WordPress: From Blogging Platform to Web Development Work Horse

At Fireman Creative, our goal is to solve our clients’ problems as simply and efficiently as possible. To do this, when building web applications we utilize coding options like open source content management systems, frameworks, and plugins that streamline the development process. Each client has different needs, so we customize our solutions to best respond to current needs, and we build scalable websites that can grow to accommodate clients’ future needs.

Over the last three years, WordPress has become a more prevalent platform in our web development because it provides a framework in which we can create custom templates that allow our clients complete control over their content. Additionally, many of our clients already have experience using WordPress, so it’s easy to train them to manage their website after the site goes live.

What makes WordPress so special?

WordPress is an open source content management system developed in PHP with an MYSQL database. It was created as a blogging system, but has been developed in the last five years to be a comprehensive platform that supports large and complex websites. Open source means simply that all of WordPress’ code and files are free to use, customize, and enhance. It’s a powerful tool because of the innovators behind it–the community is constantly upgrading the code set and developing new plugins and templates.

WordPress allows us to focus on design and development by providing an adaptable system that organizes large amounts of information. Whether our clients require a calendaring system, forums, e-commerce, social media integration, a photo gallery, or even just a blog, we can employ WordPress as a base and add or create the plugins necessary to satisfy these needs. We build custom templates on the WordPress platform that are created to satisfy clients’ current and future needs.

In addition to being customizable and adaptable, WordPress also gives our clients nearly full control over their content. Once the site is developed, our primary task is done and we train the client on how to make changes and populate the site. When the website goes live, users can simply log in to the back end to update content like events, products, photos, or anything else that needs to be changed. They can even expand the website by doing things like adding pages and changing the site’s navigation. No longer are clients beholden to their developers for content changes, and no longer are developers burdened with content maintenance. This game change is possible because of WordPress’ ease of use, intuitive design, and development flexibility coupled with major cost savings.

A content management system with that much power allows us to focus on what we do best: building beautiful, well-designed websites and creating new tools that make the web that much more interactive.