WordPress has come a long way over the years.
It’s now at the point where it’s simple to knock up a website in a matter of moments, literally.
It sure beats my old templating system I developed and teach in my classes. Well the templating system is a good introduction to using PHP at least and has some applications for small sites.
It’s probably how WordPress started out. I’m just way too late…
Anyway, WordPress has now got my full attention to the point that I’m learning how to throw in all my past PHP code snippets into it via Plugins. Which at the beginning, like most things, has a wee learning curve. But there is a lot of good information available on the internet to help out.
I’ve even gone and bought a domain name and have been slowly building the website up. It’s a place where I’ll be providing all my new found WordPress Knowledge and providing links back to some good sources.
Which leads me to a dilemma. I’ve got this website where I ramble on about things. I’ve also got http://www.LookingOverMyShoulder.com which I use as my base site for my teaching ( Note to self: It needs a major revamp – hey install WordPress on it – what a great idea! ).
And the tutorial site for WordPress is http://www.AdvancedWordPressTutorials.com. So my thinking is to stick with these sites and use them as they do cover some of the different areas I’m working in.
I use these sites to “record” what I’ve learned so I guess they work like my own personal reference sites. Sites where I can collect all the vast resources available and hopefully merge them into a central location. Something to consider when you create your own websites. And don’t go pillaging from other sites. Link to them and provide any extra useful information to make things clearer if need be.
So when I go – “umm where did I see that” I can go to one of my sites and dig up the information. Plus it helps you build your website.
I’m just creating a new plugin – my first – at the request of a mate that wanted a new plugin. So I’m busy learning up on the ins and outs of WordPress. The plugin – actually works – but there is a bit more to do on it. Umm , yeah I am being a bit vague on what it is!
Still, with all the little snippets I’ve developed for my hand coded sites, it’ll be a great adventure to turn them into plugins and add their abilities to WordPress. Why reinvent the wheel? It’s better just to make new ones!
Have a very happy New Year and I’ll keep plodding along.
Cheers
Tim Brownlaw
A Resource I use and recommend
