Beginning with WordPress
 

I have been struggling with WordPress.org for what seems like weeks. I find the simplest things take hours of fiddling, experiment and hair tearing frustration. I feel as though I have landed on another planet where there is no visible light, just infrared, but a) I do not know this and am bludering around in the dark and b) I need to simply switch on my infrared filter which would allow me to see but I can't find the switch. I have tried mining the WP codex but find it is written in infrared (if you see what I mean)... I have even tried WP for Dummies, but it too appears to be written for someone else.

The general impression is that it is easy to get started with WP. I have not found this to be the case.

I think I have found out why I am having such a hard time. I am used to creating static sites in PHP using a WYSIWYG authoring package. If I want text or a graphic somewhere I just open a text box or image and drag it there, I right click it and enter a URL to make a link etc. I understand that this has it's limitations, which is why I want to move some of my sites over to WP.

BUT, the transition to a theme based system is difficult. It would probably be easier if I had never used any other system. WP also defaults to the 'blog' model (for understandable reasons). Every page 'thinks' you want it to be a blog, with comments. I just cannot get used to this as most of my previous sites have been based on static pages, indeed I did not even know they were called static pages until I started using WP - I just thought of them as pages.

I would just love to find some advice on how to make the transition from static sites to a theme based CMS system - and maybe a guide to WP written by someone like me.

Surely I cannot be the only person who is having this problem... I will get there in the end, but my progress is soooooo slow. If anyone can point me at a resource which may shed some light into the gloomy cave that is WP I would be immensely grateful.

Thanks - RPJ

PS: If no one is able to help me, I promise to write the guide I when I find out.

The problem with some of the WYSIWYG site builders is they don't require any knowledge of CSS or HTML. This makes them "easier" to use but limits what you can do and I can understand how the transition to WordPress could be cumbersome.

What "WYSIWYG authoring package" did you use?
Do you know and understand and CSS?
Do you know and understand any HTML?
What is one specific issue that is driving you crazy?

Maybe with some of the answers to those questions someone here can point you in the proper direction turn on you infrared filter.

Hi Larry

I know a little HTML, I wrote my first few websites in HTML in Notebook in 1996 but then everyone started doing it. As I remember CSS had just started then and due to other pressures I gave up on websites until a couple of years ago. So, in short , Yes to a bit of HTML and No to CSS.

I got a copy of Serif WebPlus (www.serif.com) which is a bit flaky, but fine for my community website.

Then I needed to allow other people to edit certain pages of the site, and that's where I started looking to the CMS option.

Using PHP I was able to make things up as a I went along. Theme based sites benefit from more planning. So I think some of the problem is choosing the right theme in the first place. Someone recommended Atahualpa becuase it is a theme framework. Apprently this means it is more versatile than a plain theme. But I suspect this is a CSS function which is beyond me right now.

My site is bi-lingual and I want to be able to have some pages with two equal columns in the centre of the page (one for each language) with a side bar to right and left for widgets and menus. Other oages would benefit from having a single central column. I am sure that the Atahualpa theme started out with four columns but I must have been mistaken because there are only three now and I do not remember changing anything do do with columns.

Also I do not really understand the underlying difference between a static page and a blog page with the comments taken out. I am sure there is one but it is far from clear. If I could get my head around this issue I am sure other things would fall into place... maybe.

Thanks - RPJ

the main difference between a static site and a dynamic site is teh time spend uploading the changes you might want to make.

If you have a static site and decide to change a paragraph of text on a page, you eithor have to download the page to your comouter, edit it and re upload it to the host

or

if you are using a software package to create the site, run the program, make the change, generate teh page and the upload the page to the host.

Now a wordPress site: login to the backend, edit the page save it. you are done

Next time someone wants to view the page, the page will be dynamically created for them including the change.

Wat do you save? Your time :)

Thanks Juggledad, but my confusion is between a static page in WP and a blog page in WP. Are they the same thing but with the comments and datestamp removed for a static page? Or are they substantailly different animals with different structures - I am not even sure how to ask the question. I think I'll go take a nap and start again tomorrow...

Thanks - RPJ

There are no static pages in Wordpress. Everything is dynamically built. The terminology is that there are 'Page' page's and 'Post' page's. A Page is just a special type of post (both are stored in the same table in the database) for information that does not change frequently.

Depending on the theme, you could have comments on pages (Atahualpa allows this) or not.

juggledad:
I think I get you. But there does seem to be an element of semantics in all this. You say there are no 'static' pages in WP, but this is a phrase which is used in the codex (for instance http://codex.wordpress.org/Pages) which is why I mentioned it in the first place.

Am I to understand that what your colleagues call a static page is not what you call a static page because it is dynamically created each time it is called by a browser, but they call it a static page for some other reason? I feel a little more justified in my confusion.

Maybe this is one of the joys of open source software.

vyproduct:
Thanks for your words of sympathy. I do so hope that OP does not stand for 'old person', but I fear it might... I am not very good at the shorthand used on the Internet.

Thanks all - RPJ

you are right is is semantics - all pages in wordpress are dynamic since they are built when the user request them. WordPress says 'Page' pages are for 'static' text ie information that will remain static for a time. Using that definition, all posts are 'static' since you write one and generrally don't change it, you just write another one.

Wordpress is being used more and more as a Content mManagement System (CMS) it had its roots as blogging software, but it has grown up. here are many sites that use it not for blogging, but as a CMS and the reason is because ot the time they save changing information on it.

I first got into it because my sister worked at a school and they had a STATIC web site (built with dreamweaver I think) and a volunteer maintained it. If they wanted a change it sometimes took two weeks for it to get done. When I showed her how she could make the change on teh fly, that was teh end of the static site and now they run WordPress. They don't really use the blogging pare, once in awhile, but the convenience of changing the site as soon as you hit the enter key made it all worth it.

oh and then there are plugins...how to add a feature at the drop of a hat. but that is another story

My suggestion it to create a play site - if you have a domain name and can put up a subdomain, create one, install wordpress and play - it's also a great idea when you want to try adding somethng, testing a new plugin, change a theme option to see what it does. You won't learn it all in one day (what can you learn all in one day) but over time yu'll find out how useful it is.

juggledad:
Your sister's experience is exactly the same as mine, except I am the person who is often away and it is others who have to wait...

I have a playspace which has brought up these questions, but I am losing the association of the word 'play' and the concept 'fun'. Nonetheless I will persevere.

I suppose what I am getting at (and it has taken me a day to realise that this is the point) is the paucity of jargon-free guidance, but then I recognise that this is open source. It is driven by passion, not the usual commercial imperitives which often produce simple ways in, to sell the product. Consequently a "jargon-free starter for guide amateur PHP users making the transition to WP" is probably not near the top of anyone's priority list. It may well be a contribution I can make to the greater project at a later date.

everyone:
Meanwhile, thanks for you help (and patience) and no doubt I will be back - RPJ

I don't know how jargon free this will be but you can look at http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Lessons at the beginners section.

The big problem with jargon free is that it is often difficult to "translate" a term for easy understanding. For instance if I say "determine the selector for the element in question" a beginner will probably not know what I mean.

I have struggled with how to say that in such a way as to be more clear and what I have determined is that this is a lot like if I want to country that didn't speak or know English and I wanted to understand them I would have to learn some of the language. That is where resources like w3schools.com can come in.

I know exactly where you are coming from as do most who work in this industry and the only answer I know of is time and experience but please don't hesitate to ask questions as needed.

Thanks Larry,

I do understand, I work in a jargon-fuelled industry and have to balance the need to be understood by those who don't speak the jargon with the need to be precise. This is especially difficult where normal words are granted special meanings in context (contract law is particularly good at this).

I will just have to keep going and check some more beginner's guides.

Cheers - RPJ