Wayout Design exclusively uses WordPress to build websites. Wow, is it that good? Yes, it is! We’ve been very lucky that our recent clientele have been very trusting about our WordPress crush and have allowed us to go ahead and develop their sites in WordPress without really knowing what it is. For those of you who are a little more skeptical, this post will provide some background and definition of this powerful tool.
WordPress (WP) is a free, open source blogging tool and content management system. Ok, there are a lot of words in that sentence that you may want to understand further.
- free – We all know what free means. In terms of WordPress, it means we don’t pay to the WordPress software.
- open source – This means that the source code that drives the software is openly shared so that people are encouraged to voluntarily improve the design of the software.
- blogging – Really becoming popular in the late 2000s, blogging is kind of like making an online diary or journal entry. Each entry, or post as WordPress calls them, is displayed in reverse chronological order on the screen. Blog topics are endless and range from very personal things to business information and anything and everything in between. You are reading the Wayout Design blog right now!
- content management system (CMS) – This is the beauty behind WordPress. Through a series of built in features, it organizes your information, photos, and videos, like a perfect little filing cabinet for all that you share. There is a place for everything and when utilized correctly, pulling up older content is possible with just a few clicks.
WordPress began in 2003 as a little bit of code intended to enhance the typography of everyday writing on the web. The people who used it were writers looking for a better way to present and organize their writing. As it’s popularity grew, the Internet community began to figure out that the CMS system driving WordPress could be leveraged as a website design platform. We could use the built-in features of WordPress to make designing web sites much easier both for the designer and client. Back in the day (pre WP), the biggest nightmare for a designer and client was a change to the navigation menu. That meant a complete rebuild of a website which was a hassle for the designer and cost the client big bucks. With WordPress, menu changes are a cinch, taking just seconds to accomplish, rather than hours or even days. As a designer, that is my most favorite thing about WordPress!
I ♥ WP
But wait there’s more…
Top 3 Reasons To Use WordPress
- As described above, it’s super flexible. Updates are so easy.
- Search engines ♥ WP too! This requires a whole post of it’s own, but for now understand that search engine rankings now depend heavily on fresh, new, and changing content. That means you really need to blog about something on your website so that the search engines can recognize your awesomeness.
- WordPress is mobile! Click here for more information about mobile web sites. A good designer can use WordPress to easily deliver a website that looks great on all screen sizes.