My name is Andrew, the tech guy here at CCA, but before this, I had a video production company. Ever since Highschool (1998) I’ve been building my own websites. Starting with HTML and Microsoft Frontpage. Now, I mostly use WordPress to build websites.
WordPress is a CMS based platform (content management system) that has themes, plugins, and shortcodes that make it very easy to get up and running quickly and make it look good.
In most website design classes, you start by learning the building blocks of website coding. HTML, CSS, etc. Word press uses these on the back end, but it is still very useful to be learning from the ground up.
So, Why would you want to create a website?
Blog
Professional/Resume (personal)
Business
Websites I’ve created or maintain, mostly with WordPress:
http://www.cinerrific.com/ – business portfolio, forms
http://www.andrewtingley.tv/ – personal portfolio
http://resume.andrewtingley.tv/ – resume, CV
https://www.ccabr.org/ – didn’t build it, but I’m the one who maintains it now
http://alhomesbr.com/ – Rental Homes and Property Management Company
https://notech.info/ – technology blog and information capture
https://wearereachnorth.com/ – Digital Marketing company, using Squarespace
3 Different Platforms to choose from:
1. Write your own code:
HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP
https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_intro.asp
2. CMS Platform:
Wordpress | Joomla | Drupal
https://themegrill.com/blog/drupal-vs-wordpress-vs-joomla/
3. WYSIWYG Platforms:
Squarespace | Wix | Edlio (for CCA)
Other skills that are helpful to practice for web design:
Marketing
Copywriting
Graphic Design > Wix Logo Maker
Video Production
What you need to build a WordPress website:
1. Domain Name
2. Server (Web hosting)
3. WordPress
Costs
1. Domain Name – $15/year (or first one free with https://www.ionos.com/)
2. Server (Web hosting) – $4/month, about $50 per year.
3. WordPress – free, self-hosted download from wordpress.org
Glossary of terms
Mobile friendly – Responsive design
https://signalfire.us/blog/what-is-responsive-design/
PHP
https://www.php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php
Great reference for learning website coding
https://www.w3schools.com/