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cenutrio · Sep 28, 2008, 08:00 AM

Hi,

I'm in need of some serios advice regarding WP. Not for a blog kind of site though, but for a web site that would use WP as an engine for managing users input.

A good example of such web site would be this nano magazine

Is there anybody around willing to help or any good advice?

Let me know

nonhuman · Sep 28, 2008, 11:26 AM

Depending on exactly what you need, you might want to look at a more generalized CMS than WordPress which really is geared towards blogs nearly exclusively. I'm not too familiar with the free options out there, but Expression Engine is a pretty sweet, less blog-centric CMS if you're willing to pay the licensing fee. Personally I tend to go the framework route and build my own solutions (my favorite is Django), but that's not appropriate to every situation.

besson3c · Sep 28, 2008, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Depending on exactly what you need, you might want to look at a more generalized CMS than WordPress which really is geared towards blogs nearly exclusively. I'm not too familiar with the free options out there, but Expression Engine is a pretty sweet, less blog-centric CMS if you're willing to pay the licensing fee. Personally I tend to go the framework route and build my own solutions (my favorite is Django), but that's not appropriate to every situation.

Not true. A lot of sites use WordPress as a CMS, it works great for that.

What are the questions about WordPress, original poster? I might be able to help you...

cenutrio · Sep 28, 2008, 01:55 PM

Hi Besson3c, you always seem to have great input around here.

Well, the problem here is me having trouble saying no to friends. On my spare time I build web sites and I have this artist friend who creates web sites designs/layouts in Illustrator/photoshops and afterwards hires a css coder who builds a web site from it. At times, the coder uses wordpress, mostly in cases in which the web site grows from members input.

Well, he asked me if I could do it for him, because the coder was charging a lot (one can understand really). Anyhow, I was having some drinks and said that probably I could learn a bit (big mistake). Now he is pressuring me, but I have an overload of work, and family health problems, so my time is very limited and I've been wasting valuable time just learning the basics.

That was the scenario, now back to the technical problem.

The web site is http://kunstenaarscollectiefvelsen.com/. Nothing fancy really, but he doesn't want it to look like that (like a regular WP site). He wants it to look more like this.

Apparently the concept is like in the site I mentioned earlier (nanomagazine). A site that looks just normal, but with the wp engine behind the scenes managing all the input from users.

besson3c · Sep 28, 2008, 02:10 PM

Well, first of all, have you coded the design into HTML and devised the CSS needed for this template? Regardless of what CMS you decide to go with, you'll first need to have the site coded.

cenutrio · Sep 28, 2008, 02:27 PM

I'm going through that right now (using some info from codex.wordpress for some help). Although I can understand css a bit, this is not my field, in just a molecular biologist that enjoys messing a bit in web design), why I got myself in this **** (meaning my experience with WP being non-existant) is something I still wonder...

Basically I went for an easy approach because I do not know how to make the jump from the html/css design that I can create, to implement it in wordpress, thus I looked for a template relatively similar (left sidebar, etc) and from there I'm trying to modify it. It is a right/wrong approach, so it is very slow

Right now I'm trying to remove most of the sidebar stuff, leave the search stuff, and include a section/colum for all the artist members that later will interact with the site).

I think this I can manage, but in a simple manner, I have no clue how I will refine this further. The amusing thing (besides me agreeing) is that my friend is not really that specific, he only tells me that the final look should be like the nanomagazine.nl site. Probably the coder he hired was just brilliant because I still don't get it fully.

besson3c · Sep 28, 2008, 02:39 PM

It can be very difficult learning something by sort of reverse engineering it. That would probably be like me trying to understand molecular biology by looking at your work

Via trial and error you might be able to modify the template enough to look like what your friend's needs, but be careful that you don't get into modifications in the form of hacks that you don't fully understand, or else the project will reach a point where the complexity is just too overwhelming to cope with and enjoy working with, and you will likely suffer from browser incompatibilities, particularly in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows.

Really, if you have the time and interest and really want to nail this, I would start from scratch. HTML and CSS is not that hard once you understand the basics, but it can be very hard to really grasp the basics while trying to tweak a finished product that may not even be coded well to begin with. In general, I'm not a fan of shortcuts when it comes to this stuff... This includes using a WYSIWYG editor such as Dreamweaver.

cenutrio · Sep 28, 2008, 02:46 PM

Well, I have to go now (driving 500 km tonight

This is my big problem lack of time, family and work being priority, but short of time to help friends. This site needs to be done this week and I think I won;t be able to make it.

Just a blond proposition here, i hop you don't get it wrong, if i put you in contact with this guy, are you willing to do it? I was charging him 350 euros, a friend price, you could negotiate I'm sure.

I hope you do not get me wrong. Basically, I see myself failing here, but I do not want to put my friend in a bad position, so I'm looking for an alternative plan.

besson3c · Sep 28, 2008, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by cenutrio

Well, I have to go now (driving 500 km tonight

This is my big problem lack of time, family and work being priority, but short of time to help friends. This site needs to be done this week and I think I won;t be able to make it.

Just a blond proposition here, i hop you don't get it wrong, if i put you in contact with this guy, are you willing to do it? I was charging him 350 euros, a friend price, you could negotiate I'm sure.

I hope you do not get me wrong. Basically, I see myself failing here, but I do not want to put my friend in a bad position, so I'm looking for an alternative plan.

I'd love to help, but I'm actually leaving for the UK Wednesday night for two weeks. Can the site wait until I get back?

cenutrio · Sep 29, 2008, 03:28 AM

Thanks Besson3c, actually i have figured out a solution. Some parts of the web site are gonna be stationary html, others will be wp. I've worked on that overnight after driving. Now I'm back in the lab and I'll use my spare time to keep going the idea is to finish it today and present it to my friend tonight, if he is not pleased, then he should look for a pro. Because I certainly have my limits.

There is a deadline for him October 9.

cheers and thanks, it is annoying when you feel to be on your own, at least I could chat about it with someone.

Love Calm Quiet · Sep 29, 2008, 11:54 AM

Just a thought:
Be careful about giving away (or underpricing) programming to friends:
There's no reason for them not to keep thinking of new features/functionalities they'd like...
And if you don't set clear parameters on what you're willing to provide...

Anyway. There can be major distress for the "freebee-ish" programmer (that would be you).
Been there.

cenutrio · Sep 29, 2008, 12:30 PM

An a good thought indeed, I just live that and it is not nice.

Sometimes you offer your hand to your friends and they try to get the whole arm...

Cheers

c