Here’s a look at the advantages of both WordPress and static HTML for building a new website:
The major advantages I can see for using WordPress would be:
1. Easier to allow others to post your content for you.
2. Easier to accommodate guest posting.
2. If you have a large authority site with dozens or even hundreds of pages, then keeping them categorized/organized would be easier.
3. The ability to easily extend functionality via plugins without coding.
4. Easier integration with social network sites.
5. A little easier to implement automatic backups (assuming you do your own backups).
6. Much faster to change the look and feel via themes.
7. For someone who’s not an html coder, integrating audio and video would be much easier.
8. Easier to touch all the SEO bases when generating content
9. More flexibility, i.e. easier to incorporate different layouts – per post/page/category
10. Built-in ping service
11. Built-in rss feed
Major advantages for static html would be:
1. Big speed advantage as long as you’re not connecting to a database.
2. Will consume less server resources if a database is not required
3. Would require less maintenance for sites that need few updates.
4. It can be more secure due to a smaller attack surface.
I’ve always heard that Google loves WordPress but I’ve never seen any hard evidence that it’s preferred over html. So pick the right tool for the job as both have their place in your site building toolbox.
Resources:
WordPress Themes: Simple Themes, StudioPress Premium Themes
WordPress Landing Page/Membership: Premise
WordPress Security: Sucuri Security
WordPress Blog Cloner/Backup: WP Twin, BackupBuddy
Topics: WordPress | Give Your Two Cents »
A few Simple Free Tools to Boost Productivity
Notepad++ http://notepad-plus-plus.org/: Use this nifty little editor to replace not only Windows Notepad but it can also double as your php and html editor.
Notepad++ PHP Editor
Setting Notepad++ as your default editor in FileZilla.
Open FileZilla > Edit > Settings > File editing > Use custom editor
browse to the notepad++.exe program file then click OK to save.
Set Filezilla Editor
ClipX http://bluemars.org/clipx/: super simple little clipboard history manager. Copy links, urls, text and more without the need to immediately perform a paste operation. Installs to your system tray to make it super easy to replay prior copy operations for pasting.
Clipx Clipboard History Manager
Sorta Free Tools (if you use Windows)
Snipping Tool: Use the built in snipping tool in Windows 7 to capture screen shots of webpages. Click on start and type sn in the search box, then click on the Snipping Tool under Programs.
NOTE: For Windows XP you can get the snipping tool by downloading the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC which can also work with Windows XP. Make sure XP Service Pack 2, .Net Framework 1.1 and Media Player 10 are installed
Windows Snipping Tool
Sorta Free Tools (if you use Microsoft Office OneNote)
OneNote Screen Clipping Tool
OneNote Screen Clipping: If you have Microsoft Office with OneNote installed you have access to another free screen clipping tool. Right click the OneNote icon in the System tray to access the pop-up menu.
Click “Create Screen Clipping” and drag the selection tool around your target. When you release the mouse button, your screen clipping will be automatically pasted into a OneNote unfilled note. Just select the image in the note, right click and Save As a png file.
Give these free tools a try, you just might say “how did I ever do without that?”.
Topics: Tools | Give Your Two Cents »
WordPress 3.2 – What's required?
WordPress 3.2
was supposed to be released by the end of June but that obviously hasn't happened yet. Each new release may bring it's own bugs as well as incompatibilities with applications and plugins. So, when it is released, it may prove wise to wait a bit before installing.
WordPress 3.2 critical requirements:
- PHP version 5.2.4 or higher
- MySQL version 5.0 or higher
You can contact your host to find out what versions of PHP and MySQL are running on your server. Or log in to control panel and look for Account Information>Program Versions. I'm on Hostgator and this info is located in the lower left sidebar. Clicking on the Click to View link to the right of Program Versions will display your MySQL version along with your PHP version and some other info as well. If you're lucky, you'll have the minimum versions and you won't need to do anything. In which case you can ignore the following.
One thing to take note of – the version of PHP shown on the server may not necessarily be the latest version available on the server. After a call to HG support, I discovered that PHP version 5.3.6 was available not just 5.2.17 as displayed in control panel.
(NOTE: If you hate the techie/geeky stuff, you can skip to the last paragraph)
Always make sure you have multiple backups before proceeding with any upgrades to WordPress, PHP or MySQL.
To activate the later version of PHP required adding this one line to the .htaccess file located in the root of the domain I wanted to upgrade:
AddType application/x-httpd-php53 .php
Once this was done I created this simple text file called test.php in my text editor to verify the installed php version. I put the following code in a blank text file and saved it as test.php
<?php
// Show all information, defaults to INFO_ALL
phpinfo();
// Show just the module information.
// phpinfo(8) yields identical results.
phpinfo(INFO_MODULES);
?>
That's it. Make sure it's saved as test.php and not test.php.txt
Use
sftp or cpanel/file manager to upload it to the root of the domain you want to test then enter the domain address in your browser address bar: e.g. http://www.mydomain.com/test.php
The php version will be displayed at the top of the screen. In my case this came back as PHP Version 3.5.6…..Hooray!
Now test your site to make sure there are no problems. If you do encounter errors, just edit your .htaccess file, remove the line you added and save the file.
IMPORTANT: Once you're done testing DELETE the test.php file. This will keep prying eyes shut.
Unless you like this geeky stuff and you're prepared to deal with any hiccups, I would recommend you contact support for your host to verify your situation with regards to WordPress 3.2 and let them handle any upgrades if necessary. As for actually installing WordPress 3.2, when it's released, I'll create a new WordPress 3.2 installation, load up my usual suspects (plugins) – actually I use a WordPress cloning script called
WP Twin which clones my WordPress template site in mere seconds – and I'll be testing BEFORE installing it on any production sites. Good luck with your testing and eventual roll out of WordPress 3.2.
Topics: WordPress | Give Your Two Cents »
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