With the release of WordPress 3.0, we were introduced to a new feature called custom post types. Since that time, CommAREus has been finding new ways to utilize this functionality to replace what was often handled by plug-ins in the past or simply managed by hand in the post editor. Despite our best efforts, the latter option often required the client to get involved in the HTML directly to achieve a certain layout which we always try to avoid.
For example, a client recently came to us looking to build a page in WordPress to list the members of an organization along with a photo of the member, their bio and contact information as seen below:
This layout could be achieved without the use of custom post types by styling the content by hand in the post editor, importing and aligning the images, applying any necessary classes, inserting the horizontal rules, etc. This approach may work for somebody with HTML experience, but can be an overwhelming task for somebody who does not. In addition, this solution can be prone to break the layout if you’re not careful when making changes or additions to the page.
Here is one situation where custom post types come in handy. We can define a new unique post type to manage this area of the site. This new post type can be managed from a new button with a custom icon in the dashboard as seen below:
This new post type can be custom tailored to accept the different pieces of content that make up each team member:
The post title is used for the team members name, the image is attached as the Featured Image, the bio is the post content and all other information is entered through the custom fields below the post editor:
Now that we have all of this information entered separately into WordPress, we can build a matching page template to describe how it should be displayed. This guarantees that:
the HTML will be formed correctly
the client won’t need to worry about breaking something
making changes will be as simple as modifying the template (rather than pages of previously written HTML)
So, if you’ve ever had to restore a website because it’s been hacked, lost, or you forgot to pay your web hosting bill, you know the importance of having a backup. With a static website, it’s sort of easy, but now that many sites are being build using Content Management Systems, such as WordPress, it’s more complicated. For a site like this, there may be thousands of files, and they are all over the place.
One of the cool thing about open source software are all the add-on tools that are being developed to the core functionality. In the WordPress world, they call them ‘Plugins.’
When we started building sites using WordPress, there were about 6,000 plugins. Now there are over 13,000 and counting. Wow, that’s traction!
An amazing tool for websites is a plugin that backs your website automatically to Amazon’s S3 service. The plugin is called Automatic WordPress Backup and can be found HERE.
It backs up the entire site including the html, database, themes, plugins, uploaded files and settings files.
It is a totally automated backup and you can set it for daily, weekly, or monthly backup.
If uses Amazon S3, and if you haven’t used it yet, it’s really inexpensive. We back up about a dozen sites, and it costs us less than $5 per month.
OK, it requires certain levels of Linux & PHP to be in place and a few other things but most mainstream hosts offer what you need.
The first thing that jumped out was that only 13% of all websites employ a CMS. This is truly astounding now that we know all the advantages and cost savings that a CMS can provide.
Of all of the hundreds of CMS platforms out there, WordPress dominates the market with over 55% of the total market. Considering that WordPress was really not developed as a CMS and has evolved as individuals started to use it on their own for this purpose, it is quite amazing.
Here are the stats on the top Content Management Systems:
Dan and I took a trip to the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge to attend the iaugural edition of Wordcamp Boston. This was a great opportunity to meet with other WordPress enthusiasts, find out what others are doing, and search for partners to work with for future projects.
We learned a breat deal, met some amazing people and renewed some old friendships. I didn’t have an opportunity to do allot of video work, but I was able to capture three Wordcamp Boston luminaries:
1) Jake Goldman, one of the event organizers, shares the genesis of the first Wordcamp Boston event. Jake is the Director of Client Services at C. Murray Consulting in Providence, RI
2) Karen Rubin of Hubspot, an inbound marketing leader, gave a great presentation on blogging at the conference, and here, she shares a little secret.
3) Ned Watson, of 1080d Consulting, showed how he’s using WordPress for Time Inc. and some of their online titles such as Entertainment Weekly and People. Here, he shares some of his enthusiasm for a new project he’s working on: an online wireframing application, that sounds pretty exciting.
The 3W initiative is a series of templates that we’ve designed to be used with the blogging software WordPress.
This program was created to give web designers and others in the internet field an offering that they can re-brand and offer to their customers at an affordable entry level price.
When completed, the websites can be easily updated and expanded using a standard web browser and basic computer skills.
This offering is perfect for a client that:
• Wants to update their own site
• Needs a blog
• Wants to market via social networking
• Looking for a very affordable price
