I’m thinking about learning how to use Wordpress, and I thought I’d get some opinions about it. Would it make more sense to learn how to use that instead of Dreamweaver or something similar?
I don’t have anything in particular I planned to do - I’m just wondering if it is worth learning.
The ‘wordpress.org’ site says "WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time."
Here’s the situation: ‘Web-to-print’ has pretty much devoured the small- to mid-size print industry which I’ve worked in for more than a decade, prior to getting laid off when the facility I worked in for the last six years closed it’s doors… two days after my wife had our second child. No, I’m not kidding. I live in an almost-rural area, where there are VERY few opportunities - businesses are closing all over, and probably close to a thousand jobs have been lost in the last two years. In a town of about 35K, that smarts.
I just finished a Flash course, which I really enjoyed, and am thinking about continuing to learn more about content presentation on the internet. I’ve seen a lot of sites which use wordpress, and even employers asking for knowledge of it. I’m trying to diversify my skillset and ‘web-ify’ it, which may be a mistake - but it also may open some doors.
I appreciate the different points of view and advice!
Near as I can tell, Wordpress seems to be a Content Management System (CMS). Which makes it one of many many. Apparently it shouldn’t be confused with the wordpress.com blogging service. I guess you can put it like this, that the wordpress.com runs the wordpress CMS on its own server so you only need to sign up and start using it. But you can also get your own host and just use the WordPress CMS.
A CMS is basically a framework where you can (in theory) with little effort plug in your information and get a fairly advanced webpage without needing to know about or be able to access the underlying fundamentals such as databases, CSS and HTML (though it helps immensely).
The difference here is that Dreamweaver (last I looked) was still a development environment. So eg you’d have to figure out how to plug in a database yourself (well I’m sure Dreamweaver has a help system and manuals) while the CMS already comes with this “pre-installed” and all parts hooked in.
E.g. when my club got a web-host part of their service is that you can without hassle install the Joomla CMS, or other web tools (there was blogging software, PHPboards, all kinds of stuff). For some hot CMS-on-web action check my club’s pages. linkytilink most of it done without any programming or designer knowledge.
In that sense Dreamweaver and Wordpress aren’t exactly mutually exclusive. I’m trying to find a good metaphor, with Dreamweaver you’re a interior designer who can make all the cabinets for a kitchen. With Wordpress you’re an interior designer who can buy a kitchen at Ikea and make sure it looks good. Kinda like “Sarah’s House”.
If people are actually specifically asking for “wordpress knowledge” then sure, why not. Keep in mind it is just one of several large CMSs though. But it could well be a place to start.