Opinions on Wordpress?
Thread poster: Preston Decker
Preston Decker
Preston Decker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:48
Chinese to English
Oct 10, 2014

My translation partner and I want to upgrade our website as we're planning to start a marketing campaign to direct clients and the current one won't cut it (preslintranslation.com).

Most of our current content is pretty 'folksy', and so we'll be rewriting the website, adding better images/photos, etc. We're also looking for a better website design service. Currently thinking of Wordpress, anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this is a good choice? Alternatively, does anyone fe
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My translation partner and I want to upgrade our website as we're planning to start a marketing campaign to direct clients and the current one won't cut it (preslintranslation.com).

Most of our current content is pretty 'folksy', and so we'll be rewriting the website, adding better images/photos, etc. We're also looking for a better website design service. Currently thinking of Wordpress, anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this is a good choice? Alternatively, does anyone feel strongly that we'd be significantly better off paying a website designer to do a customized website?

Finally, do any China-based translators know whether or not our website will be viewable in China if we use Wordpress? I've been reading online that some Wordpress websites have been blocked by the gov't firewall, but don't think this would be an issue since we'd still be using Yahoo Small Business as our host?

Thanks for any and all advice.
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Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:48
Member (2006)
English to Polish
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Wordpress is a good, flexible and easy to use Oct 10, 2014

Just use the CMS on your own hosting i.e. use Wordpress.org and not Wordpress.com

Good luck!


 
Oksana Gerasymets
Oksana Gerasymets  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:48
English to Ukrainian
+ ...
marketing strategy Oct 10, 2014

Most of our current content is pretty 'folksy', and so we'll be rewriting the website, adding better images/photos, etc. We're also looking for a better website design service. Currently thinking of Wordpress, anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this is a good choice? Alternatively, does anyone feel strongly that we'd be significantly better off paying a website designer to do a customized website?


A professional designer can definitely do it better. I rather like your website. It is simple and straightforward, and it worked well with translation companies, didn't it? But if you want to show your website to direct clients you need a different approach and I don't think DIY would be the best choice here. It's still doable, but very ineffective because you'd have to spend too much time to learn the craft. I wouldn't waist my time on web-design if I were you because success or failure of your undertaking depends on your marketing strategy. It's a big chunk of work.

Good luck and keep us updated! I would really like to know how things are going on...

Cheers!


 
Preston Decker
Preston Decker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:48
Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! Oct 11, 2014

Thanks for both of your comments and thoughts. Bought and downloaded a help manual yesterday for Wordpress (was written in China, so very cheap), and it does indeed look quite complicated.

Still mulling things over, but if anyone happens to know someone who they think would do a good job designing the website PM me with contact info。 Thanks in advance.

[Edited at 2014-10-11 04:08 GMT]


 
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:48
Member (2006)
English to Polish
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
There is no contradiction between using professional design and wordpress Oct 11, 2014

In websites based on a database like wordpress there is a clear division between the information (content) and the way it is presented (design/layout).
The content (pages and posts) is independent from its presentation. One could think about it as of mannequin underneath a dress, without it dress would be shapeless but the mannequin on its own wouldn't be eyepleasing.

You can order a tailor made design (in case of wordpress it would be called a theme) and then fill it yourself
... See more
In websites based on a database like wordpress there is a clear division between the information (content) and the way it is presented (design/layout).
The content (pages and posts) is independent from its presentation. One could think about it as of mannequin underneath a dress, without it dress would be shapeless but the mannequin on its own wouldn't be eyepleasing.

You can order a tailor made design (in case of wordpress it would be called a theme) and then fill it yourself with content and add new content by means of an easy to use CMS.
In fact frequently a theme is done in two stages at first a graphic designer praparws so called layout, and later another person "cuts" it, and turns a graphic design into a theme.

Best Regards
Stanislaw

PS: I appologise for typos but I am replying from my mobile.
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Astrid_H
Astrid_H  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 12:48
German to English
+ ...
Wordpress is very versatile Oct 11, 2014

You don't have too much content, so using Wordpress would probably be sufficient. I'm currently doing my own website with Wordpress.
There are thousands of themes you can choose from and adapt with plugins.

There are lots of plugins available to add and display different languages, even Chinese and Arabic languages.

All help and info is available freely on the Internet. It's not too hard to learn.

As said previously, you can preview new themes on
... See more
You don't have too much content, so using Wordpress would probably be sufficient. I'm currently doing my own website with Wordpress.
There are thousands of themes you can choose from and adapt with plugins.

There are lots of plugins available to add and display different languages, even Chinese and Arabic languages.

All help and info is available freely on the Internet. It's not too hard to learn.

As said previously, you can preview new themes on your content any time before applying them.

Wordpress is made for blogs, but you can choose to only use pages instead.

Your server needs to allow or provide sql (mysql?) to use WP however.

Sorry for all typos, also on my phone.
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Preston Decker
Preston Decker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:48
Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Oct 12, 2014

Stanislaw Czech, MCIL wrote:

In websites based on a database like wordpress there is a clear division between the information (content) and the way it is presented (design/layout).
The content (pages and posts) is independent from its presentation. One could think about it as of mannequin underneath a dress, without it dress would be shapeless but the mannequin on its own wouldn't be eyepleasing.

You can order a tailor made design (in case of wordpress it would be called a theme) and then fill it yourself with content and add new content by means of an easy to use CMS.
In fact frequently a theme is done in two stages at first a graphic designer praparws so called layout, and later another person "cuts" it, and turns a graphic design into a theme.

Best Regards
Stanislaw

PS: I appologise for typos but I am replying from my mobile.


You don't have too much content, so using Wordpress would probably be sufficient. I'm currently doing my own website with Wordpress.
There are thousands of themes you can choose from and adapt with plugins.

There are lots of plugins available to add and display different languages, even Chinese and Arabic languages.

All help and info is available freely on the Internet. It's not too hard to learn.

As said previously, you can preview new themes on your content any time before applying them.

Wordpress is made for blogs, but you can choose to only use pages instead.

Your server needs to allow or provide sql (mysql?) to use WP however.

Sorry for all typos, also on my phone.


Thank you both, very helpful!


 
Alison Sabedoria (X)
Alison Sabedoria (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
French to English
+ ...
DIY is good, but you might be glad of help Oct 12, 2014

I built my new site with WordPress and there was a lot to learn, mainly because I wanted it to roll on its back and jump through hoops: it is bilingual and uses a theme with responsive layout. Not all the bells and whistles are fully compatible with each other, so I ended up doing bits of remedial coding. There are easier options and you might well find a template that will need very little tweaking.

The DIY route would leave you self
... See more
I built my new site with WordPress and there was a lot to learn, mainly because I wanted it to roll on its back and jump through hoops: it is bilingual and uses a theme with responsive layout. Not all the bells and whistles are fully compatible with each other, so I ended up doing bits of remedial coding. There are easier options and you might well find a template that will need very little tweaking.

The DIY route would leave you self-sufficient when you want to add or change content. You might want to have a friendly web developer on hand to help with installing WordPress on the host server, though. I found this really tricky as I was out of my depth in the terminology, installed something where I shouldn't have, couldn't undo it, no way to change the default... Just learning the vocabulary necessary to scour the forum for helpful articles took ages. Having said that, there is an amazing community of WordPress geeks out there who are very supportive of (and patient with) struggling newbies.

If I'd known how long getting the site up and running properly would take, I might have had second thoughts, but that goes for a lot of good learning experiences!
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Hannah Keet
Hannah Keet  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:48
German to English
+ ...
I like Wordpress Oct 14, 2014

I built my website using Wordpress. At first I found it really complicated to figure out, but pretty much every issue I had could be resolved by googling it - there is so much information online about how to use Wordpress. Now I update my site every few weeks with a new blog post, which is really easy to do.

I'd recommend it if you have a clear idea of how you want to word your website, but if you want someone to design it and write the content then go professional....
See more
I built my website using Wordpress. At first I found it really complicated to figure out, but pretty much every issue I had could be resolved by googling it - there is so much information online about how to use Wordpress. Now I update my site every few weeks with a new blog post, which is really easy to do.

I'd recommend it if you have a clear idea of how you want to word your website, but if you want someone to design it and write the content then go professional.
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Paulette Romero
Paulette Romero  Identity Verified
Colombia
Local time: 06:48
English to Spanish
+ ...
Agreed Oct 14, 2014

I concur with the others, WordPress is a great platform to build your website on. Granted there will be a learning curve. I suggest watching tutorial videos to help you get started. Good luck!

 


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Opinions on Wordpress?






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