In my 30-plus years working in the field of information systems I have had several compelling “Aha!” moments, including one in 1993 when someone first showed me the World Wide Web. As primitive as the Web looked back then, it was just so obvious that it would have a huge impact, especially on the business world.
The Web and all that surrounds it have, in fact, completely transformed how we conduct business, giving rise to many brand-new businesses, even entire industries, no one could have imagined — no less built — without the existence of the Web. Not insignificantly, the emergence of the Web and all that surrounds it have also tolled the death knell for many once-mighty enterprises.
But the impact of the Web has reached far beyond the business world. It really has changed everything. How we access information (does anyone remember the World Book Encyclopedia???), how we communicate and socialize with each other, how we make decisions…even how we view the world.
More recently I had an “Aha!” experience the first time I saw WordPress. Of course, no Web development tool by itself is going to transform all our lives the way the Web itself has. But what WordPress does do is change how we – the 99% of us who are not experts at programming, or databases, or Web architecture – view what we ourselves can do with the Web.
Instead of simple being consumers of the Web – beholden to the high priests of HTML, CSS, PHP, SQL and all the other acronym-laden tools of Web development used to create the Web experiences we consume – with WordPress we, the 99%, can become creators of those experiences, for our families and friends, for our employers and customers, for members of our social organizations, for the sports teams we coach and the youth groups we lead…for anyone within reach of the Internet.
Some would argue this is nothing new, that Web “templates” have been around for a long time, and that anyone who really wanted to create their own Website could have done it without WordPress. Well, that’s true to a very limited extent. But, as so many who have learned through painful, frustrating and sometimes costly experience, Web templates can take you only so far. Templates simply do not provide the power, flexibility and usability that WordPress does. With templates you quickly run smack into all kinds of walls that limit what you can do to lend a unique appearance to a site, to make the site behave in a certain way, or to provide the functions and features you want for the site – in short, to make the site be what you want it to be.
Yes, some of the template-based tools can be easy to learn, but so is WordPress. Most people with fundamental computer skills can learn all they need to know to build an appealing and very serviceable WordPress site in a matter of a few hours. And then, unlike with template systems, one sees that there are endless ways to extend, enhance and improve their site – all one needs is the curiosity to explore and experiment with the vast array of WordPress
Can you tell I’m a big fan of WordPress? Well, as much as I enjoy using WordPress to create sites for my customers, it is even more exciting for me to share what I know about WordPress with others, and to help them harness the power of WordPress to create interesting, informative, useful, beautiful Web experiences of their own. This is why I started the course, Creating Websites with WordPress: A Bootcamp for Non-Techies, and it is why I am writing this blog.
I will be using this blog to share all sorts of material about both WordPress and Website development in general: WordPress and other tools and techniques that have been useful for me, ideas about how to create and present compelling content, Do’s and Don’t’s, tips and tricks, Websites I think are cool…just about anything that comes to mind — including, perhaps, the occasional diversion into laments about the ineptitude of the Red Sox bullpen, or singing the praises of my favorite “classic rock” bands. (Dead Heads unite!)
I welcome you to join me on this journey of discovery (I definitely learn something new every day!), and to share your own questions and comments, opinions, ideas, raves, rants (within reason), pet peeves, success stories and war stories…whatever comes to your mind. Just keep it clean, honest and relevant. “Haters” can post elsewhere. This is a place to share constructively.
I hope you enjoy this site. I look forward to hearing and learning from all of you!