WordPress as CMS

  • theworldawaits

    (@theworldawaits)


    16 years, 6 months ago

    Hey there,

    I’m currently in the process of redesigning the website of a Child Rights organization called ANPPCAN. Their current website http://www.anppcan.org is in need of a serious overhaul. My overall objective is to create a professional site that is very easy to update for them when I leave. It appears WordPress is possibly the solution I’m looking for.

    I have a few questions and concerns though…

    NAVIGATION
    1) I would like to create the main navigation in the side bar. Is it a smart idea to use Posts and Categories as navigation elements? I’ve been doing some research and it appears I can take away the comments and published info. Is there any other obstacles to creating a navigation this way?
    2) I would like to use the ‘Pages’ on the top as links outside of the main navigation to ‘report abuse’ and ‘make a donation’ etc. Is it possible to keep the Posts/Categories navigation in the sidebar visible at all times? They seem to disappear when navigating to these Pages.
    2) Is there a way to get just one sidebar on the left hand side?

    GENERAL QUESTIONS
    1) Static homepage with updatable news section. Am I dreaming?
    2) Contact forms and feedback. I read somewhere that WordPress doesn’t do well with textfields/forms etc. Is this outdated info or will we be OK?
    3) Pages vs. Posts/Categories for navigation. It seems every article I read changes my mind on how to achieve the best navigation system in the sidebar. I understand that WP is developed as a blogging platform, so this is perhaps why it’s so challenging. Any advice or direction on how to best move forward would be greatly appreciated.
    4) Any themes in particular you might recommend? I’ve been working with K2 and the general layout is perfect.. if I can get the sidebar working as a main navigation.

    You can view the site map here if you think it might help.
    http://www.theworldawaits.com/anppcan_sitemap.pdf

    Also, if I’m pursuing the wrong path completely just let me know. I am very hesitant to explore the paths of Drupal or Joomla… I think WordPress can meet the needs… but if I’m way off… please let me know before I’ve invested too much time barking up the wrong tree. 🙂

    I appreciate your time and consideration if you’ve read this far. I’m a volunteer with this organization so any help or assistance would be greatly appreciated. ANPPCAN is doing great things within Kenya and around Africa… and their current website and identity don’t reflect their role as a leader in the Child Rights movement. Any direction or guidance and how to best achieve the goals of the website would be invaluable.

    Thank you so much for your patience.

    Peace and blessings..

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • moshu

    (@moshu)

    16 years, 6 months ago

    1. Is it a smart idea to use Posts and Categories as navigation elements?
    Categories – yes.
    Posts as navigation in sidebar? – NO! What happens when you have 5,000 posts?
    Posts are posts, not for “navigation” whatever you meant by that. (sorry, I just don’t get it)

    2. Just get a normal theme (not beased on Default, which all have a lot of stupid conditionals in the sidebar) and you will see everything all the time.
    Themes: http://themes.wordpress.net

    3. See above link
    ——-

    1. Possible. See it here:
    http://www.transycan.net/blogtest/2007/09/10/static-frontpage-combined-with-dynamic-content/

    2. Use a plugin for a Contact page. There are many of them…

    3. On my blog above you will find other articles about making different navigations…

    4. Anything that is related to default and/or K2 is not easy to modify for a beginner. (just my personal experience based on the zillion forum questions…)

    FYI: the .pdf link is dead

    Thread Starter theworldawaits

    (@theworldawaits)

    16 years, 6 months ago

    Ahh.. my apologies. The link I meant to postis located here.. http://www.anppcan.org/anppcan_sitemap.pdf

    I should also clarify what I meant by using posts as navigation. Basically I was thinking of using posts as the navigation… for example.

    About ANPPCAN (Category)
    – Our Story (Post)
    – Our Vision (Post)
    – Areas of Work (Post)

    For Professionals (Category)
    – Resources (Post)
    – Case Studies (Post)

    So technically there would never be 5000 posts… just 15 or so to make up the main navigation. If I take away the posting dates/comments etc would this be a good way to set up navigation?.. or am I missing something.. ?

    Kafkaesqui

    (@kafkaesqui)

    16 years, 6 months ago

    Your “navigation” could be handled through Pages in WordPress. Then categories would be parent or top level Pages, whereas posts would be child Pages.

    Note also that in the current version of WordPress (2.3.x), any Page can be set as the home page. No need for a plugin. The setting for this is found under Options > Reading.

    Thread Starter theworldawaits

    (@theworldawaits)

    16 years, 6 months ago

    Thanks for your replies.

    It appears using Pages and SubPages for the navigation is the best approach. Perhaps I’ll use Posts for the news section on the homepage.

    Also wondering about randomizing the Header Image for each page. Is this a fairly easy thing to implement?

    besonen

    (@besonen)

    16 years, 6 months ago

    26 minutes ago, theworldawaits wrote:

    > It appears using Pages and SubPages . . .
    > is the best approach.

    Scaling issue with hundreds of pages
    http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/3614

    Thread Starter theworldawaits

    (@theworldawaits)

    16 years, 6 months ago

    I won’t have more than 20 or 30 pages… so hopefully it won’t be an issue

    schikowski

    (@schikowski)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    I have been using WordPress as a cms using Pages for content. I am thinking about switching to using Posts, because there seem to be more options (like categories, for example).
    What is your opinion?

    moshu

    (@moshu)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    schikowski,

    there is no general answer. Period.
    All depends on the structure of your content, the structure and goal of your site… and all the details that make every WP install unique.

    So, my opinion is: don’t ask useless general, vague questions.

    schikowski

    (@schikowski)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    Moshu, I realize this was the wrong place to ask. You’re right. Sorry about that.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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