When a web developer starts to create a website, there are almost limitless ways it can be done. From writing HTML to wrap around the content?and then styling them with some CSS and images, through to creating a fully customised Content Management System. So what does Swan Developments do and why? I’m going to answer the second question first, as the why tells us how to decide upon the what.
Our customers want a modern, fast, easy to update website that can have features added without being told “Well, you’re going to have to start all over again!” If they wish to add a page, write a new blog post, or simply alter a price or a phone number, then they really don’t want to have to pay us to do it (although we are happy to take this on!). Equally, if for some reason a customer wants to get someone else to work on their site, they don’t want every web developer to tell them that they’ve never heard of Pink Carrot CMS (I made that up, but it’s a great name!) so they will want their website developed on a “mainstream” content management system.
Enter stage left, WordPress. It started life as a blogging system developed by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, which you could install and run on your own web server. Later was launched as an online service at WordPress.com. We use the downloadable, installable software and set it up on our own web servers. This allows us complete control over every aspect of the software so our customers can specify anything they want and we can make it happen. WordPress on it’s own will give you a website with blogging facilities, but if you want to add extra features it can easily be extended using software modules known as plugins. With 56,656 plugins currently available, it’s a safe bet that whatever you want to do with your website, someone has already done it and made a plugin to help.
In addition, WordPress uses themes to change how a website looks – hop onto our Portfolio page and you’ll see that although all websites have many things in common, each is unique. We develop custom themes or adapt commercially available ones to exactly suit the needs of our customers, from choosing the perfect colour scheme to adding in eCommerce capabilities we make sure that our customers get the web features they need. What are you waiting for? Get in touch now and get a whizzy new website!
Yours extendably
The Team
