Web development can be done in a number of ways. Depending on your ability, you can opt to create your page from scratch using HTML and upload the page to a server. Alternately, you can use a more flexible open-source programming language like Joomla that allows for more special features. WordPress is a good option for business owners who do not want to mess with learning code and just want an easy drag-and-drop interface with multiple themes.
In this post, we will examine these three basic options for web design and comment on the web development process. Then you can make up your mind on what is best for your site.
All About Joomla
Joomla is an open-source software solution that is built on the language of PHP.
PHP is a server-side scripting language that is designed to be used in web development but is also versatile enough to use in general programming. PHP originally was an acronym for “personal home page.”
HTML: The Original Web Development Language
HTML is the acronym for “hypertext markup language.” It is the original programming language of the web that browsers interpret as text, pictures, sound, and video. It is versatile in many ways and allows you to either incorporate HTML within your page for specific parts of your website or composed an entire page from scratch.
WordPress Revealed
WordPress is an easy-to-use web template site that allows you to set up any web page you want including:
- Websites
- Blogs
- Forums
- Business pages
- Personal pages
Themes, Themes, and More Themes
One of the appealing things about WordPress is that it features hundreds of themes that you can implement within your WordPress site. Whether you are a musician, banker, digital photographer, or dancer, you’ll find a theme that will fit with your niche area.
The beauty of WordPress is that all of the engineering and programming has been done on the backend. You don’t have to be a programmer, know one stitch of HTML, or understand Joomla or PHP language to use it.
WordPress makes it easy to create a site that will function however you want it to, with certain limits. The limits are tied to the preformatted template system that WP has on their site for web development. WordPress was created with users in mind who are more about tending to their businesses than writing raw code. However, there is an option to insert HTML code within the page in certain sections. It also allows you to place Javascript within the HTML box.
A certain amount of expertise in HTML programming can make your WP site more interesting and deviate from the standardized WordPress engineering. Most people do not use a lot of raw programming language within their WordPress site. A majority of users on the WP site prefer to keep it simple without having to worry about programming languages.
Integrating PHP into HTML
The more flexibility you can have in your web design and development, the more interesting your site will be. PHP code, which is at the heart of Joomla, may be embedded into HTML coding language, or it can be used in combination with various systems. In theory, you should be able to use it on WordPress. However, as noted above, some people have difficulty figuring out how to do this.
Flexibility in Languages
The answer to the question we posed in our title of this post is All of the above. We feel that you should not be limited in the type of programming language you use within your web pages. WordPress is a great start for someone who does not have any background in programming, but it limits your ability to add onto your page. HMTL is the basic language of the web. If you know HTML code very well, you can tweak the code to get it to do what you want it to. However, when you upload your HTML code, you have to hope that your web server will understand what you have done and that browsers will interpret it in the way you intended.
You also have to keep in mind mobile users, who are growing in numbers daily. How will you optimize your site for mobile users so that they can view it in the best way? This is one of the new challenges today that web developers encounter when building a site.
Nerds Rule in the World of Programming
One thing to bear in mind is that programmers are special people. They have spent hours learning various programming languages, and they understand how to integrate it within various systems. Many web platforms seem to say that you “can’t have your cake and eat it too.” You should either choose to use their online platform or write raw code.
I prefer to be able to do whatever I want with my web design. What about you?
I don’t want to be limited by a certain format or programming style. When you build a site on a preformatted site, you are at the mercy of their design, not yours. To break free of this, you either have to spend hours, weeks, and months learning to program or hire it out.
The Case for Hiring Professional Web Builders
What seems difficult for the average web owner is child’s play to the programmer. They understand how to debug issues that may come up within the code, and they are trained to know where to find these bugs and glitches. The average business owners is not a nerd. So it can be frustrating trying to expand the capabilities of WordPress by integrating code within their platform.
So which one should you use as a web designer for your website?
Personally, I have never liked restrictions on creative freedom. While WordPress is certainly one of the best sites to feature web development options for any purpose, it limits the amount of code you can put on your page and it can be a mystery to figure out where to place the code.
WordPress has a forum here where people discuss some of their frustrations in figuring out how to integrate HTML and Joomla within WordPress’s web developer platform.
When you try to integrate raw code within any system, you have to trust that that system will allow you to do so without the bugs. WordPress does say that you can implement programming language within your page. But, when you are working with a preformatted platform, you are always at the mercy of the platform. They may allow you to insert code in certain places, but whether or not it works the way you envision will be determined by many factors.
Web Design Team
At Webdesignteam.com, we admit we are nerds. In fact, we love, live, and breathe programming language. We are also very creative and we understand the frustrations you can encounter when trying to expand on the preformatted template of WordPress.
If you really want to make your website engaging with no limits on your creative freedom, be able to integrate Joomla, PHP, HTML, or any other programming language within your website, or add a unique edge to your web site, call on us.
We have been in business for over ten years, designing original pages for business owners and individuals. We love what we do and we will be more than happy to show you how you can have your cake and eat it too!
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