You would think that after building four other sites, before this one, that I’d be well-versed in what to do. Alas, I’m not. This weekend, I decided to change the theme for this site — you probably noticed. I switched to a theme I supposedly know. While it hasn’t been as challenging as the first time, it hasn’t been smooth sailing, either!
Little things pop up. My current issue is comment-related — they’re not appearing on the posts unless I allow them manually for each one. Grrr. That makes no sense.
I’m not methodical when I build my sites. I probably should be. I should make a check list or something. Oh! that’s my first tip! And, I have a few others if you don’t happen to be a website-building guru.
HERE YOU GO!
- Make a check list of all the headings you want. These are menu and sub-menu items.
- Decide how you want information to flow — static front page vs. blog posts
- Choose a theme that works well on a variety of devices.
- Do you want top navigation? Left-side navigation? Both? Right-side? All three?
- What plug-ins do you want? There are so many! I’m using Event Geek, a WP compact audio player, Mail Poet, Magic Action Box, WP SEO, JetPack — just on this site.
- Are you going to allow comments on pages, or do you want to choose which pages allow comments?
- What about site stats? Akismet works for that, and spam.
- How do you adjust images to optimize them for your site? Pixlr.com is a great editing tool.
- How many widget areas do you want?
- How do you organize posts? The WP Editorial Calendar is a useful tool.
There are so many aspects to building a site, but if you are an adventurous, problem-solver type of person, then you’ll enjoy the experience. I mean, there must be some reason I keep doing it! (And, it’s not just because I don’t want to hire someone.)
WordPress is very intuitive, and offers tons of great themes. You have to know a few of the things above, before looking at those themes, though. I can’t tell you how many times I started to use a theme only to discover it didn’t have all the functionality I wanted, but couldn’t, at the time, express.
If you don’t know code (CSS) and you don’t want to learn it, then be careful what theme you choose. Some themes aren’t very intuitive and getting support is a hassle. The themes I’ve settled on are great! I love their functionality and the WP support is fantastic!
Well, I need to get back to resolving my comment issue. Good luck building your website!
KDM