If you have never built a website before, one of the quickest and easiest ways to get your first domain live and operational in only minutes is to install WordPress on your website.

WordPress is a blogging platform that allows you to have a pre-built website for free that will allow you to focus on the more important items like content, and if you desire it, sales and profits.

WordPress Benefits

In more than a decade online, I have literally built dozens of websites, many from the ground up… But since I discovered the ease of use and powerful flexibility of the WordPress platform, I am building most of my newest websites under this Content Management System (CMS).

The reasons I prefer the WordPress blogging platform are many, but I will sum it up with the following five key benefits:

1. Quick and Easy Installation – If you have a web hosting company that runs cPanelX as your webmasters’ control panel (many of the more popular web hosting companies do), then you will find an option in your control panel called, “Fantastico De Luxe”. When you click on the Fantastico icon, you will be taken to a page where you can add a multitude of free applications to your website, by following some simple instructions. Just click on the WordPress link to install WordPress on your website. The software will ask you some basic general information, then do the full install of one of the most recent WordPress builds into your website.

2. Website Themes – Few webmasters want to use the generic WordPress Theme that ships with WordPress. The default WP Theme is plain Jane, and to my taste, perfectly drab. There are many people who design custom WordPress Themes that you can easily upload to your domain, to change the appearance and feel of your WordPress website. Some of the WP Themes are paid versions, but most of them are free. There are more than one thousand themes loaded directly into the WordPress website ( wordpress.org/extend/themes/ ), from which you can choose, although you are not limited to just the themes loaded into the WordPress website.

3. Website Functionality – Just like with the WordPress Themes, if there is a specific functionality you want your blog to perform, there are programmers out there who have made WordPress Plugins that will do for you those things you would like to do. There are nearly 8,000 WordPress Plugins on the WordPress.org website ( wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ ), and thousands more that are not in the WordPress database. If you find a Plugin you want, just download, unzip, and upload it to the appropriate Plugin directory on your blog. After you have uploaded the Plugin, simply go to the Admin area of your Blog to activate the software.

4. Open Source – WordPress has been built in PHP, and its source code is visible to everyone who wants to look at it. On top of that, WordPress has included comprehensive documentation and a range of functions to help programmers work within the WordPress Codex. Anyone with a minimal knowledge of PHP can program WordPress Themes and Plugins, without too much effort.

5. Self-Updating – In recent versions, WordPress has included a feature that will notify you if upgrades are available for the basic WordPress operating system or your chosen WP Plugins. When upgrades become available, you will be notified, and often you only need to click a link to automatically install the upgrades and updates.

I have a friend who is a PHP coder by trade. I try not to mention WordPress in his presence, because every time I do so, I get an ear-full of “WordPress Sucks…”

To be honest with you, I still like WordPress… I like it, because it is easy to install and maintain, and I can improve it easily by using templates and plugins.

I am a coder, but life is too short to spend all of my time coding new websites… I am happy to spend my time creating content that will lead to sales… So for me, WordPress is good, and I am happy to put it on as many websites as I need to do…

If you are new to the Internet, then you might agree that WordPress is a blessing to those of us, who have more important things to do than to recreate the wheel…

Barry Prouty writes about the WordPress blogging platform. He covers topics such as WordPress Templates, WordPress Plugins, and the WordPress Codex (for programmers). For anyone looking for free “targeted” content for their blog and inbound links for their blog posts, check out the free Back Links Magnet WordPress Plugin at: http://www.backlinksmagnet.com/blog/

Author: Barry Prouty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Andrea Cannavina and Andrea Kalli discussed many topics during our hour long Blog Talk Radio live show on March 13th.

What we covered:

1. How to get a handle on email overload by using the DAFT system that Andrea C. created.
2. Following up with Andrea K. about the project to convert her static HTML website to a WordPress platform.
3. Gave a heads up about the soon-to-be-released Palm Pre mobile phone. Andrea C. has a video demo of the phone you can view from her website.

Andrea C. gives the DAFT system away when you sign up for her newsletter from Legal Typist.

Listen to a recording of our live show, audio included in this post.

Andrea

The most recent BlogTalkRadio show for 2 Girls Talk Tech focus on my current project for the new year, converting my static html website to a WordPress site. The project is still in progress, but I'm hoping to have everything converted in the next few weeks.

Listen to Andrea Cannavina and myself talk about the pros and cons of a technology shift such as this, that every business should be aware of when they're thinking about designing or changing their business website.

I'll be documenting this project for a blog series when it's all completed and working, so that it hopefully helps anyone thinking of making such a move. I'll also list all the great resources I found that helped me though this process, as well as the coolest WordPress plugins I am using that address some of the issues of working with a WordPress site.