Wordpress Help?

sam09 · 06-03-10, 14:47

Hello everyone!

It has been a while since I've been on-alot has changed since.

So I'm finally trying to get back into gear with the lingerie work.

I really need to get the website sorted bt with limited time (an internet access) I'm struggling to make it look less like a blog.
I was wondering if there are any wordpress geeks who may be able to give me a few pointers e.g. I really want rid of the Category, archives etc...thing on the side. Is this possible?

Usually I'm not bad at this sort of thing but Wordpress really baffles me!! And there aren't many tutorials I can use for guidance. But if anyone can link me to any good ones it would be amazin!

I don't want to let this domain space go to waste after all the help from SBF so look forward to gettin back into things!

Sam

Canary Dwarf · 06-03-10, 19:48

HI Sam

There are several ways to do this in WordPress. This is the easiest and least technical:

I suspect the categories and archives are there by default if you can't remove them. WordPress generates these when there are no 'widgets' chosen by the user. If you go to the WP dashboard then the Appearance section and click on Widgets, you will see there are probably no entries in the grey box on the right. If you take a 'Text' widget and move it over to the grey area on the right where the active widgets sit and click save. Make sure there is no text in the title and body areas. This essentially put a single empty widget in place automatically removing all the defaults. This might not work on some themes, so try it and see.

You may actually want to put something else in there and you can do this by filling out the title and body areas of the text widge. If you know any HTML and CSS, you can use it here to format this widget.

You could also add other widgets which will also remove the deaults, such as 'Links'.

Hope this helps Sam and good luck.

sam09 · 07-03-10, 12:59

That worked perfectly!!! Thank You very much!! It's a start to getting it looking almost right! I've found some tutorials that will hopefully help me on my way to getting it right.

If only they had WP classes going somewhere!

Sam

Mike Lewis · 07-03-10, 14:38

Sam,

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but ...

You say that Wordpress baffles you. You also say you want to make the site look less like a blog (Wordpress is essentially a blogging tool).

So why are using Wordpress? Wouldn't it make more sense to use one of the many simple point-and-click web authoring tools available?

Mike

sam09 · 07-03-10, 16:19

Yup, it no doubt would. However the domain name were very kindly given to me and set up on word press. Instead of just instantly saying nope I don't like this I thought I would try it out before seeing if it would be possible to transfer it to another place...which I would then need to pick somwwhere to host my site.
As I'm using webs.com for my free hosting but they also do ais sits but i dont know anyone who also uses this to ask how good ther services are. So I'm wary.

Sam

stugster · 07-03-10, 22:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

(Wordpress is essentially a blogging tool).

Sorry, I disagree with this I'm afraid Mike. Yes, maybe at the outset, Wordpress was essentially a blogging tool. But now, it's much much much (much much much!) more than just a blogging tool. At its core, Wordpress is a CMS system where the user has the choice whether or not to use it as a blogging tool, or an ecommerce platform, or a simple 4 page website, or a... you get the picture!

Canary Dwarf · 08-03-10, 00:06

I also disagree that WordPress should only be thought of as just a blogging tool.

It's not a fully-fledged CMS but more than adequate for many types of site. It's something that can provide a beginner with the ease and flexibility they need to get a well-coded site up and running, getting ranked in search engines and with a wide choice of themes readily available.

It's also something that can be passed on a to a professional without needing to be rewritten from scratch if and when that need arises.

Far better option than any point-and-click web authoring tools, and easy to set up as a non-blog.

Stick with it Sam, and if you ever get to the point you want to give it up for something else. Don't.

As for the WordPress classes, we have recorded some screencasts recently which we are releasing to the public soon. Watch this space.

Mike Lewis · 08-03-10, 13:46

Stuart and Marc,

Thanks for the clarification about Wordpress. I speak from a position of great ignorance on these matters.

Mike

frockery · 08-03-10, 14:56

I manage one site set up on Wordpress and it is absolutely wonderful! Easy to use and has come a long way from the blogging tool of yore.

Good luck with the learning curve, Sam.

Tim Barlow · 08-03-10, 15:38

I agree with Mike actually. Luckily I also agree with Stugster and Canary Dwarf

Yes - Wordpress is an excellent CMS for ordinary non-blog websites (in fact we are relaunching our website on Wordpress later today)

Yes - it probably would make more sense to use one of the many simple point-and-click web authoring tools available for the simple reason that there are simpler to use tools than Wordpress for the non-technical (the downside being less flexibility)

Yola is one I've been meaning to look at.