Changing To Wordpress... What Do You Think Of My Aproach

Hi, have been using my own custom CMS site for the last few years, where by i design a site from scratch in photoshop, then code it to html once the client has signed the design off and then integrate my own custom CMS into the site.

I have finally got around to testing out wordpress after a lot of persuasion from friends and colleagues. I have been trying to think about the best way to approach new projects using wordpress... i would appreciate any advice or input you could give to me on my following approach:

1 - pick 5 parent themes (one being twenty eleven)
2 - for each parent theme, map the main design of that theme into photoshop and re-create the layout (header, divs, footer, plugins and widgets) of that theme using separate groups and layers in photoshop
3 - create a template child theme for each parent theme along with the matching psd
4 - let the client choose from one of the 5 parent themes along with choosing various plugins and widgets that I have added to my approved plugins list
5 - copy a child theme template for each new project once the client chooses the parent theme
6 - customise the design using the matching psd along with using various widgets and plugins to alter the design
7 - when the client signs the design off, make the changes to the live child theme itself

I have 2 questions:

A - what do you think of my approach above

B - does this eliminate the need to design a site from scratch in photoshop and furthermore eliminate the need to have to code a design into html for each new project that i start from now on

thanks in advance for your help

 

I think making the switch to Wordpress is a good thing.
And if you know how to convert a PSD to HTML then this wouldn't be any issue for you for Wordpess too.

 

Why are you doing all this changing and design in the first place? It seems like you are going to adding hours to your work load when you should use this CMS to save you time. How about you find a wordpress theme source that allows you to customize the theme completely and go from there? As well.. use paid themes instead of free themes because it will allow you to change everything. Best of luck!

 

Thanks for your help... but there is a big risk in buying or setting up a free theme if the client does not like it... if you show clients templates then they will query the cost of the project

 

I have just seen this post and not only agree with sweetcrab.... but think you are making a big mistake. WordPress sites are the most hacked sites on the Internet which is one reason why there are so many updates. The many WordPress addons also provide further means for hackers and spammers to take over your site.

Avoid all free sources I am at present doing the complete resvers to you, moving my sites away from wordpress. There is a penalty for using wordpress, I had one Wordpress site where my Alexa ranking was rising but the minute I removed wordpress by ranking dropped by 1Million. I know of many other people who have had simular experiences.

Perhaps one of the reasons is that it is so easy to make a wordpress blog and many people add dubious and trash content. Look how many sites say welcome to my wordpress blog. Having a wordpress blog is not good for business.

 

Making a psd is a good technique for new projects. And you can create 2 or more psd and show it to clients. If it is rejected the you can create the new ones. But in starting making an html, takes time.

 

@daviddogden - you are the first person from a few different posts that i have put up on various forums who has criticised wordpress

I think sweetcrab is in favour of wordpress but just not the approach i am taking.

@daviddogden - it's interesting that you don't seem to think wordpress is a good approach as i have been listening to web developers harp on about wordpress for the last year and how they are moving all of their work over onto wordpress.... decisions decisions...

 

Many people on forums have vested interests in wordpress selling themes and add ons so they dont want to cut off the hand that feeds them. If something is working for you don't change it. I am an SEO specialist who knows what gets best results where content is king, for example, I dont blame changes in Google Algorythyms for changing ranking, I research and test what happens. Take wordpress off a site and your results improve. I have been around for a long time when Mainframes were king and IBM and Apple first started to produce PC's. Many changes have taken place and just maybe wordpress is not as good as people make out. I am working through my blogs and converting them

 

Cool, thanks for your advice, it's much appreciated... i was always under the assumption that wordpress sites were actually better for SEO... i thought they structured content in a better way or something... can't really remember why i thought this

 

Thanks for your input Kerosene, i presume you are in favour of wordpress

 

You can tell professionals from amateurs as they use real names. Yes never trust anything that is free, it is true there is no such thing as a free lunch. there is a catch everywhere. sign up for free and you end up on a mailing list, use wordpress and you get hacked, Do a search on Google on how to hack wordpress, it has serious flaws

 

Well I have to agree with you David I have dumped all of my WordPress blogs due to the same reasons I was being hack even when the plugin I was using was suppose to stop any unauthorized commenting. Another issue is any time you need to do an upgrade all of the links being promoted in the code would have to be changed or deleted. Why would I want to promote their business?

 

Having a parent theme makes updating SO much easier, you'll thank yourself later for setting this up now when you update and everything falls into line perfectly. If people here cannot simply set their blog to NOT AUTO APPROVE, it's a good thing their wordpress blog is free...Because wow...Or why not just download Akismet? if you have a free wordpress.com account, you can get a free Akismet key and attach it to a wordpress.org legit blog on a domain/hosting package of your own

 

I think the discussion of this thread has gone in wrong direction.

The OP asked a important question of how you approach a project. Sadly some wise guys took it to if wordpress should be used or not.

Ok. coming back to the point.

Stage one: ASk client about what he likes & dislikes. Understand the client needs & project size.
Stage two: create psd (1 or 3 or 5 depending upon price you charge etc.) & show it to client. perform any changes if required.
Stage three: plan for html, css code & accordingly slice psd file
stage four: write html,css code
stage five: pick your favorite wp theme framework, may it be twentyten, eleven or hybrid, themetic or genesis etc, create child theme & convert html, css to wp
stage six: upload to server & show it to client
stage seven: educate client & provide support

Selecting theme has nothing to do with design. You can convert any major theme framework to suit your design.

 

Cool, thanks for your reply... very interesting thread...

 

I agree that you should avoid using free stuff when working on a client's site. You should avoid free themes all together. Most of them are garbage loaded with malicious code and scripts. But all of this nonsense that WordPress is not good for business is complete bullshit.

22% of all websites online use WordPress. 14% of the top 1 million websites are WordPress. Some of the top companies and online properties in the ENTIRE WORLD are running on WordPress.

The reader has NO IDEA if you are using WordPress, Joomla, Plain HTML or all flash. All of that nonsense that you all are applying to WordPress are your own personal hang ups. There is absolutely no evidence to back up a statement like "Having a wordpress blog is not good for business.". ABSOLUTELY NONE.

Just because you screwed up your website, doesn't mean that other people don't know what they are doing.
I have built tons of WordPress sites for businesses and my clients are doing just fine. No one has been hacked. There are no security issues. Some of them have even won design contests. Their websites are generating new clients, making them money and they couldn't be happier.

WordPress is only as good as the person using it. If you suck, WordPress is not going to compensate and make you better. You still have to know the principles of good design. Have some graphic skills and a general understanding of how the web works and what readers respond to based on what type of site you are building.

It's is not some miracle script that promises you all of the web's riches. You still have to know SEO, SEM, Marketing, Promotion, Social Media and most of all...how to run a business. If you don't know any of that stuff and are just looking for something to do it all for you, of course you will disappointed with WordPress. You will disappointed with anything.

 

hmansfield, take a bow... well said