I get asked all the time about how to manage a website when you don’t know much (or any) HTML.
I always suggest using a Content Management System / Content Manager. There are many out there to choose from. Magneto, WordPress, Joomla! just to name a few.
These content managers give you a control panel that you log into to see the editable pages and other content of your site. There are places to store media like images and videos. There are places to edit text that look just like Microsoft Word or any other word processing software you may use. And you can manipulate all of it with very user-friendly constructs.
I have used all of these at one time or another in my over 7 years of being a certified webmaster. Out of all of them I love WordPress the most.
Joomla! and Magneto use modules and a structured layout to control and organize your site. You need to know the title of each module that you want to edit in order to find it and edit it. You also need to know where these are in your layout so that you can change things around if you need to. You also need to keep track of a complex hierarchy if your site has more than just a few pages.
WordPress uses a much more intuitive control panel where you can see your pages and posts and edit them just by clicking “all pages” and then the title of your page. It’s all right there in the control panel. No mysterious titles of modules to track down, no complex hierarchy to dig through to find what you want to edit.
To change themes (colors and layouts) you would simply go to “Appearance” and “Themes” and you can see the theme you are using right on the page and change or edit your theme right in the Appearance area.
The other nice benefit is that WordPress plugins are an open-source on-going and growing industry. A plugin gives more functionality to your site and allows you to add things easily to your site. There are plugins for just about anything you want to add to your site. Forums, contact forms, videos, SEO etc…
The organization and control panel are easy to understand, and there are many plugins that can enhance your site and add functionality easily. All my sites are running on wordpress, and 2 years ago I convinced my clients to go from HTML to wordpress as well and they have been very happy.
If you would like help transferring your HTML site into WordPress (or any other content manager) please contact me today and I can help you with that project.
Thanks for stopping by! – Sara