Series: Wordpress as a CMS

This series takes a look at the process I went through in adapting Wordpress for use as a Content Management system in the development of various websites I’ve worked on.

Wordpress as a CMS – Introduction

Jan 23

Posted by Darren in Talkin Tech, WordPress | This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Wordpress as a CMS | 1892 CommentsWordpress+as+a+CMS+-+Introduction2007-01-23+07%3A18%3A41Darren

Here’s the promised first post in a series of articles I am going to write over the next month about the challenges and benefits of using Wordpress as a content-management system (CMS).

Now I know that this topic has been covered fairly well already on the blogosphere – I’m not so naive as to think that I’m somehow setting a trend by writing this series! I am writing this series primarily as an excercise of recording for my own benefit some of the problems I ran into and the solutions I came up with in the process of designing a wordpress cms website.

In the course of these articles I’ll be referencing three websites that I’ve designed in the past 6 months as a CMS: vigliottiwoodworking.com, gohpc.net, and unashamedsermons.com. Here are some of the topics I’ll cover:

CMS vs. a blog – what’s the difference and how to you determine what is used? (among other questions I found myself asking when designing a site around Wordpress)
Challenges that face a developer when using Wordpress as a CMS.
Benefits for using Wordpress as a CMS

...This is a preview of Wordpress as a CMS – Introduction.
Read the full post
(453 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Tags: coding, plugins, Series, Web-Design, WordPress, wordpress-as-cms

CMS vs. Blog…no you don’t need Pepto Bismol

Jan 28

Posted by Darren in Talkin Tech, WordPress | This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Wordpress as a CMS | 195No Comments2007-01-28+06%3A30%3A26Darren

{this is part 2 of the series “Wordpress as a CMS”}

Wordpress is primarily a blogging tool (or engine as I like to call it!) but I’ve learned in the course of designing three websites that are not primarily blogs that Wordpress can also cross over and serve somewhat nicely as a Content Management System (CMS). In the second article of this series I want to talk a little bit about the difference between a CMS and a blog and then in the next article I’ll talk about how this played into my decision to use Wordpress for the design of UnashamedSermons.com, VigliottiWoodworking.com, and gohpc.net.

On the surface it may seem that there isn’t much difference between a CMS and a Blog. They both provide some sort of backend interface for administrators to manage the content of the website. They both invite social interactivity via the ability for visitors to leave comments, register as a user, or even become a contributor to the content. Then of course the primary focus of each is the delivery of some sort of content which in later years has involved not only pictures and text but also videos and audio (podcasts and the like). But surface appearances can be deceiving!

...This is a preview of CMS vs. Blog…no you don’t need Pepto Bismol.
Read the full post
(1457 words, estimated 5:50 mins reading time)

Tags: blog, Blogging, cms, coding, Web-Design, WordPress, wordpress-as-cms

Choosing WordPress: “ooo doesn’t she LOOK fine?”

Feb 15

Posted by Darren in Talkin Tech, WordPress | This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Wordpress as a CMS | 2094 Comments2007-02-16+03%3A31%3A03Darren

In the previous article in this series I gave a summary of some of the core differences between a CMS (content management system) and a blogging engine. I talked about some of the cases where one system is more preferable over the other when designing websites. In the conclusion to the article I mentioned that in light of what I had just written, it would have made more sense for me to go with a CMS for the website designs of Hanover Pentecostal Church, UnashamedSermons.com, and VigliottiWoodworking. Yet, as can be observed from the title of the series I obviously used WordPress instead. This article will focus on the first reason for why I made that choice.

But before I get to that I’ll give a quick rundown of some of the requirements that needed to be considered for each site.

UnashamedSermons.com
UnashamedSermons.com is where I host all the various sermons I have (and still am!) written and preached while pastoring at my church. There were predominately two purposes for me creating UnashamedSermons. One, I wanted a place where I could archive all my messages and access it for personal reference. Two, I wanted to make available to as many people possible these messages in the hopes more people would be impacted.

...This is a preview of Choosing WordPress: “ooo doesn’t she LOOK fine?”.
Read the full post
(1046 words, 3 images, estimated 4:11 mins reading time)

Tags: blog, Blogging, cms, coding, looks, Web-Design, WordPress, wordpress-as-cms

Choosing Wordpress: “She’s got guts”

Feb 26

Posted by Darren in Talkin Tech, WordPress | This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Wordpress as a CMS | 2182 Comments2007-02-26+04%3A20%3A44Darren

In the previous article in this series I introduced the first reason for why I chose to use WordPress as the engine for three CMS-like sites that I designed recently. I wrote about the theming/template system in WordPress – the “looks”. In this article I’m going to talk about the “guts” of Wordpress.

Why I chose Wordpress

2. The Guts

When I refer to guts, I mean the following things that are “inside” the WordPress engine:

i. File Structure

From the perspective of a newbie developer, the WordPress file structure greatly aids in comprehending where things are and what files need to be edited/looked at in the development process. The fact that directory trees and file names are descriptive of their function cuts down on a lot of the guesswork into where things are located.

Here’s the layout of the directory tree structure:

/wordpress (root): You’ll find all the main configuration and base level files such as config.php (database settings), wp-blog-header.php (calls necessary includes and header information), and various feed related files among others. I’m not going to go into detail about each of the files but I’ll just mention that for the most part, the files in the root wordpress directory are what WordPress accesses when initializing.

...This is a preview of Choosing Wordpress: “She’s got guts”.
Read the full post
(2183 words, estimated 8:44 mins reading time)

Tags: blog, Blogging, cms, coding, guts, Web-Design, WordPress, wordpress-as-cms