal, and those like WP are flexible enough to be as simple or complex as appropriate to the faculty member, which makes my job easier. So far, I have a few faculty trying out WP and what I love is that I don’t need to do a lot of training, unlike a full CMS.
Michael, I’m finding WordPress to be very powerful for the developer and very user-friendly for content managers. I’ll post more as this project moves along. One thing you really need to check out as mentioned in the post is: http://mu.wordpress.org/ Word Press MU is a multi-user install that makes adding an unlimited number of blogs a snap. Looks ideal for a University setting. I used to be a University webmaster and could see how that implementation is simply ideal for higher-ed.
I’ll check with our web master on the WordPress MU. I’m not sure if we use it, but it sounds like something we could definitely use, especially for managing content. We’re primarily an email distribution culture, so who knows what content is where and who’s been left out of the loop.
One roadblock we’re having is how we provision new blogs. I want to have the ability for faculty and staff to self-enroll (via some authentication, SSO, or otherwise), rather than us having to manually create each new account. If we do use WordPress MU, then we’re not using it to its fullest capability. If not, then MU may just eliminate this problem altogether.
I’m looking forward to the updates!
Michael, Yes I believe you can setup self-management for users. I think WP MU may just be the ticket. I’ll write some new posts soon on the project. Glad it’s helpful.
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