Using Wordpress as a CMS 23/06/2008

Wordpress LogosHopefully this post will be the first of many new posts to my blog, as I hope to develop it further and become a regular freelance design blogger.

By now most people familiar with website design and development will have heard of Wordpress. Chances are that even if you’re not familiar with web design you will have come across a Wordpress blog. Wordpress has become the leading blogging platform on the web, but still relatively few people know of the capabilities the system has for content managed websites. For example this very site, GregFindley.com is running on Wordpress, I have the blog section as the main Wordpress functionality and then a category setup for the portfolio page, and various other static content pages.

I’ve personally seen an increasing number of inquiries and projects working on the Wordpress platform as a result of using WP as the CMS for my own site. Services I have provided have included fully powered WP sites, theme designs and custom theme coding (for other designers and developers).

So what are some of the advantages of using Wordpress as a CMS?

  • The most obvious is the date ordered blog feature, allowing you to integrate a company blog, personal blog, or company news section into your site with relative ease.
  • Simple, easy to use backend setup, allowing the administrator of the site to add, edit and delete content across all areas of the site. There is also the ability to manage multiple level user access, so you can have a number of users helping with the website content.
  • Help & Support of a massive community of Wordpress users.
  • Comment fields on blog entries allowing a greater level of interaction between visitors to the site and the author of the site content.
  • Wide selection of plugins available to provide extra features to your site, everything from Search Engine Optimisation to media plugins allowing you to embed YouTube videos.

Whilst only a very short post covering a few of the advantages to Wordpress as a CMS I hope this gives you an idea on why it is becoming so popular! I’m hoping to follow this post up with various posts about the Wordpress platform, plugins, theme coding, etc, in the coming months.

If you need a quote for a new Wordpress theme design, custom coding or Wordpress powered website please get in touch! Thanks for reading, Greg.

Posted in Blog | Comments (6)

  1. Posted by Tim Simmons

    23rd June, 2008 at 6:43 am

    Hi Greg, I’ve been following Wordpress for a very long time, since the early launches and its features for CMS have certainly developed over the various releases - I can only see this going further as the community demands more features for this type of use of Wordpress. As opensource CMS platforms go, its up there with Drupal and Joomla for me. Tim

  2. Posted by Greg

    23rd June, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Thanks for your comment Tim, and yes I agree, from my personal experience I prefer Wordpress over Drupal/Joomla as I find the backend system a lot easier to use for new users.

  3. Posted by Scott Frangos

    23rd June, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    Hi Greg - I agree, of course, since we build CMS websites with WordPress. Hey… take a look at the article series on Using WordPress as a CMS. Stop by and say hello! - Scott

  4. Posted by Sam Deeks

    24th June, 2008 at 3:02 am

    I agree with you Greg and the challenge I find is the bl**dy name ‘blog’! People either don’t know what a blog is or if they do, they often have a preconception that it’s about a noodly, navel-gazing diary :-)

    We’re getting round that by talking to people more and more about ‘post-Google websites - websites built with software developed with Google in mind’.

    Takes about 5 minutes each time - but most people get the implications of that: highly Google visible websites they can control that can be up and running in a matter of days.

    Look forward to reading more of your posts

  5. Posted by Greg

    24th June, 2008 at 7:44 am

    Hi Scott, I’ll check that out thanks - have your articles covered various Wordpress versions or just one? Interesting to see how the features have developed for using WP as a CMS.

    Hey Sam, yes I think there was a bit of a confusing image attached to the word ‘blog’, the majority tend to think of just an online diary, but I think Wordpress has begun to change peoples idea on what a blog is and what a blog can do!

    You’re completely right - the SEO benefits to Wordpress are another major advantage, especially when using some of the great plugins that are available… which gives me an idea for another blog post! Thanks for dropping by Sam :)

  6. Posted by Rob Cubbon

    29th July, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    I’ve used WordPress on several sites including my own and I’m a huge fan. I’m particularly interested in using WordPress as a CMS. It’s great to keep the homepage as a normal page and not the blog as you have done here to great effect.