A month or so ago, I proposed to a potential client that we build her site in WordPress, and she bluntly replied, “Absolutely not! I do NOT want a blog. I just want to be able to edit my own content.” To which I repeated “Then let’s build it in WordPress.”
I keep beating the same tired old drum, but here I go again. If your main focus is a blog, WordPress is hands down the best platform to do it in. But because WordPress is open source and supported by an enormous community of developers, it is soooo much more than a blogging platform—it is a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use content management system to boot. Half or more of the sites I use it for don’t have a blog at all!
I looked back over the new sites I have done since I last posted a portfolio update over 3 months ago, and while they range wildly in style, purpose, and target demographic, every single one of them I built in WordPress.
So here I present Part 1 (of 3) of WordPress Strikes Again!
Spoon Films
Spoon Films is the production company of David Wolfson and Lauren Sheppard. Their main objective was a great way to show of clips of their work. Check out the Freelance page and Directors page to see the solution—I love how it turned out. Also check out their Our Austin page, with its fun alternative to your basic boring list of links.
On Task Naturally
On Task is a new dietary supplement developed by a parent to help his son who had been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome and ADHD, with amazing results. Taking my cues from the logo (designed by Rachel Titsworth) I wanted to create a site that looked professional but not boring – something upbeat and hopeful.
The Style Service
The Style Service is the new Austin-based enterprise of Stephanie Bohn, personal stylist, consultant, and shopper. She wanted something simple that would appeal to a wide range of clientele, from the young and hip to the mature and sophisticated.
Engracia Gill
Engraci Gill is an Austin-based psychotherapist who specializes in the field of chemical dependency. She had an existing site that wasn’t representing her personality or that of her practice. I love doing site makeovers! Engracia offers her clients hope for transformation—and now her site has had one as well.
Pattiewack
Pattie Donham-Wilkinson is a crafting legend, but over the years her site had outgrown its structure, becoming unwieldy and hard to navigate. We redesigned the whole thing from top to bottom and streamlined it every step of the way. She now has an extensive Project section, to which she can add new projects as the whim strikes her. In her online shop, you can pick up one of her books, crafting supplies, templates, and tools. The videos page pulls her how-to videos straight from her YouTube account, making it easy for her to add new ones, and easy for you to watch them without ever leaving her site. While the site is in WordPress, she wanted to keep her existing blog in Blogger, so I created a custom Blogger template as well to keep the site unified.
Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of WordPress Strikes Again—there was just too much goodness to fit in one post!
I looooooove your sites! They are so personal and diverse! I’m just learning web design/dev so I’m a bit new to all of this coming from an engineering background though I am pretty quick with software. I moved my blog from a wordpress.com site to wordpress.org and it’s awesome! I bought a theme from themeforest.net and am able to customize everything while learning all kinds of coding and design skills. Just wanted to say great job, keep up the good work!