[Hidden-tech] Wanted: website assistance for small-business client

[Robert Heller]

At Mon, 07 Jul 2014 06:32:35 -0400 Jean Zimmer <jeanzibean at verizon.net> wrote:

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> ---Executing: recode

> My website www.zanekotker.com was made half a dozen years ago and does not
> have a content management system. I´d like to transfer everything in my
> current site to a Wordpress or similar system that I could manage and update
> myself. I´m curious has to how much I should expect to pay for the transfer
> and for the instruction in updating. Thanks for any information you can give
> me. 
> I'd also love it if I could keep the same design and not change into
> Wordpress Themes but I gather this isn't possible. Correct? 

That depends. Wordpress always has a theme, which defines the basic structure
and look of the website's pages. With some custom theme hacking I was able to
convert Deepwoods Software from a Tcl/CGI based website to Wordpress, with
only 'minor' changes in the look. OTOH, the Tcl/CGI based website was *sort
of* CMS, after a fashion (no SQL database, but there was a 'framework' in
place that defined a standardized, structured look to the site). If your
website does things like have a common header on all pages and if all of your
pages are structured much the same and if that structure 'fits' the structure
of a Wordpress theme, then it should be fairly straightforeward to pretty much
keep the same basic same design as you have now. Unlike a random / static HTML
website, where each page is a standalone 'work of art' (as it were), any CMS
website (eg Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.) is going to have a common
'structure' for all of its pages (some CMS's do allow for different looks on
different pages, but that generally requires some advanced monkeying around).
Typically, a Wordpress site has some kind of 'header', usually an image, with
a title & sub-title overlayed (and maybe other stuff, like a search box), a
top navigation menu bar, and then 1-3 (typically) columns: a main content
area, and zero or more 'sidebars' (generally containing 'widgets' and other
content that is the same for all pages, usually navigation or maybe ads). Then
there is usually a footer (containing stuff like a copyright notice, contact 
info, etc.).

Your site, with the exception of the home page, actually follows a common 
layout for all of its pages: a heading (your name in large type), a nav bar, 
and then a block of content.  This should translate to Wordpress without much 
change to its look.

> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Zane 
> zane at crocker.com  	MIME-Version: 1.0
> 
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-- 
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software        -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/  -- Linux Administration Services
heller at deepsoft.com       -- Webhosting Services