In this first session of the semester, we were introduced to the idea of using a CMS (content management system) which is basically a method of storing content for a website in a database, and then retrieving the content when requested by a user, and within this system applying structure, presentation and navigation in order to optimise the experience for the user.
The content management system we were introduced to was WordPress, a free and open-source blogging tool which is primarily based on PHP and MySQL coding languages. We were given the task of creating our first site on WordPress, focused on choosing a theme to design our site around, and then experimenting with the features of the site such as widgets, plug-ins, uploading media, as well as creating links and menus.
Below, I have included a screenshot of the first site I created in WordPress, using the Chateau theme.
As is shown above, I tried out creating a series of pages for my first site, in order to add an element of navigation and to give an idea of how my finished site might function. I have also tried out a series of widgets, with two RSS feeds for comments and posts, and a third widget that displays an image in the sidebar. For the main block of text, I used a lorem ipsum generator to give an idea of what the site might look like when all the content had been added.
After creating my first site using WordPress, I made another draft site but using a different theme in order to see if it would better fit the style that I wanted to use for my design portfolio, I have included a screenshot of the draft site below.
In this second draft, I used the Wilson theme which features a different layout with pages aligned vertically down the left-hand side of the page, and added a search bar to show what a professional version of the site might look like. I decided not to use this theme in my final design as I felt that the layout was somewhat basic and that the colour scheme was too dark for my intended design.
Both of these first designs were somewhat rudimentary, as I tried not to focus too much on creating a good-looking website, but instead wanted to focus on learning how to use the features of WordPress, which would be useful later on when I came to designing a professional site for my web portfolio.
Web Design Portfolio 