Monday, December 29, 2008

Building your Website Starts from the Inside Out

By Theodore Metagastar

Are you thinking about starting your own website for your personal interest? Whether you are looking at a topic related creative outlet or a site designed to promote a product or service, the first thing you should consider is the tools available to you.

Did you know there are many ways to build a website? You can have simple html or php pages, but you either need to know how to code them. You can use Microsoft Word to write and publish some simple web pages, but this option has pros and cons.

One option is buying a website creation software package. These programs do have a learning curve, but have the capacity to manage and publish your website, and offer many great features.

If you want performance and ease of use you might consider a content management system. These programs do a lot of the work such as building the code behind your website, and give many features such as integrating photos and other media into your site.

Two well known content management systems are wordpress and joomla. Both of these programs are open source, which means the code is free to see and use, and many people support and build on open source and give these powerful components freely. Wordpress is easy to use, as well as joomla, and both offer add on or plugin features.

Lets take a look at Joomla, and the best place to look is at their own website. This system is free to download, and offers many powerful components and add on features. Templates are available as well, both free and paid. The forum is a great resource as well.

As far as popularity goes, Wordpress is a great system. There are many websites that offer templates as well as the additional features known as plugins. Many articles are published to support and enhance your use of Wordpress as well. You can have a wordpress site hosted at wordpress, or use the software on your own hosting site. Many hosts have Fantastico which automates the installation of the software.

If you want to have a community type setting you can always consider Wordpress MU. This software is a variation of the typical wordpress installation, but lets you run multiple sites with only one install. You can control the features available for each subdomain within the MU community.

Choosing a content management system will have a big impact on your website design and performance. Once you make your decision you will likely continue to find features and new developments that will prove that you made a wise decision.

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