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Am I missing something?

by kevd10
12 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
I have been going back and forth in my mind about whether to use Wix for my web design business website or Wordpress.

For some reason, the general consensus is to use Wordpress. Why? Because if the only reason is about not having to rely on Wix to exist, thats not good enough of a reason for me to pull my hair out trying to get to grips with the complicated platform of Wordpress.

I spent around 2 weeks solid trying to learn enough HTML, CSS and PHP in order to get something that resembles a website on Wordpress. I have watched COUNTLESS tutorials and gone through the ENTIRE course on codecademy yet when I open up a theme and try and see the structure of it in the editor, I cant make sense of 90% of it. It seems as though there is a hell of alot of work involved trying to get a website on Wordpress to look anywhere near as good as it would if it were created on Wix. Why does everybody love Wordpress so much? How much coding experience do you really need to get to the stage where you can build a truly stunning website on Wordpress that rivals one built on Wix?

I dont know much about SEO, but from what I can gather, there is not enough evidence out there to suggest that Wordpress sites magically rank higher than Wix sites if the content is the same.

And outsourcing is out of the question.

Cheers.
#missing #wordpress #wordpress too hard
  • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
    You are getting too wrapped up in the glitz, what sells is your content. Do you want to display wix ads on all your pages? Or pay an astronomical price?

    I always use one of the WordPress.org hosted and developed themes and create a child theme based on one of them. That is in my opinion the best basis for developing a website for any niche.
    Installation of a custom header image is simple and will set your site apart from the crowd.


    TwentyTen -TwentyEleven - TwentyTwelve or TwentyThirteen
    Again it's up to you to develop a sales pitch.

    If you want to learn how to edit a theme, install http://wordpress.org/themes/twentyten
    It's not quite as complicated as the newer themes.
    Or even Classic. http://wordpress.org/themes/classic
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    Robin



    ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    I have been going back and forth in my mind about whether to use Wix for my web design business website or Wordpress.
    Do I get it well? - You claim to be in the "web design business" and you say you have no idea what is in the code of a WP theme...?
    :rolleyes:
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    • Profile picture of the author kevd10
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Do I get it well? - You claim to be in the "web design business" and you say you have no idea what is in the code of a WP theme...?
      :rolleyes:
      I know whats in a wordpress theme. What im saying is every time i look at the code of a WP theme, it just looks like a load of mess. Not structured the way I have learnt PHP and CSS.

      My point is, what real reasons are there behind choosing wordpress over wix besides people wanting to feel like a 'real web designer'?.

      Anyone who says Wordpress is easier than Wix is insane or lying.
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      • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
        Originally Posted by kevd10 View Post

        I know whats in a wordpress theme. What im saying is every time i look at the code of a WP theme, it just looks like a load of mess. Not structured the way I have learnt PHP and CSS.
        If you ask me - you're right on that one. WordPress themes can be a mess, and I wouldn't touch 95% of them. Even the premium ones. And I'm a guy who gets the bulk of the income from doing WordPress site development.

        I'm using themes from two premium vendors, and that's it. These are both "theme frameworks", which essentially means that they've solved the common problems once and are using the same code on all of their themes. You're able to rely on similar structures and sane basic tools across your projects.

        I'd say that StudioPress Genesis is for the "programmers". You can develop themes using hooks and self-contained functions, and the child themes tend to be really small and neat. Nowadays I'm using iThemes Builder, which uses more "traditional" HTML/PHP (spaghetti) style. I'm not satisfied with the way they handle CSS, but their Layouts/Views structure and tools such as Loopbuddy are just awesome.

        If you're struggling with WordPress theme structure, I'd suggest this article. I often revisit it myself even after 3+ years.
        Template Hierarchy « WordPress Codex
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        Links in signature will not help your SEO. Not on this site, and not on any other forum.
        Who told me this? An ex Google web spam engineer.

        What's your excuse?
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        • Profile picture of the author itsandy
          Wordpress literally could not be easier.

          The info graphic above does a really good job explaining the basics of how a site in Wordpress is laid out.

          If you're trying to sell 'web-design' services using wix to make your sites, you're doing it wrong and frankly, you're operating in a dishonest way.

          Advertise as 'button clicker', not 'web designer' if you'll be selling Wix sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author TomVa
    WOW your trying to start your "web design business website" and you can't even fig out wp? Come on now, its not that hard if you have a real understanding of css1,2,3 html,php man really I could sit down right now and teach you a few tricks in a matter of min's to make your own wp theme it's really not as hard as it looks! Take a deep deep breath, in and out in and out smoke a cig if you smoke, get up walk away from your pc again take a few deep breaths then go back to your pc and start ALL OVER,
    what I mean is this... give yourself a refresher course in html,4 and 5 then css1,2,3 then when that is done start with simple basic php.. REMEMBER this is NOT a one day refresher class mate, it will take a few days/weeks really dig into it...

    I got another idea go and download yourself bootstrap and learn that in and out, then you can do some great designs. Good luck hope you don't take my words wrong because sometimes I come across as a d*ck and I promise ya I'm not!

    ps
    Wp is a cms system
    (CONTENT MANAGMENT SYSTEM)
    ppss
    sorry for the bad grammar and spell lmao
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    • Profile picture of the author dlundy1
      Hey Ked!

      I have been EXACTLY where you are! But I actually spent 2 years of my LIFE trying to learn HTML, PHP, and Javascript!

      Believe me when I say... STOP THAT!

      I cannot count the number of HEADACHES and HEARTACHES that I had almost EVERY night!

      Being "SMART" doesn't mean you must LEARN everything... It means you have to be smart enough to realize that you CAN'T learn everything!

      It sounds like you are a "Do-it-yourself" person, as am I.

      Although this is usually GOOD, in Internet Marketing it is horribly BAD!

      The Internet is INFINITELY huge, so how long do you think it would take you to learn to do everything yourself??

      Answer? FOREVER.

      WIX sites are Easy to set up, but they are ... for lack of a Better word... CRAPPY.

      Any internet user with experience will likely avoid that website simply because ALL Wix sites virtually look like TEMPLATES!

      But Google LOVES blogs simply because of the constant burst of NEW content!

      That is why they get a BOOST in SEO ranks!

      I would DEFINITELY recommend Wordpress! It is extremely easy to use once you CALM DOWN and stop over analyzing.

      The first thing you must ALWAYS do when approaching something new is Calm yourself...

      When you panic, everything becomes 1000x HARDER!

      There are sites like Guru.com or Elance.com where you can HIRE someone to create a professional looking website!

      You don't have to spend 6months LEARNING it when you can just spend 1months INCOME to have it built FOR you!
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      Don't Give UP! See how I made mt first $69.73 online :)

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      • Profile picture of the author TomVa
        Originally Posted by dlundy1 View Post

        Hey Ked!

        I have been EXACTLY where you are! But I actually spent 2 years of my LIFE trying to learn HTML, PHP, and Javascript!

        Believe me when I say... STOP THAT!

        I cannot count the number of HEADACHES and HEARTACHES that I had almost EVERY night!

        Being "SMART" doesn't mean you must LEARN everything... It means you have to be smart enough to realize that you CAN'T learn everything!

        It sounds like you are a "Do-it-yourself" person, as am I.

        Although this is usually GOOD, in Internet Marketing it is horribly BAD!

        The Internet is INFINITELY huge, so how long do you think it would take you to learn to do everything yourself??

        Answer? FOREVER.

        WIX sites are Easy to set up, but they are ... for lack of a Better word... CRAPPY.

        Any internet user with experience will likely avoid that website simply because ALL Wix sites virtually look like TEMPLATES!

        But Google LOVES blogs simply because of the constant burst of NEW content!

        That is why they get a BOOST in SEO ranks!

        I would DEFINITELY recommend Wordpress! It is extremely easy to use once you CALM DOWN and stop over analyzing.

        The first thing you must ALWAYS do when approaching something new is Calm yourself...

        When you panic, everything becomes 1000x HARDER!

        There are sites like Guru.com or Elance.com where you can HIRE someone to create a professional looking website!

        You don't have to spend 6months LEARNING it when you can just spend 1months INCOME to have it built FOR you!
        hahaha that is kind of what I was trying to say, lmao reason I let my partner re write my content after I create it because I suck at trying to explain myself! :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
    Originally Posted by kevd10 View Post

    when I open up a theme and try and see the structure of it in the editor, I cant make sense of 90% of it.
    You only need to make sense of the parts that relate to the design.

    You could refer to this image

    And to the style.css file that controls the display elements.


    If you are looking at the whole thing, you need to break down all the elements instead of looking at the whole thing all at once
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    Robin



    ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    Hmmm... In March 2005, when there was no FB and infograms I, probably, made the first attempt for a visual explanation of a WP theme.
    (The theme system has been introduced with version 1.5 in 2005)

    Visual Anatomy of a WP 1.5 Theme
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  • Profile picture of the author kevd10
    to be honest, so far iv only encountered awful methods of explanation about how wordpress works. I mean I thoughT the whole thing was, the index.php was in effect the file that controls the content on the homepage of your site, with the .css file controlling the display elements?

    It just seems almost impossible to ever be able to create a stunning website using this platform without first pulling your hair out. Everybody keeps using terms like 'dynamic' and 'control' when they are bigging up wordpress.

    I just dont seem to get it.
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  • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
    The way it works it that index.php displays the "home page"
    Depending on the settings in the dashboard it will display a selected number of the most recent "posts" (1, 5, 1,000 or whatever # you choose), or a "sticky" post, or a selected "page".
    You can choose to display none, one or more sidebars and vary the number based on a multitude of criteria.
    You can control what is/or is not included in the header, footer, and sidebars.

    Like in the mouse trap above if you look at the whole picture it's confusing. If you look at only one element, it's very simple.
    Just start out looking at one of the older themes that doesn't include so many options in the dashboard if you want to learn how WordPress works, before you get blown away by the complexity of the more advanced themes.
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    Robin



    ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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