8 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
8 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Wordpress sites: how flexible are they?

by PeacefulCalamity
6 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Hey everybody, I usually don't post here, most of the time I hang out in the Offline Marketing Discussions subforum -- but I have a question that I think would be better for this subforum.

My question is: how flexible is Wordpress, provided that one knows how to code in HTML and is a Wordpress developer?

And I mean 'flexible' in the sense that one can change WHERE things are on the page (like changing the logo from the top of the screen and making it appear at the bottom, or changing precisely where a slide show shows up on a page?

Usually I'm tech-based and have my head buried in there, but I never got into raw web coding so I wouldn't know.

Any answers would be appreciated!
#flexible #sites #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author INeedNinjas
    The templates Wordpress uses are HTML and CSS. So it is pretty easy to do.

    One of the cool features is that you can take an existing design, and then create a "child theme" that just changes the bits you want. Eg. You just want to add some info in the header and move the logo etc.

    Overall its extremely flexible, you just need to learn where the template files are.
    This link will help with your research
    Theme Development « WordPress Codex
    Signature

    Web Design - Marketing - App Development
    www.ineedninjas.com

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7137565].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MaryWink
    Hi

    Wordpress is very power to use for a number of things. Dropping a "Theme" on top on a standard Wordpress installation gives you are certain look and feel that is built into that specific theme.

    The idea is that yo can change themes and have your content be rearranged in a way that you want.

    The selection of the correct theme is thus very important.... That being said, if you know how to write HTML and CSS, you can really do almost anything you can imagine.

    I develop Wordpress sites all the time using a FrameWork called CatalystTheme.com

    Out of the box, with the Dynamic Child skin it comes with, you can do incredible things. As you dig deeper under the hood, you learn that real the only limitations that you can do are the ones you set for yourself. Catalyst allows you to create a custom Template that can then be assigned to any page you make. You can have unlimited templates in your site so really, do anything you want. You can also include "HookBoxes" that allow custom coding to be placed anyplace that you want them to be placed.

    If you want to expand what you are doing and get better at designing Wordpress site, CatalystThem.com is an excellent choice to look into.

    Mary
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7137699].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Shaolinsteve
    Ever since I got my hands on Wordpress I have never needed to use anything else and have built a number of websites using Wordpress platforms from blogging, review sites to ecommerce stores.

    Take the Theme "Thesis" for example. You pretty much have all the flexibility you want with a user friendly backend. It's very ideal for pretty much anything and I actually went to an Internet World event that was held in London earlier this year and I think they said something like after researching around 62% of online businesses are using Wordpress and it's expected to grow.

    I would highly recommend using it. Feel free to give me a shout if you ever get into any trouble but like many on here, will have a lot of knowledge using Wordpress.


    All The Best PeacefulCalamity!
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7137849].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    Originally Posted by PeacefulCalamity View Post

    And I mean 'flexible' in the sense that one can change WHERE things are on the page (like changing the logo from the top of the screen and making it appear at the bottom, or changing precisely where a slide show shows up on a page?
    It depends greatly on what theme you use.

    In general, you'll probably have to muck around with the CSS and WordPress templates to get things looking exactly how you like them.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7138695].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author PeacefulCalamity
      Originally Posted by UMS View Post

      It depends greatly on what theme you use.

      In general, you'll probably have to muck around with the CSS and WordPress templates to get things looking exactly how you like them.
      I'm actually not the one going to be coding these things - my experience, lies more in the selling aspect of things. I've generally been looking to hire my own VA to do these Wordpress sites, so I'm just testing the grounds on what to expect.

      What do you mean it depends on the theme?

      That not every Wordpress theme is 'infinitely' customizable as much as a regular HTML theme would be?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7138951].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author clickbump
    WordPress is extremely flexible, however, as Peter indicated, its the theme that determines the kind of visual flexibility you are looking for.

    If you are comfortable with CSS, and your theme has a well crafted structure that provides an accessible Custom CSS gateway, there is virtually no limit in terms of what you can do. With a bit of custom css and a working knowledge of the theme's core structure and css hooks, you can bend it to your will.

    If you want to take flexibility to a higher level, learn how to do real time, in browser, CSS edits using Chrome's inspector palette or Firefox's Firebug extension.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7138838].message }}

Trending Topics