After you have chosen your domain name, purchased hosting, and did some initial setup on your ISP, it’s time to get serious. For this part of Writing for Digital Media, you will need to research and install a content management system, or CMS, as the main component of your web site. A CMS provides a consistent design and a convenient way of putting content on to your web site. It usually uses a database back-end that provides a robust way of serving web pages.
The first step is to find a CMS that is right for your needs. There are many available, both open source and commercial. A CMS is any consistent web interface that allows for the storage and presentation of content. Some specialize in particular content, like course management, wiki, shopping, groupware, and blogging. For your portfolio, you may use any CMS that you would like that’s appropriate for what you intent to showcase. In general, this means you; specifically, the content that you use to sell yourself will vary. Therefore, you choice of CMS will vary as well. While this may be the case, there are a couple of features that you will want to look for:
- Choice of themes. Picking a system that is popular has at least one benefit: themes. A theme controls a web site’s aesthetics and design. The more themes available for the CMS that you choose, the less work you potentially have to do on the look and feel.
- Choice of plugins. Plugins extend the capabilities of the base install of a CMS. Most systems will come with a handful of plugins, but you will always want to add more functionality beyond a base install. In fact, this class will require it.
- Ease of use. Some CMSs, while powerful, are needless complicated. Choose wisely. You might also look for one that has a separate administration interface. Your usage also entails adding content; therefore, you might consider administration layout and intuitiveness.
- Ease of installation and upgrade. Most CMSs are fairly extensive, so installing and upgrading can be complicated procedures. Installation is a generally straightforward process, but upgrading can be time-consuming and complicated. You might choose a CMS that is capable of upgrading itself from the administration control panel.
- Ease of customization. Much of this will be done with plugins, but you will also want a system that allows you to edit the HTML and CSS fairly easily. You might also look for the ability to use “widgets.” These are usually part of plugins that can appear in menu and side bars.
- Good support. Most open-source CMSs have good documentation and even better forums for support. No CMS is perfect in the area, especially those that release versions frequently, but you can generally find answers to common problems for most popular systems.
This web site, and most others that I run, use WordPress. WordPress is a free CMS and fulfills the above points very well. It has hundreds of ready-made themes, both free and commercial, hundreds (perhaps thousands) of plugins, an excellent administration interface, automatica upgrades of both the core system and plugins, and forums for support. While I will not require you to use WordPress, most of my posts for the remainder of the semester will refer specifically to using WordPress in the design of your portfolio. However, most of my explanations will be generic enough for you to apply to other CMSes. If you are new to this process, I strongly encourage you to use WordPress. I might not be able to help you with other systems.
That said, you should also look at Drupal, another CMS I used for years. It does some things better than WordPress, like menu customization, but is not as sophisticated, in my opinion, as WordPress. You might also see how different CMSes are rated before making your choice. Spend some time with this. Don’t take my word for it. Seriously.
Once you have decided on a CMS, install it. Part of number three above will be clear directions and a painless installation. Most will require you to set up a MySQL database. This you will do through your ISP’s control panel.
All you should need is a selection that allows you to add a database. I would choose the first one above: “MySQL Databases.” In this control panel, you can add a database and a user to access the database. You user name can be anything you’d like; pick a password for the user. In some control panels, you create a database first, then assign a user to it. You will need to know the database name, the user name, and the user’s password before you can install the CMS.
In my next post, I’ll discuss theme choice. Be sure you do your reading. And be sure you sent me an email after you set up your Google Apps. Once you get your CMS installed, post a comment below, making sure you leave your new URL. (You might want to get yourself a Gravatar, too.)
Finally, I think we should meet next Friday, Jan. 30. Details will follow.
