Using Wordpress for commercial business? (No coding experience)

[JahvonCreamCone]

Hey fastlaners. Last night I was up all night in my bed, going crazy. I'm currently in a state of inertia.

You see I have a bunch of pretty simple website ideas. One of which would be a website that displays pictures and descriptions of people's websites. An online directory basically.

I have no coding experience, but I hear that WordPress can be used to make most sites. But then I also hear that even though you use WordPress, I should hire a dev to build the Wordpress site for me. I simply cannot afford this.

My plan would be to learn WordPress, and create the site using pre-existing plug-ins and themes. All I want the site to basically do is show pictures of customer websites, give brief descriptions and take you to the site when the picture is clicked on. the site would require categories, and sign ups. It would also be a membership site.

To me this doesn't seem very difficult. Concerning the visual design most themes can cover that, but then again I'm not a programmer so I have no clue what this would require on the backend. My budget is honestly around $200 dollars. If I did this by myself, is it reasonable to expect to learn how to build a website within a month, and create the site in one month?

 

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[CycleGuy]

I had zero web building experience and researched the best builders for people like myself.

Weebly is what I ended up using. I created a fully functional eCommerce site in a few days of work.

Cost was minimal, if it's not an eCommerce site, then a basic business site with unlimited pages was ~$20 a month.

wordpress and wix were two other top choices.

 

[justbreathe]

@JahvonCreamCone

It's very reasonable to learn how to create a WP website for simple web page ideas.
$200 is a perfect amount to jump in and get started yourself.

It will cover hosting cost (Google hosting deals, theres plenty) and a premium theme if you opt for one.

I learned a bit of CSS/HTML while creating what I wanted out of my website.
I had no prior coding experience.

Now I know what kind of website I can create and how fast I can have it up.
One month is plenty of time to learn and get going.

Learn and it'll benefit you for a long time.

 

[JahvonCreamCone]

@JahvonCreamCone

It's very reasonable to learn how to create a WP website for simple web page ideas.
$200 is a perfect amount to jump in and get started yourself.

It will cover hosting cost (Google hosting deals, theres plenty) and a premium theme if you opt for one.

I learned a bit of CSS/HTML while creating what I wanted out of my website.
I had no prior coding experience.

Now I know what kind of website I can create and how fast I can have it up.
One month is plenty of time to learn and get going.

Learn and it'll benefit you for a long time.

Thanks man, I have a good HTML/CSS book here in my house, do you recommend I learn WordPress and HTML/CSS at the same time?

 

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[JahvonCreamCone]

I had zero web building experience and researched the best builders for people like myself.

Weebly is what I ended up using. I created a fully functional eCommerce site in a few days of work.

Cost was minimal, if it's not an eCommerce site, then a basic business site with unlimited pages was ~$20 a month.

wordpress and wix were two other top choices.

Wow that sounds pretty , convenient thank you!

 

[CycleGuy]

Wow that sounds pretty , convenient thank you!

You're welcome! I hope it gives you another outlet to at least try.

 

[SlowlaneJay]

If you want to move ahead with WordPress, I've been using Pagelines DMS. It's technically a theme, but is really like a web building app on top of WordPress. So you can still use all the plugins and access the colossal amount of documentation available for Wordpress.

It has a free version too which is really all I need, you may want to upgrade depending on the complexity of your websites.

 

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[justbreathe]

Thanks man, I have a good HTML/CSS book here in my house, do you recommend I learn WordPress and HTML/CSS at the same time?

Start with WP, if you run into a coding problem then start figuring it out.

 

[JahvonCreamCone]

If you want to move ahead with WordPress, I've been using Pagelines DMS. It's technically a theme, but is really like a web building app on top of WordPress. So you can still use all the plugins and access the colossal amount of documentation available for Wordpress.

It has a free version too which is really all I need, you may want to upgrade depending on the complexity of your websites.

Wow this looks really hand! Thank you.

 

[JahvonCreamCone]

Start with WP, if you run into a coding problem then start figuring it out.

Ok, gotcha.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Definitely start with WordPress.

If you've got time and access to Google, then you'll be able to solve most issues on your own.

It doesn't take long to learn once you get it installed, but it can be time consuming.

If you choose a theme with drag and drop options, then you won't even be doing much coding.

You can have someone from Odesk set a site up for you for about $100.00.

I've tried Wix, Weebly, Yola, and WYSIWIG and all of them were a waste of time compared to what you can do with WP.

 

[healthstatus]

https://wordpress.org/plugins/shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin/

 

[FLYmk]

https://wordpress.org/plugins/shrinktheweb-website-preview-plugin/

...exactly what I was going to post.

Also, I'm a WordPress fan and not a developer (though i can work around some code) and built many websites. Be careful not to use a theme that is bloatware as it will play a factor in load speed. I've purchased and tried over a dozen themes. Now, I just stick with one theme and use it for nearly all the sites I build because it's so well developed and very flexible.

 

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[SlowlaneJay]

Good call on page load time, @FLYmk. OP, you may want to use:
http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ to see where your pageload might be choking.

I also use:
http://www.imageoptimizer.net/Pages/Home.aspx to make all my images load faster.

 

[Kuda]

Hey fastlaners. Last night I was up all night in my bed, going crazy. I'm currently in a state of inertia.

You see I have a bunch of pretty simple website ideas. One of which would be a website that displays pictures and descriptions of people's websites. An online directory basically.

I have no coding experience, but I hear that WordPress can be used to make most sites. But then I also hear that even though you use WordPress, I should hire a dev to build the Wordpress site for me. I simply cannot afford this.

My plan would be to learn WordPress, and create the site using pre-existing plug-ins and themes. All I want the site to basically do is show pictures of customer websites, give brief descriptions and take you to the site when the picture is clicked on. the site would require categories, and sign ups. It would also be a membership site.

To me this doesn't seem very difficult. Concerning the visual design most themes can cover that, but then again I'm not a programmer so I have no clue what this would require on the backend. My budget is honestly around $200 dollars. If I did this by myself, is it reasonable to expect to learn how to build a website within a month, and create the site in one month?

Really as a developer myself I would say if you really believe in the idea you better invest more money than what you're offering. Remember you get what you pay. If you want to seize an opportunity I would recommend reading Discovery Driven Planning. This books will help you answer the unknowns. Sure you can build a website for cheap but its it lack credibility no one will buy from it.

 

[Avus]

+100 on Wordpress. I still have no coding experience but have built 10+ wordpress sites. They are easy and fast once you get the hang of it. Some edits you will need to edit code, but people on fiverr can usually knock that out really quickly.

 

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[~Phil]

I think WordPress is a great way to get started. I use a free theme called weaver ii. Easy to use and very custimmizable . You'll learn tons by getting in there and getting your hands dirty. Build it, break it and learn to fix it!

 

[Heckler]

I jumped in with both feet creating my first website and choose Wordpress. After a couple of days of learning about the themes and plug-ins. I was able to get a basic site up and running. I have NO technical skills and yet it wasn't too difficult. My only real advice is to choose your theme wisely. Don't invest a lot of time into learning and working on your site and finding out later it doesn't have all the features you wanted. Good luck.

 

[Yankee427]

Yeah, I just went through some learning to get my wordpress site up and running properly for my business. You definitely want to find the correct theme to use off the bat. If you use a theme that does not have the features you need, it is just a waste of time.

I went through about 5 themes before I figured out the theme I wanted to use.

If you search through google and the wordpress support forums, they have a wealth of information to go from. There are also thousands of widgets and plugins created to do really anything that you need.

 

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[Ninjakid]

One of my favourite websites in the world
https://github.com/

Confession: I'm not very literate with Javascript/jQuery, so I usually go here and find code I wanna use

You can probably learn to make a website in less than a month if you really hustle at it, and deal with all the frustrations of getting stuck. But luckily, there's a lot more help out there than there was 20 years ago.

You can find all sorts of free plug ins and themes by using Google.

 

[Tomek Obirek]

I use squarespace.com I built several sites: Building a new one at www.robotnik.com right now.
I found using Squarespace way easier than WP.

 

[Andy Black]

I use Wordpress and the Optimizepress plugin.
Simple landing pages are all you need to prove whether you can make a sale.
I've then invested to get the pages I knocked up look better.
Don't overthink it. Just get started.

 

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[LibertyForMe]

I've purchased and tried over a dozen themes. Now, I just stick with one theme and use it for nearly all the sites I build because it's so well developed and very flexible.

What theme do you use?

 

[mt_myke]

You should read the massive Gold thread about learning to program or not.

There's a lot to know, even for simple sites. You either have to do-it-yourself, or pay someone. Getting little things to do exactly what you want can be surprisingly thorny and difficult. If you have no way to come up with money you'll either have to DIY or focus on making more money to pay someone to do it.

It sounds like you do have time, so I would follow the suggestions here. Try out some of the webpage-builder sites, see what other solutions are available. If you have a geeky friend have them set up a WP site from-scratch for you, and show you how it works behind the scenes a bit. At some point you will have to decide how much of this you want to learn (and it will take years if you want to learn everything) and how much you want to outsource.

 

[Bossopolis]

If you do not have webdesign experience I would suggest 2 options

1) Use www.Weebly.com I have created a website over a weekend that looks real slick and I have no programming experience and its FREE (can upgrade to paid subscription if you need more advance features) Use drag & drop system, with hundreds of templates etc... They received PC MAGAZINE Editors Choice Award

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2461594,00.asp

2) For WordPress I would pay someone on www.Fiverr.com (you better check out this site if you guys
have never used it... its a CRAZY good value) I had a guy put together a simple intro using Adobe After Effects video for $10 !!!!
Saw some designers will do Wordpress website for $100 ! Have not used this designer below but check out her 100% feedback and amount
of customers... or check check out the many other Wordpress designers.

https://www.fiverr.com/alinam1/crea...rating&funnel=201501261551103448034700&pos=12

Also can get logo's done for $5, SEO optimization, video editing, you name it !!!
Good luck !

 

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[JahvonCreamCone]

If you do not have webdesign experience I would suggest 2 options

1) Use www.Weebly.com I have created a website over a weekend that looks real slick and I have no programming experience and its FREE (can upgrade to paid subscription if you need more advance features) Use drag & drop system, with hundreds of templates etc... They received PC MAGAZINE Editors Choice Award

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2461594,00.asp

2) For WordPress I would pay someone on www.Fiverr.com (you better check out this site if you guys
have never used it... its a CRAZY good value) I had a guy put together a simple intro using Adobe After Effects video for $10 !!!!
Saw some designers will do Wordpress website for $100 ! Have not used this designer below but check out her 100% feedback and amount
of customers... or check check out the many other Wordpress designers.

https://www.fiverr.com/alinam1/crea...rating&funnel=201501261551103448034700&pos=12

Also can get logo's done for $5, SEO optimization, video editing, you name it !!!
Good luck !

Great stuff, thank you!

 

[mt_myke]

2) For WordPress I would pay someone on www.Fiverr.com (you better check out this site if you guys
have never used it... its a CRAZY good value) I had a guy put together a simple intro using Adobe After Effects video for $10 !!!!
Saw some designers will do Wordpress website for $100 ! Have not used this designer below but check out her 100% feedback and amount
of customers... or check check out the many other Wordpress designers.

https://www.fiverr.com/alinam1/crea...rating&funnel=201501261551103448034700&pos=12

Also can get logo's done for $5, SEO optimization, video editing, you name it !!!
Good luck !

Fiverr is pretty awesome. You have to be careful, I had a friend making a video game who paid someone on Fiverr for sound effects...only to find out they were lifted from a commercial product, not created from scratch. Keep in mind you're only paying five bucks and some people will figure that's fair. It's great for things like logos (when you're starting out and just need anything) and drawings, as the artist will usually do a pencil sketch first so you can be pretty sure it's original material. Five bucks is a lot of money in some countries...same friend is currently in Vietnam and says six hours of him doing programming (for US and European companies) makes him as much money as a well paying job in Vietnam does in a month. Thus if you pick people from the right countries they are making great money for their situation, and you're only paying five bucks - win win.

 

[Milkanic]

I don't think you have given enough requirements to really give a recommendation.

Wordpress, Weebly, Wix, etc will all work for a proof of concept, but you might get painted into a corner if you want to start charging for memberships or adding any other features.

Wordpress is great for a blog or brochure site, but it quickly becomes a burden the minute you want to add additional features. Plugins can only take you so far, many conflict with each other, and wordpress is a nightmare to version control/regression test.

Also, having someone setup a site using fivver is pretty much asking to get hacked within 3 months.

 

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[mt_myke]

Wordpress is great for a blog or brochure site, but it quickly becomes a burden the minute you want to add additional features. Plugins can only take you so far, many conflict with each other, and wordpress is a nightmare to version control/regression test.

THIS

Some plugins will even hardcode absolute URLs into their datastores. Think about the absolute lack of experience with professional software development that implies, as it makes it impossible to have development and production servers - you have to either do everything live, or try to munge the data on-the-fly as it's being copied from dev to production. Then consider what that says about the quality of the plugin code. Dealing with wordpress-based sites often feels like working on a site created by the infamous "brilliant nephew", except now you have to deal with the accreted output of thousands of brilliant nephews.

I apply the "20 minute" rule. If you expect to ever spend more than 20 minutes on the internals of the site, then wordpress is likely a bad choice. I don't doubt it's great for throwing up a landing page in 5 minutes, the problem is when people inexperienced in how software works decide that it's a great tool for everything and anything.

 

[pickeringmt]

Hey man, just looking at what you want to do, I would suggest you get a membership to lynda.com
I learned almost everything I know about online business from lynda - it is a great way to get the info you need to get started in most subjects.

Also, be sure that you DO things. Don't "learn" WP before just getting a site going. I have found that the only way to learn anything in terms of online is to do it.

Also, look at codecademy for an intro to web languages. Just enough to get you started.