Another Round of Changes…A New WordPress Site.

I’ve wanted to update my site for a while now but just haven’t had the time…seems like that is just how it is when it comes to working on stuff just for myself.

After a lot of reading I decided it was time to build my website entirely with WordPress as I really don’t plan on having a regular website anytime soon. Why use WordPress? A WP website allows me to add small posts (like this one) and I don’t have to worry about adding new pages, links, etc. The admin panel does all the extra work for me…

Why the (partial) redesign?

For the most part I was happy with my old site, it was just the content that was lacking. I liked the header and footer but there were too many holes in between…mainly because I didn’t have time to properly finish everything. That alone was what got the ball rolling on using WP for everything. The next obstacle was learning the ins and outs of building a WP theme.

My old site had a WP weblog…but it used the bare minimum code required. This time around I wanted to use more features and that meant more reading…unfortunately there wasn’t a lot out there (that I could find) which really gave a solid walk-through.

The first resource I found (which turned out to be a good stepping stone) was on website called Code Scheme. It gave 4 quick lessons on the basics of building a WP theme. The basics were good, but I was looking for something with greater detail. After a dozen web searches I gave up and went straight to the WP ‘Docs‘ section on their website. Turns out that was the only resource I needed.

I started by downloading a basic theme framework and pulled it apart piece by piece. Once I was familiarized with what everything was, I added in my own code. Finally, things went from being incredibly confusing to incredibly straight forward. After a couple late nights I finished up all the code and then it was just a matter of polishing a couple design elements.

Now that everything is up and running I’m finding a couple small things that need updating here and there. I figure I’ll just update them as I go…if I wait until everything is perfect I’ll never have my website online!