There are a couple of different approaches to choosing a WordPress theme:
1. Try to find a theme that looks just how you want it straight out of the box (or with a few small tweaks). Then just add your own text and images
2. Choose a plain looking, but flexible, theme as a starting point and customise it to look just as you want it to.
I favour the 2nd approach, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone.
WordPress have an old article (The $64,000 Question: WordPress.com or WordPress.org?) with an analogy that I’m going to borrow. The original article was written in 2013, although I see that it has been updated to mention the WordPress.com Business Plan (more on that below). I’ll extend the analogy a bit and throw in some things that weren’t mentioned.
The idea is that self-hosted WordPress versus WordPress.com is a bit like buying a house versus renting one. I like this comparision and would extend it to include other platforms such as Squarespace, Weebly and Wix.
Here are the steps I take when setting up a self-hosted WordPress website. I’ve included links to some of the plugins I use, and to helpful articles with more comprehensive instructions.
It’s quite common to want a page layout like the example below, with a row of three images, each of which links to a different page of the website (nails, make up and hair, in my example).
My previous post, Alternatives to WordPress Page Builders, describes an exercise I carried out to build a simple web page without the use of a page builder plugin.
In this follow-up post, I attempt to build the same page with a few different page builders to see how much easier this makes the process.
Page Builders have become so popular that sometimes new WordPress users get the impression that they are expected to use one. My own view is that it’s best to keep things simple and use a page builder only if you have a need for it.
My previous post, Where to Find Free Website Graphics, listed some of my favourite websites for downloading free images, backgrounds and other graphical resources. This follow up post contains a few more suggested sources of freebies. These ones are perhaps a little less well known and may not have such a great selection – but they are worth a look.
When you are building a website, you are likely to want to add some illustrations to make it look appealing to your visitors. It’s reasonable to expect to have to pay for website graphics as these have been created through the hard work of artists and designers.
Having said that, costs can easily mount up and, like most people, I love a freebie or a bargain! Here are some of my favourite sources of free graphics that can be used on websites.
This was a joint project with Mark Gotobed of Dodo Computing.
Because Jayne works as a counsellor, she needed a headshot which gave a serious, sympathetic impression – a cheesy grin would not have been appropriate!