18 Aug 2011

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Using WordPress: Introduction

by Dale-Anthony

After launching a new website one of the most common questions we are asked is how the client can update and maintain the website themselves, so we thought it would be useful to put together a series of posts dedicated to how to use WordPress.

WordPress is a content management system that lets you easily update the pages and blog posts on your website. We sometimes build websites on the WordPress platform to give you the freedom of updating content yourself and to make it simple for you to keep things up-to-date.

All content is managed from the WordPress admin area which you can access from any web-browser, you can usually get to the admin area by going to yoursite.com/wp-admin, from here you can login with the username and password we would have provided you with.

The Dashboard

Once you’ve logged in you’ll see the WordPress dashboard which shows you an overview of the content and activity on your website including some stats, a list of pending comments, your recent draft posts and a list of the most recent incoming links.

On the left hand side of the page is the navigation, these link to the different sections that give you control over the content on your website.

In our WordPress series of posts we’ll focus on how you can update content and maintain your website. In the next post we’ll look at adding and editing blog / news posts.

19 Nov 2010

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CLIC24 celebrate their anniversary with a new Neighbourhood

by Sarah Bale

A few weeks ago we met up with Neil Wilkins, MD of Viper Marketing & Communications Group to talk about our latest offering, Neighbourhood.

Almost immediately Neil had a client who he thought could benefit from their own Neighbourhood, CLIC24. CLIC24 is Europe’s only charity 24 hour mountain bike event, and for nearly 10 years now they have supported children with cancer and leukaemia through the charity CLIC Sargent.

We got to work straight away and here we are a few weeks later with CLIC24′s brand new Neighbourhood. We caught up with Neil to get his thoughts on the new Neighbourhood…. (Also see Viper’s own case study)

Simpleweb: What was CLIC24′s initial aim?

Neil: Well this was twofold really. The old traditional site acted as an information point but it was too much like a noticeboard with no real engagement and no opportunity for potential participants to put their stamp on events.

CLIC24 wanted to make sure that people felt a part of the event with an inclusive website that reflected the idea of community. In this way it was hoped that the website would allow participants to be a part of what the event becomes.

Simpleweb: What initially interested you in Neighbourhood?

Neil: I like to practice what I preach. You cannot expect potential customers to come to you, you have to find out where they are, you have to be in their space (Facebook, Twitter etc) to capture and be involved in discussions. There has been a shift in power to the end user and Neighbourhood draws all of this together.

Simpleweb: What do you think of the end result?

Neil: The initial responses I have had have all been that it is clean, simple, navigation is easy – well, you do not even have to navigate because everything you need is in one place! There is no lengthy detail, it does what it says.

Literally within minutes of it being online I had Facebook comments from people saying how much they “love the interactivity” of the CLIC24 Neighbourhood. I have had 100% positive feedback from everyone about it regarding the layout, structure, everything.

Simpleweb: Would you recommend Neighbourhood to others?

Neil: Totally, absolutely. I think especially for charities it is so relevant because of the way it enables a charity to engage with people rather than assuming people will come to them. It is very much on end user terms. I think it would be great for every charity and sponsor. Definitely yes, it is absolutely superb.

To read Viper’s own CLIC24 Case study click here .

15 Jul 2010

3 Comments

Is Facebook your next CMS?

by Mark P.

When Tom and I first started Simpleweb our mission was to create “process driven websites” that retained quality, accessibility and value. We feel that we succeeded. Our own CMS was easy to use for users and simple to administer.

Three years later and things have moved on; a lot. WordPress is almost the universal CMS for small websites. With more and more business’s seeing the need for keeping their users up to-date. WordPress is making big inroads into SME websites as well, even the government is getting in on the action.

Smaller business’s though have had a notoriously hard time since the beginning of the web boom. They usually can’t afford a “proper” web designer/developer or digital agency, so either settle for a site through a student web designer; which can be great aesthetically, but usually there’s no support or updates and they become hugely frustrating. Even worse than this is the dreaded “site in a box”. Usually £199 for everything that you need for your online business or for giving you a migraine… Arrrggghh!

Is their a solution? We think so. Pretty much everybody knows how to use Facebook. Over half a billion users and growing, with anyone being able to set a up a “fan page”; a website inside of Facebook.

Setting up a fan page is easy and it gives you a way to post articles, events, quick updates, photo’s and videos. More importantly it lets you tap into an existing audience and grow a community around you and your business. It’s an online “neighborhood” if you like!

The downside to a fan page is that it’s inside Facebook. What we really need is visibility of this content outside of Facebook while keeping all of the benefits of a familiar system. No more learning bespoke or clunky technology. We already know how to use Facebook.

What’s needed then is a website that sits outside of Facebook, somehow connected to the one inside of Facebook. Recently Facebook has released an API called Open Graph. It lets web developers connect directly into the inner workings of Facebook so that we can pull and push information and data. All of which means building a website outside of Facebook populated with all of your daily content such as news and photos is now a viable option. You don’t ever need to worry about keeping your website up to date again.

By creating the best of both worlds, we have a website that has a nice web address, looks good, is easy to find by Google and a piece of cake to update.

For a single product or service based business we can’t think of a better alternative for providing businesses with a professional way to advertise online and create traffic, community and sales. Larger business’s are already tapping into this by creating microsites, small spinoffs from their larger websites.

These “connected” websites can also have Youtube, Flickr, Google maps and other existing services, creating a true socially connected website that can do so much more than traditional websites.

We’ve recently built some of our own:

The Blog - Archive for cms

The Dashboard