Comments on: WordPress, Much More than Blogging Software

By: How Well Does WordPress Measure Up? : Thought Sparks

How Well Does WordPress Measure Up? : Thought Sparks — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:56:23 +0000

[...] WordPress, Much More than Blogging Software [...]

By: Phil

Phil — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:31:34 +0000

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.

By: Michael Willits

Michael Willits — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:37:21 +0000

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!

By: Phil

Phil — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:41:22 +0000

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.

By: Michael Willits

Michael Willits — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:32:17 +0000

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.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:55:02 +0000

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.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 18:55:25 +0000

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.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:03:22 +0000

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.

By: Mike Scott

Mike Scott — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:08:31 +0000

Looks great Phil! I bet the customer is really happy!