As with all projects, you need to be clear about what you want a website to achieve (and what you might want it to achieve in future); when you need it and how long it will take to build; and what time, money and other resources you are willing to spend on it.
This sheet is based on using WordPress as a tool to develop your website. WordPress is an open source tool which was designed as a blogging platform (it enabled people to keep diaries of events and thoughts online) but has long since developed as a Content Management System (a very flexible approach which lets you develop a wide range of websites with all sorts of purposes. You can use WordPress to develop, for example:
- a hyperlocal online neighbourhood forum and news site
- an online sales brochure or recruitment form for your organisation
- a community planning tool (including for neighbourhood planning)
- a project management tool for organising the work of your group between meetings.
What you Need
To make a website, you will need:
Some form of computer connected to the internet. You can make a website using a smartphone or a tablet, but you will need a proper keyboard and, for any website using pictures, you need a large screen such as found on a laptop or desktop computer.
A web browser - preferably more than one out of Google Chrome; Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge; Mozilla Firefox; Safari; and the Android browser. The last two are mainly found on iPhones and Android smartphones respectively.
An email address.
You can set up a website for free, but a budget of about £50 will help.
How to do It
To set up your first WordPress based site, use wordpress.com and select free options to start with. You don’t have to pay for hosting. If you use a sub-domain you don’t have to pay for a domain name (a sub-domain looks like: www.westascot.wordpress.com rather than www.westascot.org.uk etc). The free version sets limits on functionality which won’t affect you to start with and you will have ads on your site (unless you pay to have them removed). If you want to develop on from the free service, you can in time. Everything you learn whilst setting up a free site will help you run your own paid-for site if you go down that route.
The step-by-step instructions below will enable you to make a website like that at www.westascot.wordpress.com:
- Go to wordpress.com and click the ‘get started’ link at the top right of the page
- Choose the type of site, for example Education and Organisations, then say Communities and Associations sub-group
- Choose from the templates on offer – say Welcome Page and a theme, say Big Brother for example
- Choose a sub-domain name, eg westascot. If it’s avialble you can have it. Otherwise you might need to adjust it.
- Select the ‘Free’ option – you can always upgrade later or decide to set up a hosted wordpress site somewhere else. And enter your email address, a username and password for WordPress
- Click on Settings at the bottom of the page in the left column and choose your site title, tagline and other details. You can check what your site looks at any point by copying the address into your browser.
- Click on Pages in the left hand column. Click to edit the Home page and choose the Visual tab towards the right of the screen. Type in words. You can add pictures or videos using the Media button; format your text using the controls as you would in Word etc. and create links using the chain icon. When you have edited the page to say what you want, click Update (you’ll need to have confirmed your email address to do this).
- Now you can edit and make new pages on the site and link them including by using the chain icon on page editing window.
- Click on Blog to publish Posts to the site (use Pages for content that won’t change and that you need to be easy to find and Blog Posts for timely updates).
- That’s it – a WordPress site in somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour depending on how quick you’ve been going. Don’t forget to check out www.westascot.wordpress.com – we put a few example of Neighbourhood Planners using WordPress site on there.
Examples and Case Studies
The site we set up using the instructions above is at www.westascot.wordpress.com If you pay it a visit, why not go to the Contact page and leave us a note to say hello!
See also the useful notes at Website Setup and Learn WordPress.
For alternatives to WordPress see:
Wix - which features good tutorials. There is a free version, but it is limited.
Weebly - again there is a limited free version available.
BT Community Web Kit - which is free
Drupal Gardens - is based on the Drupal Content Management System (which like WordPress is open source). The site is free but offers limited function.
Before you commit to a particular platform (like WordPress, Drupal or Wix) you should be on the lookout to see whether you will need to pay in order to achieve the results you want.
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WordPress is an open-source tool. Open-source means that it is free to use- because it belongs to the community of people who use and develop it. Most new websites are now set up using WordPress. There are alternatives to using it, however. You can:
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BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT METHOD SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
| created: 2016-07-25 16:03:35 | by: admin | status: f published |