Ladies and gentlemen, it is now official ... Doug Cloud must eat crow when it comes to all the negative things he's said concerning WordPress. I just started my own WP site for my design business, whose name has changed to Doug Draws. The other day I bought some hosting with HostGator after reading some excellent reviews on the company, then I bought my domain through them and they did a one-click install of WP with Fantastico.
Starting this new site I also had to revisit the logo idea I previously had for D. C. Designs. I wanted to move away from the "cartoon guy" image and let people see that I can do more than just draw cartoons and characters. So I needed something more simple and yet corporate looking. Yes, I know, I said I wasn't the corporate type, but hey if you want to succeed you may have to change your thinking in these areas. Below is the new logo design for Doug Draws ...
I then searched around for a theme and found Swift - an excellent free theme which lends itself very nicely to what I am envisioning for my site. Unfortunately, the theme owner turned out to be quite immature in his responses to my questions so I found another theme to use - BlueLight from ThemeForest. This is an excellent theme with a lot more options and layout settings than the Swift one. Of course, I laid down some cash for BlueLight, figuring a premium WP theme would come with much better support (and it does).
It searching for WP themes I saw an immediate relationship to the problems I always encounter with Blogger themes - unless you pay for a premium theme the support you get will not always be forthcoming. Sometimes this is even the case with some paid themes. Just keep this point in mind when shopping for a WP theme and remember that the old adage applies here: You get what you pay for.
Now, the eating crow part...last night I came upon some WordPress plugins that have not only knocked my socks off but also changed my opinion about WP. These plugins are Sidebar Login, HeadSpace, and Contact Form 7. I knew WP had some awesome plugins and gadgets, but I was unaware just how cool and functional they were.
Contact Form 7 enables you to create forms anywhere on your site with insane ease. This is a huge plus since I wanted forms on my new design site for clients to fill in information pertaining to their projects and so they could contact me.
This morning when I woke up my computer had froze and I had to restart it. When I got back online I could not for the life of me find the WP.org login page. I searched for half an hour and finally a member of the ProBloggerCom forums mentioned a WP plugin called Sidebar Login. Once this plugin is installed it creates a sidebar widget that you can easily click to login to your WP site. Sweet.
HeadSpace 2 is almost like having the Thesis theme at your disposal. It's a powerful all-in-one plugin to manage meta-data and handle a wide range of SEO tasks. With it you can tag your posts, create custom titles and descriptions that improve your page ranking, change the theme or run disabled plugins on specific pages, and a whole lot more.
Now the only bad thing I have to say about WP is that their support system leaves a lot to be desired. In the WP support forums you can ask a question and sometimes not even receive an answer or (worse yet) get a bunch of wannabe know-it-alls replying with answers that don't help at all. Of course this can happen with most online help forums (just look at Google's FeedBurner Help Group, for example), but considering the size and popularity of WP I was hoping for a more satisfying experience.
So, there you have it. I am humbled by the awesomeness of WP. My opinion about Blogger still remains the same - it's the best blogging platform for beginners. But now that I have experienced WP first hand I must say with all honesty I can now fully understand why it's the best platform for professional sites.
No offense to the hard working folks here at Blogger, but if you want a site that offers more in the way of functionality and options I can see why WP is the way to go. Keep in mind that every blog here on Blogger is free and that the folks who run this place do not charge us for all their labors behind the scenes. I'm sure if they did they would be more inclined to develop such niceties themselves.
Starting this new site I also had to revisit the logo idea I previously had for D. C. Designs. I wanted to move away from the "cartoon guy" image and let people see that I can do more than just draw cartoons and characters. So I needed something more simple and yet corporate looking. Yes, I know, I said I wasn't the corporate type, but hey if you want to succeed you may have to change your thinking in these areas. Below is the new logo design for Doug Draws ...
I then searched around for a theme and found Swift - an excellent free theme which lends itself very nicely to what I am envisioning for my site. Unfortunately, the theme owner turned out to be quite immature in his responses to my questions so I found another theme to use - BlueLight from ThemeForest. This is an excellent theme with a lot more options and layout settings than the Swift one. Of course, I laid down some cash for BlueLight, figuring a premium WP theme would come with much better support (and it does).
It searching for WP themes I saw an immediate relationship to the problems I always encounter with Blogger themes - unless you pay for a premium theme the support you get will not always be forthcoming. Sometimes this is even the case with some paid themes. Just keep this point in mind when shopping for a WP theme and remember that the old adage applies here: You get what you pay for.
Now, the eating crow part...last night I came upon some WordPress plugins that have not only knocked my socks off but also changed my opinion about WP. These plugins are Sidebar Login, HeadSpace, and Contact Form 7. I knew WP had some awesome plugins and gadgets, but I was unaware just how cool and functional they were.
Contact Form 7 enables you to create forms anywhere on your site with insane ease. This is a huge plus since I wanted forms on my new design site for clients to fill in information pertaining to their projects and so they could contact me.
This morning when I woke up my computer had froze and I had to restart it. When I got back online I could not for the life of me find the WP.org login page. I searched for half an hour and finally a member of the ProBloggerCom forums mentioned a WP plugin called Sidebar Login. Once this plugin is installed it creates a sidebar widget that you can easily click to login to your WP site. Sweet.
HeadSpace 2 is almost like having the Thesis theme at your disposal. It's a powerful all-in-one plugin to manage meta-data and handle a wide range of SEO tasks. With it you can tag your posts, create custom titles and descriptions that improve your page ranking, change the theme or run disabled plugins on specific pages, and a whole lot more.
Now the only bad thing I have to say about WP is that their support system leaves a lot to be desired. In the WP support forums you can ask a question and sometimes not even receive an answer or (worse yet) get a bunch of wannabe know-it-alls replying with answers that don't help at all. Of course this can happen with most online help forums (just look at Google's FeedBurner Help Group, for example), but considering the size and popularity of WP I was hoping for a more satisfying experience.
So, there you have it. I am humbled by the awesomeness of WP. My opinion about Blogger still remains the same - it's the best blogging platform for beginners. But now that I have experienced WP first hand I must say with all honesty I can now fully understand why it's the best platform for professional sites.
No offense to the hard working folks here at Blogger, but if you want a site that offers more in the way of functionality and options I can see why WP is the way to go. Keep in mind that every blog here on Blogger is free and that the folks who run this place do not charge us for all their labors behind the scenes. I'm sure if they did they would be more inclined to develop such niceties themselves.
and I love Blogger ???
John
Yep, I still do. But now I love WP, too.
Are you going to move your blog to WP? Nice new logo.
Thanks for comments everyone. Laurinda, I'm not sure yet. I have found a few blog/folio type themes which incorporate both your blog and your professional work together, but I'm still undecided on that.
Yeah, a WP convert :)
I had to eat that same crow, Doug. Well, it was a different crow (poor crows) but still....I can't even believe I'm about to say this but I love WP. OMG...can you delete this comment?? LOL Especially before FJ sees it!
I agree. Totally. I tried for 5 months to avoid admitting that I made a mistake starting my blog at Blogger, but within two days of migrating my posts to Wordpress.org, I realized I could never go back. There was just way too much utility and freedom I had never experienced.
My design isn't much yet, but it's getting there. At least I have it doing the things I want it to do and could never make Blogger do, and that's a start.
Blogger is still easier to start with, but given the option, I've become a WP fanboy who harps on it like other folks do with Apple products. It's just too high quality to avoid, if you ask me.
yeah I'm a wordpress die hard :P
Doug, I'm still on the fence. WP.org is definitely a step up from my wp.com sites, but sometimes I long for the simple days of editing my Blogger templates. You can see my latest fits at the new sites (yeah, I finally got my name as a domain and registered it.) Look out world - or maybe 'where's the Tylenol?'
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