Things I Freakin’ Love: WordPress
It was with curiosity that I ventured into the WordPress community many months ago to see what the hype was all about. Sure, I understood where the community springs from and what keeps it strong; WordPress is free software that now powers an alarmingly large number of websites. It is a behemoth that shows no sign of slowing down, supported by a rich, thriving community of designers and plugin programmers who volunteer their invaluable time to create extensions to the core functionality of WordPress for kudos and software that is already free. But what is it about this community that elicits such impassioned responses from its users, who swear undying allegiance to both the WordPress software and the community surrounding it?
Closer inspection of the community will unveil an obsession that is well-placed. Not only is WordPress premised on noble grounds of free information for all, it brings the ability for the average Joe or Jane to enter the realm of the Internet and interact on a social medium that blows the mind beyond comprehension; The possibilities are endless and only limited by what the person cannot imagine.
Imagine a world where you don’t need coding experience to create an online presence for yourself. Imagine a world where there is the universal embracing of free speech and ideologies and imagine a world where geeks are idolized with feverent desire. WordPress makes this possible, and best of all, through a medium which subscribes to the notion of K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
I must admit, I am a WordPress fan, always have been and am not ashamed. Want to know why?
Where else has making blog posts to your website been so easy?
The days of coding your updates by hand and uploading them are officially over. Adding new blog posts has never been so easy, and attractive. For who found it hard to update their websites regularly, get a load of the WordPress interface. It is delicious beyond description; So delicious that I now update my blog on a daily basis.
Where else can you tinker with your website so easily?
Playing with your website aesthetics is now possible with execution done completely via your online browser. No more FTP programs or HTML editors; All you need is your trusty mouse and an imagination that has no limits.
Further, with the option to add in multiple categories and tags, your navigation structure for your website is created on-the-fly. No longer will you need to spent time adding links for every piece of content you create; It is now all done automatically for you; Hallelujah!
Where else can you connect to your audience on such a ready basis?
Comments on my website have increased 1,000% (with no exaggeration). What began as one or two comments per blog post on my old website turned into blog posts with hundreds of comments after a WordPress conversion. The ability for WordPress to allow easy commenting for visitors and pingbacks (alerting other blogs if you link to them) has made communication as easy as stealing candy from a baby.
Where else can you find a community full of creative individuals?
From my experience, the WordPress community is full of people who are more than happy to take a moment out of their day to talk to you and provide support for any issue you need. I’ve contacted many people from the WordPress community with ideas and questions and have had no reason to complain; Andy Staines. (I’m a big fan.)
Where else can you practice writing?
As a singer and a combined degree of commerce and law, I never contemplated that writing could be a career. In fact, this was something which completely blindsided me. What began as innocent blogging and writing has blossomed into a published book, writing as a staff writer for Beckett Magazine, and a regular column in the University of Melbourne newspaper, Farrago. Writing for all you geeks and disco freaks has never been so much fun!
So is there a catch?
Of course there is; Not all was strawberries and rosemary-infused cream. The decision to switch over from old-school physical HTML editing was a difficult decision, one which I agonized for months over. After the conversion, the inner me yearned for ye olden golden days and I was sorely tempted to change back; The fact that a friend also made a comment that the website prior to WordPress conversion “had more charm” further wilted me; but seeing the comments shoot through the roof was more than enough to make me stay put.
More charm? That’s arguable, but with all the additions I am now making after spending a few months familiarizing myself with WordPress’ possibilities, I now believe my website to be extremely personal; More than I could ever hope (especially with the Twitter integration) and I for one am happy; Super duper happy.
So it is without ado that I make the announcement. I have been asked to organize a key event, with a team of highly esteemed Australian WordPress members, for the WordPress community. The end of 2008 will herald the first WordCamp Australia!
With key members from the WordPress and blogging community slated to appear at WordCamp Australia 2008 (it’s all hush hush now) and a guest list of people from all over the world (maybe even Borat from Kazakhstan), hold your horses Internet for the funky, and incredibly handsome Australian team might I add, will be bringing you a WordCamp to remember; And we will be chronicling every step of the journey. Want to come hold my hand?
Additional WordPress Resources I Love
- Admin Drop Down Menus for WordPress 2.5 by Andy Staines.
- Akismet Spam Protection by Akismet.
- ShareThis Content Aggregator by ShareThis.
- Baltic Amber Admin Themes and Schemes by Kaspars Dambis.
- Better Comments Manager by Keith Dsouza.
- Brian’s Threaded Comments by Brian Meidell.
- Plugin Central by Vladimir Prelovac
On this day..
- WordCast 9: Kym Flies Solo - 2008
You may also want to read..
Comments
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
PhotoFeed
Make Yourself Heard
Latest on Tue, 10:17: Great site Kym. Very neat and tidy. See ya on ppt
: Eh.. I want you to respond well to my definite episode Nice joke! What's the saddest part of the [...]
: omg lyk kym is so sxy! srs.
: moin mo
: Kym, you rock.