Classic Creations Design » Website Design

Projects – Week of 12-7-09

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:28:58 +0000

Completed 5 major projects this week, including a complete redesign and clean up of www.mentoringwithdenise.com (a regular html website converted to php for better utilization of include files for navigation).

Also completed these Custom Wordpress sites:

• PheroticaStore.com (ecommerce)
• ShaneHibbsArt.com (ecommerce)
• Nexus Medical Consulting
• Sophie Cakes

Looking forward to an exciting week ahead as I work on a site for a private school in the UK, a home staging company, and convert a site I designed several years ago to Wordpress.

Custom WordPress

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:01:58 +0000

What is the difference between Customizing an existing WordPress Theme and Designing a Unique (sometimes called “Custom”) WordPress Theme?

I’m asked this question alot…

The most important thing to remember when you’re comparing prices, is to make sure you’re comparing “apples to apples” when it comes to what you’re getting.

Whether you download a “free” theme from the WordPress Theme Gallery, or you purchase the license for a theme…you already have a majority of the work done for your design. The coding of the theme is there, you just need it “tweaked” to be what you want for your website. That “tweaking” means creating/adding/editing some graphics such as your logo, buttons, headers, etc. and editing the color scheme in most cases. If you’ve found a theme that meets most of your needs, there’s no reason to pay the higher rates associated with something totally custom!

If you just cannot find a theme that meets your specific needs, then it’s worth the time and money to have a unique WordPress Theme designed for your business. WordPress offers such functionality and flexibility, that once you have that unique theme created, you will end up spending much less in the long run. Make certain that your Unique WordPress Theme design is cross-browser compatible, and easily upgradeable, so that your design will stand the test of time! Be prepared to provide details of what you want your site to accomplish, and exactly how you want the layout of not only the home page, but any interior pages. Remember, with page templates, you can have many different layouts within one theme! You can also have your blog posts publish to a page within the site, rather than having a separate login for your blog.

Be sure to have each designer list what’s included in their “custom” wordpress theme, and question anything that’s not perfectly clear to you. Always ask whether the fee includes customizing an existing theme, or creating a unique one from scratch. Doing this will insure that you receive the best option for your budget!

Find Out What Classic Creations Design can do with WordPress!

Moving Your WordPress Website

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:43:07 +0000

It can be very simple to move your WordPress website to a new host. WordPress has some built in features that, when used along with a plugin or two makes it a very simple process.

Step 1: Back up your database. You can use the WordPress. Be sure you create a new wp_config.phg file and also download the latest versions of all your plugins!

Step 5: Create or set up a temporary URL at your new host (at mine, I created a subdomain that pointed to my regular domain).

Step 6: Upload the core WordPress files to the temporary URL (include all plugins and your Theme files).

Step 7: Install WordPress (type the temporary URL/wp-admin/install.php and follow the directions).

NOTE: Starting @ Step 8 it will be easier to proceed if your logged in to your old WP site dashboard in one browser “tab” and logged into the new WP dashboard in another “tab”–this way you can easily switch back and forth for any copying and pasting or any setups.

Step 8: Remember to set up your permalinks the same way as your old site (Settings>Permalinks in the left navigation).

Step 9: Install and activate your plugins, then set them up like they were on your old host.

Step 10: Select your Theme and activate it. Remember: if you have a Theme that requires you to create a page for “home” and “blog” this is when you should do that and select the correct page templates for them. Then go to Settings>Reading and select the correct Home and Blog pages.

Step 11: Import your Export file. Back in Step 3 we did an export from your old site/host. That’s the file that we’ll use now. Under Tools>Import you will click on “Wordpress” and be prompted to browse your computer to that export file. Once you’ve found the export file on your computer, click the “Upload file + Import” button.

After these steps you are basically finished with your move. However, there will be some things to “tweak” in most cases.

• If you use the WP Table Plugin your tables will have to be rebuilt.
• Your Blogroll/Links will not transfer, so you’ll have to re-enter them.
• Double check the set up of all your plugins.
• Go through your entire site on the new host to be sure everything looks correct.

Once you have verified that everything on the new host is good to go – you are ready to complete your hosting transfer by setting your new DNSs.

When the DNS change is complete, go into the Settings>General section of your new Wordpress site dashboard and change both the “Wordpress address” and the “Blog address” to the correct URL (no longer using the temporary one).

You can also check the Wordpress Codex for other ways to move your site.

If you’re not comfortable with doing the move yourself, or if you have any questions, Contact Me

As always, never attempt something such as this unless you ARE comfortable with the “backend” of your Wordpress site.

Happy Moving!

Your Web Host DOES Matter

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:23:07 +0000

Your website hosting company DOES make a difference!

For a while now, I’ve had email server issues, and it’s driven me to the brink of insanity! Last week, my site’s load time slowed down so much that even I was frustrated by it. Posting to my blog became a 2-3 hour ordeal!

Time to take action! Just because my site had been hosted at the same place for 5 years didn’t mean that I needed to stay loyal! I finally took some time out, and moved my entire site to Classic Hosting. All of my other sites were there, and just because my main site is done in WordPress didn’t mean it would be impossible to move!

What a difference! My site is now FAST and my email troubles are all gone! There were only a couple of bumps in the road during the move, but my tech guys were there in a flash to help me.

Don’t be intimidated by the fact that your site is in WordPress. It’s much easier to move than you think! I’ll post all the steps to easily moving your WordPress site, next.