Switching to Word Press: Pros and Cons

In the last two months, I've explored switching my entire site over to Word Press. Below are two pics of my site currently, and the WordPress version of my site for comparison. I will also post some of the pros and cons I've experienced about the process. If you are new and are thinking about looking at it, this may be for you.  At the moment, the Word Press version of my site can be viewed here...

http://randolfdimalanta.com/wordpress/

And here is a screenshot of the WordPress site I'm building, as well as a snapshot of my current site. The Word Press site is already pretty clean (The image with the red chrome bricks).

In teaching a web portfolio class for non web people, I've always recommended a simple method for designing websites, some of which can be found on this blog, and I knew about Word Press many years prior, but I never really got a grasp on how to install it, which for me, at the time was confusing. Perhaps the most confusing part was installing a database on your server. If I couldn't understand it, I don't think my students, who (a majority of them) were not web designers wouldn't understand it either. In a class of 30 beginners, that would tough to lead.

Nowadays however, depending on which hosting you choose, you can now bypass all of this, and if you look at the Admin Panel provided for you by your host, there is a single button you press that will install a database and Word Press for you. Once I got this up and running, I saw how easy it was and its been fun ever since.

In short, when it comes to Word Press sites, there seems to be more pros than cons and some that I've had about using it. Let's start with the cons because they aren't many:

1. Learning Curve: Word Press is free to install and use, the only price is that you have to learn how to use it. This can be done with a teacher, but seriously, there is so much to do and adjust that you have to spend time learning it on your own, so you can get the look you want. 
2. Virus Posts: About a week into using Word Press, I started to get robot spam who would put posts on my Word Press pages. At first, I saw two or three a week, and after a short amount of time, I started seeing ten or more. Not cool. To fix this, I disabled comments on my pages, and I downloaded the latest version of Word Press and this helped out a lot. Its seems that WP is so popular that it had become a nice target for virus writers...bad.
3. Learning Curve II: Depending on the theme you choose, steps to posting large images on sliders may not be so easy. I found this out through trial and error. If you use a free template, it may be hard. I ended up buying one and it was easier.
4. Free Theme Links: On some free WP themes offered on the internet, there are sponsored links found in the footer. I tried removing some of these, and because these links sponsored the template I was using and it was prohibited to remove, when I tried to remove the links, my entire Word Press theme crashed. I couldn't even logon anymore. Not cool. To fix the damage, I simply replaced the entire theme folder with a backup and I was up and running again in about 5 minutes. This was the worst feeling ever and it  prompted me to invest in a professionally designed WP template. I ended up buying a WP template from themeforest.net

And the Pros:

1. So Many Themes: I bought one for 40 bucks from Themeforest.net.  Be sure you choose one for its features, and most importantly, for its support. If you have a question, you should be able to send a message, logon to a forum to get an answer. Some of these theme writers seemed angry. Not cool. 
2. I used Striking Theme by Kaptinlin.
3. So Much Site Variety: In the theme mentioned above, you adjust colors fonts and where things are placed by moving sliders around and through control panels. 
4. Upload Anywhere: I like the fact that you can update your site from any computer. You don't have to use an FTP program or Dreamweaver.
5. Design: In our field, design is crucial to how you are perceived. In WP, since the design is fixed for you, you'll have an easier time creating something professional. Change and adjust things of course according to your style, but this part is already done for you. 
6. Homepage Variety: I'm a big fan of the main homepage image. It sets the tone for your site and its should be large enough to make an impression. I found so many templates on WP that have sliders, so now, you can show a variety main homepage images, and some of these are animated using JS - this is cool as it adds to the impression you can make on a person.
7. Everything is adjustable: This can make you crazy because of all the choices you have. Just be sure that the template you choose is the one you want. Start here for first. 
8. Switch Skins: If you want to change the look and feel of your site, buy a new template or change your current skin. WP will remember your settings, and you can easily switch to another skin.
9. New Pages: Are easily created. You can post pictures, videos, anything. 
10. Drop Down Menus: A featured I was looking for in order to keep my homepage clean and uncluttered. This is hard to do if you don't know CSS. In WP, its a simple drag and drop system.
11. Easily Scannable: All of the pages in WP are easily scannable by search engines.
12. Up to Date Content: Google searches for content on the web that is the most current. If you maintain your WP site on a regular basis, then you are keeping it current, making it possible for Google to serve up your content during a search. 
13. Its a valuable skill: Many companies are going down this route, so it might not be a bad idea to start your own WP site, so you can get used to the interface, maybe you can help a company maintain their own WP sites.
14. More Options = Creativity: Lastly, when I decided to switch to the Word Press format, it was apparent to me that you had more options available to you in the way we discussed, but it also opened up some creativity. All of a sudden, I had a flood of ideas: illustrations, tutorials, video video tutorials, animations, and interesting posts that I could include in this format. 

And that's the lowdown on Word Press from me. Overall, the switch is good, and if you are thinking about a site, I encourage you to try it out. 

Happy designing, and have fun with your Word Press sites.

Gallery Design: Video Tutorial

This is a video tutorial about how to create a Level 2 Gallery Page. The tutorial covers design, layer masks, and alignment in Photoshop, this is a way easy. A second tutorial programming this page will be created soon but be sure you review the previous tutorials about how to design a homepage and level 2 page, the links are below. If you have any questions, please let me know.

>> Designing a Homepage
>> Designing a Level 2 page.

FYI - Video tutorials can be monotonous at times, so in this tutorial, I didn't talk, and just left the internet radio on. Hopefully you can follow along.

Fire It Up!

Randolf

Level 2 Webpage Design Tutorial

When designing second level pages for your site, its important that you maintain continuity and harmony, otherwise, people will get confused and leave. These pages are also the entry way to the main content of your site. This video tutorial shows you a process for designing level 2 pages for your website that look similar in design to a your existing homepage.

Be sure you watch the previous tutorial "Quick Homepage Design Technique" on how to design a homepage first before viewing this tutorial.

Designing the "Gallery Page" is the most difficult of all Level 2 page designs because of its complexity. This will be covered in a later tutorial.

This tutorial covers the following topics: design grid, typography, placement and color.

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Be sure you check out the previous tutorial:

A Quick Homepage Design Technique

A Note on Graphic Design

Before we get too far with all the cool tips and tricks you are going to learn from this blog, it may the best time to talk about graphic design. Graphic design is the base for all that we are going to do here. I feel the need to write about it because for me, its a love hate relationship. I studied it in college and have an aptitude for it. I can arrange elements on "whatever" and I can make it look good, and I got better as I soaked up more experience. I like to design for large companies, but I LOVE to design for myself, like my own website, and even better, I LOVE teaching design and watching people get good results from what I share with them.

In college, I studied the craft of illustration. The people in this major were like me, we liked to draw, paint and animate, and from a distance, we made fun of the "graphic designers". "Ahhhh, they can't draw", we would say. They always wore nice clothes, were always in front of the computer and designed business cards that had small letters on it that we could barely even see. This wasn't me, and in college, you are naturally going to gravitate to like minded people such as yourself. I was an illustrator.

That was many many years ago, and since then, here's what I know (graphic designers, you are about to be honored here)...

All businesses, in order to make money, survive and flourish, have to sell. It doesn't matter what they sell, it could be the greatest thing ever invented...but here is the key, and I want you to remember this....

"If nobody knows about it, or how its going to help them...nobody is going to buy it".

In other words..."marketing".

Companies spend millions of dollars to staff their marketing departments. They have the responsibility making sure that everyone knows what Company A sells and how their product is going to help people. A good example of this are the Paul Rand logos at the bottom of this post. Do any of those logos look familiar? How many of these companies still use that same logo?

Marketing and branding is a simple but powerful idea that affects you in every way, every day. Companies know it and will continue to send out company messages to you...think about the following:

• Have a Coke and a _______.
• What is Target's logo?
• What was the last pair of sneakers you bought? Why?
• What colors represent Coke? Pepsi? Mountain Dew?
• What colors does Tiger Woods wear when he plays golf?
• Superbowl commercials.
• What color is the Yahoo logo?
  
• Why do people like driving Prius, Mercedes and Toyota.
• What car do you drive today?
  
• The most popular toy this holiday season is?
• Why do you go to Starbucks (for the coffee drinkers)? What color is the Starbuck's logo and what color are their uniforms?

The list goes on and on, and each is a marketing decision, that contains a well crafted strategically delivered message that somehow crosses your senses: tv, radio, computer, cel phones, billboards, signs, and we even wear the messaging on our bodies - does anybody know why that Ed Hardy brand is so popular? Or why do ladies spend 400 dollars on a Coach purse (holy smokes! - I know those Coach people love this.) Its all around us, but companies need to be in front of our faces so that we are reminded of their existence, products and or services, and they plant reasons for us to buy.

As I'm writing this, I'm typing on a Mac Powerbook, using a Logitech Cordless Mouse and in a few minutes will take a break to play on my daughter's Nintendo DSi.

So where does graphic design come into play? They are the ones responsible for how everything looks and feels and how that message is delivered to you. They make sure it looks nice, appealing, and that the messaging is clear for the target audience. They are closely related to the company's ability to make loads of money and if things don't look nice, or aren't clear, a company is not going to have good results and will eventually tank.

By the way, graphic designers become art directors and therefore are responsible for hiring illustrators and animators like me. Like I said, they control the money. So I treat them pretty nice.

How does this relate to you? Remember that you are about to build your website... these days, one of the single most important marketing tools that you have as an independent creative individual. Whether you like it or not, you (and your name) are your own brand. You are the CEO of your own company, and this company is YOU.

Therefore, you have to market yourself professionally. You have to look good and your branding and messaging must be clear. This is evident and felt in the way you choose to present yourself through your website, and it includes the coordination of the following:

• your use of color
• your main image choice
• your layout
• font choice
• word usage
• usability
• flow

Which is why I decided to put together this blog. Unlike our graphic design counterparts, animation, digital film, visual effects and game art majors don't study marketing design as a graphic designer would, so it is my intent to post many of these main points that graphic designers are familiar with so that you too can have an effective, aesthetically pleasing website that you are proud of and that will help generate money or opportunities. If you follow the tips and tricks I share in this blog, you could potentially have a site that looks as if a professional graphic designer created it.

So there it is, be nice to graphic designers. Their job is important. Their talents help drive marketing, which then helps drive the economy. Be kind to them and do good work while you are in their presence because they might be able to use your talents and skills one day.

Graphic designers of the world, we grovel at your feet.

A Quick Homepage Design Technique

This tutorial, shows you how to create custom homepages from existing ones. For this to work, you need to flag and take screen snapshots of well designed sites. I usually stick with the large companies homepages because of their design and simplicity. In the examples here, I'll be using the Jaguar site and the Mini Cooper site.

I usually show this technique to people who aren't trained graphic designers and I find the results to be pretty cool. At first, it seems like copying, but once you replace the main imagery, logo and navigation with your own, it will look totally new. You are only borrowing the template and the general flow for where items are placed.

Quantity is the key to this exercise, the more designs you do, the options you'll have, which will eventually lead to a better decision as you narrow things down to your final design. I recommend designing 3 - 5 mockups to get you started.

I also like this technique because it requires little or no coding. Everything is visual and I find that people have lots of fun doing it.

Be sure you check out my next video about adding functionality and programming to this homepage.

This will be my first customized video for this blog, it turned out better than I had expected. Looking forward to making my next one soon. The backround music for this video tutorial was provided by my friend DJ Ilo.

Let's Begin!