blog software | Jason Palmer, CPA, CITP

So how is JasonPalmer.com built? Even though I have the technical skill to build and design a web site from scratch, I wanted to focus on creating the content, not the technology. I wanted a site that had a professional “look and feel” and that I could add features to without requiring any custom programming. And, most importantly, it had to be an extensible platform that I could put up in minutes and hours, not days and weeks. The answer was WordPress.

Installing the WordPress platform took less than ten minutes. For many web hosting packages, adding in a WordPress site is a “one-click” install, and then just a few minutes to answer some basic configuration questions like: Web Site Name, Time Zone, and Preferred Date Format – along with setting up the Admin user and password.

Next, I decided to purchase the Genesis WordPress Design Framework and Theme Pro Plus Pack from StudioPress.com and selected the “News Child Theme.” The advantage of this commercial package is that it is already Search Engine Optimized, offers a Turn-Key Design with dozens of built-in Widgets (similar to WordPress Plug-In’s) that extend the functionality of the design (think fancy menu bar options), and it is unlimited use, which means I can use it on any site I create. (Individual Themes can be purchased as well and are very competitively priced.)

Within approximately four hours I was able to build JasonPalmer.com in its’ entirety with all of the static content (everything you see in the top menu bar) and begin to post my first dynamic content article (blog and categories sections.)

Anyone can easily put a web site up at Bitnami Web Hosting and Amazon Web Services for Free (for the first year.) See how you can do that too by reading my post on the subject here.

Technical Disclosure Note: Although I am an expert in the installation of WordPress and Web Hosting, you do not need anywhere near my capability level to experience a similar outcome of being able to install and configure WordPress with a Theme of your choice and be “up and running” within one day with your new web site.

Official WordPress Site:
– http://www.WordPress.org

Genesis Theme Framework from Studio Press
– http://www.StudioPress.com

The biggest misconception about the creation of a web site is that professional expertise is an absolute requirement to produce a commercial quality experience for the visitor. To put that myth to rest, “There’s an App for that” and it is called The WordPress Content Management System Platform. WordPress is web software that provides a complete off-the-shelf, ready to go site that one can easily manage completely through any web browser such as Internet Explorer, FireFox, or Chrome.

WordPress is billed as being a personal publishing system, which enables users to create, post, and manage content – things that you write about, details about yourself or your company, product information, photographs – in short – any kind of content you see on any other web site can usually be managed in a WordPress site without “professional” help.

It is called a Platform because it provides a framework to which one can choose from thousands of little pieces of code called “Plug-Ins” to extend out the feature set. Plug-In’s are created by army of independent software developers in the WordPress Community.

Web Designers can create ready to install “Themes” which allow users to seamlessly change the look and feel of a website using templates without altering any of the content of the site as easily as one changes their shirt at the click of a button. (Click here to see a number of Free Themes available.)

Examples of Plug-In’s include Search Engine Optimization tools, Site Backup, Event Calendars, Weather Reports, Picture Gallery’s, Ratings and Surveys and much more. (Check out the WordPress Plug-in Listings here.) Many users will only need just a few Plug-in’s and WordPress includes some popular one’s by default. However, there are thousands to choose from to do things that previously required the expertise of a programmer to create custom code.

Since WordPress is one of the most popular Content Management Systems, many Web Hosting companies offer it by default as part of their packages. In fact, there are a number of companies that are dedicated to hosting WordPress sites exclusively. Price is no longer a barrier as WordPress hosting is available for less than $5 a month for small sites.

Learn about WordPress
– http://www.wordpress.org

WordPress Plug-in Listing
– http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins

WordPress Free Theme Listing
– http://wordpress.org/extend/themes