A Blog script can not only be used to post your opinions but it can be used as a content management system for your entire website. One such script is WordPress.
As an example please view:
BizTalk4U (designed and setup by DotsnDashes Website Designs). This website is using WordPress as a content management system and each and every page on the website is generated dynamically.
A detailed overview of what WordPress is capable of is as follows:
1. Customized Template
You can completely customize the look of your website by using your own custom template. You will however, need to know XHTML, CSS and some PHP in order to do this. It is recommended that you hire a professional web designer who specializes in custom blog templates. Once your template is set up, you can update your website yourself.
2. Pages
You can add pages to WordPress. That is pages like About us, Contact, etc. The content is added via an easy to use interface. It is easy to setup headings and bulleted lists by just clicking on already set buttons which generate the code for you.
Example:
- Select your Text
- Click on Heading
- Your selected text will now be displayed as a heading (how this heading will be displayed will be set up in your CSS file by your web designer).
3. Categories
If you want to set up a category based blog, you can add unlimited sub levels. However, the recommended level is one level deep and at max two levels deep. Therefore your categories can be:
Articles (main category)
>> Web Design (sub category - one level deep)
>> XHTML (sub sub category - two levels deep)
4. Archives
You can also choose not to add any categories. In this case, the default category (Uncategorized) will be used. You can then show the posts based on a time line. They can be archived according to the day, months or years.
Example (monthly)
- December, 2005
- January, 2006
- February, 2006
- And so on…
5. Posts
This is what your blog is really about. The content! These can be articles, opinions, reviews, etc. Posts like pages are also added via an easy to use interface. They are then dynamically shown in your template design. Posts can be assigned to categories or as explained in ‘Archives’ above.
6. Comments
Interactivity is key to a Blog. You can turn comments on, off and on moderation. The latter is recommended.
7. Trackbacks
Trackbacks are like comments, except they are posted at the site of the person making the comment. Generally these are longer articles related to your post. A snippet/teaser will be displayed in your comments with a link to the full article.
8. Links
You can use the inbuilt Link Manager to exchange links with other blogs and websites as well as add useful resources.
9. Search Function
What use is a blog you cannot search thru? WordPress has a built in search function which searches thru posts.
10. RSS Feed
Feeds are read by programs called ‘FeedReaders’. You just need to add the feed URL for a blog to your FeedReaderwhich then checks that blog for updated content. As soon as a blog has a new article, it is downloaded and displayed by the Feedreader. This way you do not have to visit all your blog websites to check up on new content.
WordPress has its own RSS Feed option. You can add RSS feed for your entire website as well as for individual articles for their updated comments.
11. Plugins
These are tools which enhance the functionality of WordPress. There are lots of third party plugins available, each with their own function. Some of these are follows:
- Adsense Plugin: Add adsense ads to your posts with the click of a button.
- Akismet: This plug-in helps you in stopping comment spam. It blocks comment spam on blogs and keeps note of comments you mark as spam for future blocking.
- Add Meta Tags: Be search engine friendly and add specific meta tags for each page and post with the help of this plug-in.
- External Links: This plug-in opens outgoing links from your website in a new window so that you don’t lose your visitor to another website.
- Page Navigation: Use page numbers instead of the default WordPress navigation which uses Next/Previous Links.
- Search Everything: Search through the entire website instead of just posts.
- WP-Contact-Form: Give your visitors the option of contacting you via a simple form. The form comes with a Spam Protection option as well.
- Social Bookmarks: Social Bookmarks allow your visitors to easily submit your posts to 26 social book marking sites. You can select which sites you want to display. You can add this to posts, pages, etc.
- Feed Copyrighter: This plug-in adds a copyright message to your feed items to deter people from stealing your posts and displaying them on their own websites.
- Video Plugin: Easily add videos from YouTube and many other websites.
- Google Sitemap Generator: Generate an xml sitemap for Google
- Search Meter: Looking at search logs to find out who’s searching for what can be a valuable tool for figuring out what’s right and what’s wrong on your site.
- Permalink Redirect: This plugin gives a 301 permanent redirect, if requested URI is different from entry’s (or archive’s) permalink. It is used to ensure that there is only one URL associated with each blog entry. In other words saves you from the duplicate content penalty in Google.
- Database Backup: Weekly backup at your server or back up emailed to you.
As you can see, WordPress offers lots of features that can not only help you put up a blog and interact with your visitors, but it also lets you manage your complete website yourself.
And when you need more flexibility you can always move your blog to a web hosting provider. You can find wordpress blog hosting reviews at web hosting search.
