Is WordPress the platform for us?

• 

  tancamb · Member · Jan 23, 2014 at 3:42 am

  • Copy link
  • Add topic to favorites

  I need to build a public relations website that _is not a blog_ for a non-profit organization I am volunteering for. I have some web-building skills but we need a site than, once built, anyone with next to no experience can update and:
  – the ability to use our own domain name
  – an animated .gif in the banner
  – a horizontal menu (between 8 and 10 pages of text and pictures)
  – no index or link panel down the side but the ability to divide individual pages vertically and horizontally to accommodate different topics
  – the ability to easily and precisely lay out pictures and text.
  – mobile access

  We are willing to pay something for a premium template and to spend some time and effort initially to set it up – but the quicker I can get this done the better. Any suggestions for a template that would meet ALL our needs?

  Thanks!

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

• 

  raincoaster · Member · Jan 23, 2014 at 1:54 pm

  • Copy link

  no index or link panel down the side but the ability to divide individual pages vertically and horizontally to accommodate different topics

  Unless you find a theme here that does that, and I don’t think there are any, this is not possible here. Nothing else you mention is a problem at all.

• 

  tancamb · Member · Jan 23, 2014 at 5:51 pm

  • Copy link

  Thank you, raincoaster! – that is what I thought – I have had lay out difficulties.

  I really don’t have time to look at all the templates out there – I wish there was a “feature filter’!

• 

  raincoaster · Member · Jan 23, 2014 at 5:58 pm

  • Copy link

  There is a feature filter but it’s not great. We have only about 200 themes here, it should take less than an hour to pick one.

• 

  justjennifer · Member · Jan 23, 2014 at 6:12 pm

  • Copy link

  Go straight to the grid-based themes, such as Hatch, Imbalance2, Gridspace (P), Publisher (P), and others.

  Use posts on those themes, not pages. This will allow people to click on the featured image for the post and be taken directly there.

  Also, search engines love posts and fresh content. Pages are static and unloved. http://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/

  Use a custom menu with direct links to those posts in the navbar. http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/

  I’d nix the animated GIF if it is really large, and most headers are, only if it is really well optimized (100k and under).

  Just my 2¢

• 

  tancamb · Member · Jan 23, 2014 at 6:22 pm

  • Copy link

  The webpage is mainly informational and will only need any updating from time to time – annually mainly. It’s going to be very spare, but I do want the option to a) separate a page into 2 available programs, let’s say and b) format exactly how I want it to be aesthetically.

  Not too worried about SEO but I certainly wouldn’t want it to be dependant solely on postings. There won’t be any!

  We absolutely need an animated gif – we are a federation representing 8 different clubs and each has to be equally represented in an efficient way.

• 

  tancamb · Member · Jan 23, 2014 at 6:29 pm

  • Copy link

  Thanks for your input, btw, and I found at the feature filter.