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Since I started blogging I’ve had several people ask me about the technical details of the Post Office Fans website. I think once you enter the blog arena it’s natural to “check-in” with your fellow bloggers to find out how they are doing things. What works and what doesn’t work on their website. Since this is a regular discussion I often have, I’ve felt compelled to answer those questions as it relates to our Post Office Fans website.
I remember when I fist started blogging trying to analyze each website I came across in order to learn how it was built. How they were making money? What features and functions they are using etc. Look no further if you are trying to analyze Post Office Fans. I’ll answer as much of the technical details as I can for your convenience.
As I’m writing this up I’ve also found it’s a great way to document and record the work I’ve done. So for you all of you techno geeks, this resource page is dedicated to you. Yes, I include myself in this group.
The main WEBSITE CREATION tool or content management system (CMS) behind Post Office Fans is WordPress. I remember when I started blogging, everyone told me to look at WordPress. I remember feeling overwhelmed and being clueless. But over time the more I worked with it, the easier it became. I’ve been happy with my decision to use WordPress as my website creation tool.
One of the obstacles I found when people told me to look into WordPress was which one, and what are the differences. It was confusing to a first time blogger. However, after further research the differences are clear.
- Use WordPress.org if you want full control over your site. If you ever plan to display ads or make money you will want full control of your website.
- If you just want to blog as a hobby or get your feet wet then I’d suggest WordPress.com. Keep in mind if you decide to make the move to a commercial blog, the transition will be difficult.
HOSTING – I’m currently using the cloud hosting plan with bluehost. I’ve been happy with their products and customer service. I have several sites hosted with bluehost and continue to be a satisfied customer.
DOMAIN NAME – If you decide to take the WordPress.org route then you will want to purchase a domain name. After researching hosting companies, I heard great things about bluehost. This was also my second blog so I felt I needed something a little different for Post Office Fans. If you use another service you can always transfer your domain name to bluehost.
FRAMEWORK – Genesis is the framework or technology that runs on WordPress. Here is where the technology really gets geeky. And to be honest, I’m not going to lie to you, boring as well. But if you are into WordPress and blogging you’ll want to read up on the various WordPress frameworks. Post Office Fans runs on the Genesis Framework from StudioPress.
THEMES – When you develop a WordPress site there are many different themes to choose from. Themes are the look and feel of a site. It’s like buying a cell phone and then purchasing a case for it. The case would be considered the theme in the WordPress world. Themes come in many different sizes and colors. I purchased the entire pro series of themes from StudioPress. Since the News Pro Theme was part of this package it’s the theme I’ve decided to use for Post Office Fans site.
PLUGINS – Plugins allow you to increase the functionality of WordPress. Here are the one’s I’m using for Post Office Fans.
AKISMET – Every blogger is hit with spam at some point. We are referring to all the unsolicited comments, not Spam Classic, 12 Ounce Can (Pack of 12)
GENESIS FAVICON UPLOADER – Creates the little icon you seen on your browser tab.
GENESIS RESPONSIVE SLIDER – This plugin creates the slide show you see on the main page of the site.
GENESIS SIMPLE EDITS – I’m not a programmer so using this plugin allows me to edit the footer section and other areas of my site with-out having to edit code.
GENESIS SIMPLE HOOKS – More geeky stuff for helping out with customizing the site and not having to touch much code.
GENESIS SIMPLE SHARE – This plugin adds the function to allow readers to share the content they are reading. Adds those social sharing icons you seen in the articles.
GENESIS TABS – Extends the featured post widget in Genesis.
GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS – Creates a site map so google bots and other search engines can find my content.
JETPACK BY WORDPRESS.COM- Jetpack includes a bunch of features. You will need to register at WordPress.com. Once your WordPress.com account is set up, you need to connect your website to Jetpack from your WordPress dashboard.
There are certain features of JETPACK that you will want to turn on and other’s you can do without. It depends on what your goals are and the focus of your site.
MAILCHIMP FOR WORDPRESS LITE – Adds a newsletter sign up to your site.
SIMPLE SOCIAL ICONS – This plugin gives you those icons to your social profiles.
TINYMCE ADVANCED – Enables advanced options in the visual editor of WordPress.
TAXONOMY DROPDOWN WIDGET – If you look at the footer section you will see three search boxes. I was looking for another option for searching by tags rather than just having the tag cloud. This plugin creates the drop down list for the tags. Making the footer and search options more consistence with the archive and category search features.
YET ANOTHER RELATED POST PLUGIN – Adds those related post icons you see at the bottom of all the articles.
LOGO DESIGN – When I first started this blog I had very little money to spend on this. So I just made the logo you see in the header of this site. No other cost were incurred for the logo or header image. When I was prepared to publish my first book I rebranded from Post Office Freak to Post Office Fans. Along with this transition, I also purchased a new logo. I secured the new logo fro a freelancer on Upwork.
MAPS – I’ve hired freelancers to create the maps you see on the Wisconsin page. I’ve also used these in the books we’ve published. These are static PNG images or PDF images that have been saved and uploaded to our site.
I hope this helps in some way. If you have more detailed questions please contact me and I’ll do what I can to answer your questions.