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First time using Wordpress..

djsound

djsound

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 4, 2006
791
17
K so this is the first time I am using Wordpress to make a website for a new client. It is a company and not a blogger but I thought I would try it since they want to be able to add their own photos whenever they want..and they want forms like people adding their emails to a database etc. Basically they want all the little goodies but they will not be blogging. The main page is a typical "about us" kind of page....All the themes I have seen are blog layouts. How would I go about finding or making a theme that is not a "blog layout"..I wanted one something like this...

http://www.justdreamweaver.com/templates/digitaldownloads/index.html

I am pretty sure I could turn that into the site that I want...Is there anywhere with basic site themes that are not for bloggers?

thanks.
 
Use any theme you like. Just use "pages" and not "posts" for your content.

You'll need to do some reading about Wordpress and how it works - you'll see that pages use a different template than posts which use a different template from post archives which use a different template than search results, etc.

Check out http://codex.wordpress.org for documentation.
 
ok so...Ive checked it out. Wordpress seems kind of cool because I can setup my client to author some things....but it takes SO long to get the way I want it. I have to add on a bunch of plugins...But the worst part is getting it to look the way that I want to. With Dreamweaver I can just copy an older site that I made and make a few adjustments and I am done. Working with themes in WP is making me want to pull out my hair hehe....Unfortunately The client wants to be able to upload their own pictures and write updates otherwise I would revert to a dreamweaver/html site......I wish there was someway to combine them or something...
 
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djsound said:
Working with themes in WP is making me want to pull out my hair hehe....Unfortunately
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CSS is really simple to learn and you can do a TON with it due to the fact that the WP core is so powerful.

I would suggest finding your theme's CSS file (in the theme folder probably, ftp!!!), getting out your copy of TextMate and just playing around with it. You're going to have to get more hands on with the code, but if you use a good editor (like text mate) you can search through entire projects and make the simple adjustments that will get you what you want w/o all the BS of dreamweaver.

Believe me, WordPress is complicated but EASY to learn. In a few months you can be all-pro at it if you buckle down, and these days everyone wants a Web 2.0 experience on their custom site.
 
Well I think it'll take me some time to learn to navigate my way around. I will have to do this next clients website my old way and learn WP in my spare time ....I was trying to use a child them of a Genesis theme and trying to find certain css in PHP files was a disaster since it was a child them of the parent them....it was crazy...
 
djsound said:
Well I think it'll take me some time to learn to navigate my way around. I will have to do this next clients website my old way and learn WP in my spare time ....I was trying to use a child them of a Genesis theme and trying to find certain css in PHP files was a disaster since it was a child them of the parent them....it was crazy...
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I don't want to speak authoritatively and get slammed here because I'm just figuring this stuff out myself, but the BEST way I've found to do this is to downoad your ENTIRE directory that contains wordpress , then drag and drop it into TEXTMATE (http://macromates.com/) and then use command + shift + f to search through the ENTIRE wordpress directory, theme files, etc. to find what you need.

Seriously, I wouldn't even try unless you find a solution for this -- you're dealing with hundreds of files.
 
v66jack said:
I agree getting to know CSS is the best way to go. And Wordpress widgets are just a nightmare.
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Assume you mean Plugins? Actually you can do a lot with them, and if you know PHP you can even combine them to do stuff you want.

You don't really need to know that much PHP because you can basically find a Plugin to do whatever you want and then use CSS to style it.

The WordPress.org forums are great as are any on the sites that you download your themes from.
 
Lots of good advice for Wordpress here and don't get me wrong I love Wordpress. But as it's a company website and not going to be a blog doesn't anybody think that a CMS designed for business like Drupal or Joomla would be more appropriate?

Rather than having to go into heavy CSS editing the available templates may be more suited without modification.

Just a thought
 
drupal and joomla are more geared towards businesses? i'll check those out too..one thing i didnt like about getting Wp setup was it seemed like i setup 100 different usernames and passwords...the only forms i really need on this new site are newsletter sign up and a comments form....so i dont really need a database or anything ...
 
Wordpress is great to use once you've got to grips with it. Your client will most likely be thankful if you do as it really is one of the easiest for them to use. Check out WooThemes* if you're struggling to get a site you like the layout of —*they have a variety of themes aimed at niche markets, and a lot where it is more geared towards a website rather than a blog.

Good luck whatever route you take! Let us know how you get on :)

/Doug

*That's an affiliate link, but I really do recommend them and have used their themes for several projects.
 
I've wanted to try wordpress, but it seems like all the blogs on there tend to end up looking the same.
 
vincenz said:
I've wanted to try wordpress, but it seems like all the blogs on there tend to end up looking the same.
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WordPress has a huge diversity in themes so similarity is basically down to user choice of theme I would say.

The best themes to look for in WordPress or any other CMS for that matter are the ones that allow control other than the basic options.

i.e. pagelines platform on Wordpress allows you to custom select columns even in the free template. Many other templates allow you to hide post date, title, category etc. Therefore you can tailor it to look as you wish, just takes more effort, hence the number of similar looking blogs.

@djsound - Have a look at Joomla and see if it fits your business need. It's very different, yet very the same as wordpress. By that I mean the stock setup is more website oriented, rather than blog. Yet it still has many plugins available and an admin area that any Wordpress user would feel comfortable in.
 
vincenz said:
I've wanted to try wordpress, but it seems like all the blogs on there tend to end up looking the same.
Click to expand...
You're referring to the WordPress.com service I think, if you go to WordPress.org you can download the files that power a WordPress blog, host them on your own server, and customize it extensively. In fact, I'd bet you'd be surprised how many sites use it.
 
turbobass said:
You're referring to the WordPress.com service I think, if you go to WordPress.org you can download the files that power a WordPress blog, host them on your own server, and customize it extensively. In fact, I'd bet you'd be surprised how many sites use it.
Click to expand...

I use WordPress for my website and it looks nothing like a blog. Lots of WordPress blogs look the same because those people have no desire to attempt coding. People who know how to code html, php and css can use the CMS aspects of WP to their advantage and those sites no longer look like a blog. It does get a little complicated explaining plug-ins and widgets to a non-coder when you hand it off to a client. Frankly, every website I've ever done for someone has barely been updated after I hand it off so I don't know what you need to do to make people keep it fresh after you're done. So sad to watch something I worked so hard on just shrivel and die on the vine :(
 
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