hey

i messed around with wordpress yesterday.

there are 2 versions. wordpress.com and wordpress.org.

if you download the wordpress.org you need to have a server that is capable of MySql and PHP. if you go the wordpress.com route this is not necessary. the benefits of installing it yourself is that you get more control and dont have that nasty wordpress header at the top.

i about threw my computer out the window screwing around with it yesterday. installling it on the server is a piece of cake, and i am sure using a template and making a site from scratch is easy....however adapting an already made html static page into a wordpress template about drove me crazy.

if you go through their admin panel to edit your pages you probably wont need to learn to much scripting. however some templates have easier interfaces than others. you will need css knowledge and php knowledge.

hope this helps.

almsot forgot....for a blog you just about have to have a content management system (i.e. wordpress). if you dont want a blog you got other options. how big is your site...how many pages?

If you just need a blog, without other Web site features, consider using Google Blogger.

http://www.blogger.com/

You don't need any skill with html, css, wordpress, etc.

garricks..

do you know if you can take that blog and insert the comments and postings into a website? or can you only aggragate the feeds and display the feeds?

i am looking to just have my posts and the comments option in a div.

sorry, I have no clue. That's why I'm using a low-end solution.

Maybe one of the other web-squad members will know.

yea...i tried doing it with wordpress.....but couldnt figure out how to make my current site a wordpress template. didnt know if i could just plug php references into the html body of my site and be ok?

Wordpress theme design is a little tricky but once you get the hang of it the possibilities are limitless. In order to be able to use a custom theme (in other words, making your current site design into a theme) you would need the self-hosted version (.org). No, unfortunately, it's not as easy as just pluging php references into the html of the site. You sort of have to cut up the page into a header and a footer, and then there are various other files in the theme folder that control the layout of your page. If you have a little understanding of it, and want to post your code, I could help you if you like.

CE

i got so ticked off yesterday i unistalled it and cursed it and threw out my templates. hahah. i am gonna give it another try....in a day or two....could i take you up on yoru offer than??

i split it into header, index, sidebar, footer, etc. i added necessary php code. however no images were showing up....i realized falling asleep last night that maybe i referenced them wrong in the html markup....not using a ' or something?? that and my css was really messing up the layout....and i couldnt find a template that had similar div ids as mine to work off of. but i am gonna try again...determined.

one question.....i dont have a "sidebar" id. i user right bar and left bar. do i have to change the div names?

the page i am trying to convert is www.meshowventures.com

will post some code on my php try in a day or two.....still have a cold beer pressed against my head getting read of the headache. haha.

calebm, sure thing. I'll help you out. I glanced briefly at the source of your html in the link you supplied. Should be able to work something up using your code. Like I said it can be very overwhelming at first. I remember the first few tries I did I prolly did the same as you - cold beers for headaches LOL! But I worked thru it and Love it now - almost ALL of my sites get put into a wordpress theme and setup as a cms.