People often ask me what I used to build this site/blog. I am using WordPress.org (2.7) and I love it. I knew I wanted to blog and I knew I also wanted to incorporate some standard website components, and WordPress was the clear winner for my needs.
WordPress Dashboard
WordPress is an open source blog publishing application that can also be used to make other types of websites. The application is free, as are most of the plugins you need to customize it.
For the design, I customized one of the standards-compliant WordPress themes with help from a web designer friend, Adam Sweeney. I hope to further customize the design later but I wanted to see what was possible on a low budget with a little bit of coding skills and a lot of my own time.
WordPress Plugins Used
I’ve explored lots of plugins for my website and have so far found the following ones quite useful. All of these are compatible with WordPress 2.7. Listed in alphabetical order:
- Add to Any: Share/Save/Bookmark Button
- Akismet (comments spam filter)
- All in One SEO Pack
- Awsom News Announcement
- Broken Link Checker
- Disqus Comment System
- Do Follow
- FeedBurner FeedSmith
- HeadSpace2 (Offers more SEO options including an easy way to add Google Analytics code.)
- Microkid’s Related Posts
- Tweetmeme Button
- Viper’s Video Quicktags
- Wordpress Automatic Upgrade
- Wordpress Backup (by BTE)
- WordPress Database Backup
Other Add-ons in Use
- Stats tracking: Google Analytics
- Eco-Safe widget:
Provides visitors with easy alternatives to printing pages of the site.
Suggestions or Stories to Share?
I’d love to hear about your favorite plugins, widgets, or WordPress stories via the Comments box below. Thanks.
