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Dreamweaver templates, or switch to Wordpress Themes?

by JustaWizard
6 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Hi! I'm David, and I currently do all my websites using Dreamweaver templates.

Some pretext: I started with HTML years ago so I know that, but switched to DW for obvious reasons, then from then on just did everything with DW template features.

I've been doing very simple websites as you can see from the website in my signature (not a plug, nothing to sell you - it's just in case you want to see how simple my design style is).

All that to say, I'm not a "designer" or "programmer" type, just a practical get-it-done-as-simple-easy-and-quick-as-possible type, while still hopefully creating a site that doesn't look like a 3rd grader created it! ;-)

Anyway, my question is what's your opinion about switching to Wordpress themes for my future websites?

What are the pros and cons?

Any advice on learning curve?

What about SEO issues?

Thanks for all your advice, opinions, insights, and help!

David Portney
#dreamweaver #switch #templates #themes #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Jmn187
    Hey David,

    Wordpress is hands down my favorite platform when it comes to websites. I try to use it when ever possible. However, it all depends on what type of site you are using it for.

    Usually for landing pages and minisites i just stick with static html pages. As they usually render quicker and are less of a strain on my server. Especially when you have high traffic offers that are selling well.

    But for a blog or any other type of basic site its wonderful, its great. Easy 5 minute install, displays clean SEO friendly code and is very easy to manage. Knowing a little PHP /mySQL databases will help you greatly. But its not required.

    There is a learning curve, but its very small and there is tons of support for it in the community.

    If you have any other questions just PM me, WP is second nature to me. And id love to help you be the next wordpress convert

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author bizcorp
    David, I used to use dreamweaver in the past but now I am a wordpress fan. With wordpress you have access to a whole range of plugins and themes which are freely available to use - the possibilities are endless. Wordpress is not just for blogging but for websites as well.

    With regards to SEO, I have found many wordpress templates which are built with SEO in mind, so that is not an issue. Wordpress can be made search engine friendly very easily.

    My move from dreamweaver to wordpress was one of the best things I ever did. I have nothing but good things to say about wordpress.
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  • Profile picture of the author n7 Studios
    Hi David,

    If you're prepared to spend a bit of time getting to grips with it, I'd certainly recommend Wordpress.

    From your point of view, you'd need to create your template - or just start with the default Wordpress template, and amend the files accordingly. That way, you have the file structure and most of the functionality you'd probably need, and you can tweak the CSS and PHP (essentially HTML, with some server side PHP code that you don't need to touch).

    Just reiterating what others have said; SEO is quite good when using Wordpress, although your web site's only as strong as the copy you write for it

    Best of luck,

    Tim.
    Signature
    THE Web Development Guru - Bespoke WordPress Theme, Plugin + iPhone Apps [HTML5, CSS3, PHP, MySQL].
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Whyte
    Using DM can offer you a bit more flexibility depending on your skill set, but WP has many plugins you can get for free and do some cool stuff with.... It is also nive to have WP ping the search engines so that they pick up your content faster...

    This can help greatly with your ranking...

    With WP, you can pick up a free template, drop it onto your server, change a few graphics and have a fantastic layout quick...

    Unless you know CSS (or want to learn) making changes to the layout can be a bit confusing......

    Really, I find it depends on what I am doing with it. I use DW and WP on a regular bases and both have pluses and minuses for me..... But each person has different objectives....

    If you have a server with Fantastico on it, install in a temp dir and try WP out... You can try some of those free templates and get a feel for it...

    If it works for you then make the change and off you go.

    Have a Great Day!
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  • Profile picture of the author Stephen Saha
    Hi David,

    Using DW or WP will obviously depend on the purpose of the site and how you would like to expand it. WP is getting popular due to its search engine friendliness and huge plugin collection. Making major changes to WP will require some knowledge of php and CSS.

    You have done your site using DWT which is a good practice, but you haven't used any CSS to it. Just by using a simple CSS for the text and tables you can make it look very better and easier to edit. I think you can pick up CSS very easily.

    Recently I have created sites for clients using both WP & DW. The home page is created thru WP with all the fancy plugins, while some other pages like the contact, faq, about us which are more or less static are done with DW. We use the same Template design for both the WP and the DW pages.
    So it retains the SEO and dynamic content updation thru WP and also the flexibility of DW for rest of the site.

    Hope it help!

    Stephen
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    • Profile picture of the author JustaWizard
      Hey Richard and Stephen - I looked at books on CSS and none of them really seemed, strangely, very helpful or explanatory in a "here's how you do it" manner.

      I know CSS code is not rocket science, and being fairly well-versed in HTML I guess that gives me a head start more than if I didn't have HTML experience.

      Can you recommend any good resources to quickly get up to speed on CSS?

      THANKS!
      David
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