Building a Website

Considering alternative themes

You can use that default theme, adjust the fonts and colors, or browse around to alternative themes. The easiest way to become familiar with alternative themes is to click on “Appearance” in the menu on the left sidebar, and then “Themes” within Appearance.

You will see what your current theme is, a handful of featured Available themes below it, and a search bar to look beyond those featured ones. For each of these themes, there is a preview option if you just want to see how your website would look with that theme prior to actually switching.

If at some point you want to move beyond searching from within your WordPress admin area, you can just go to google and enter “Free WordPress Themes” and take it from there.

Based on my experience with WordPress, the single most time consuming activity can be searching through, considering and vetting various options for Themes, Plug-ins, and Widgets. I have even resorted to reading a few books on the subject of “best wordpress themes.” I would be glad to share my own recommendations about themes.

In addition to these free or low-cost themes that can be purchased “off-the-shelf,” another option is to have one custom-developed. This will usually cost between $5,000 and $10,000. So it is substantially higher than a free or low-cost one that’s under $100. However, if it’s critical that the website look and perform exactly as you want it, this is a great option to consider. Also, even at $10,000 the total cost of the web-development is likely to be less than an entirely custom-developed, non-WordPress website.

Beyond the Two Options of Having it Hosted at Northeastern

Alternatively, if you would like to establish a website independently of Northeastern, you would need to select a web hosting service like GoDaddy, InMotion, BlueHost, etc. Through these services you can both purchase the domain name (URL) and arrange for web hosting. The combination is usually less than $100/year. As you’re setting it up, there will be an option for selecting WordPress. I don’t provide the specifics here because it varies by web hosting provider.

I will periodically schedule some in-person or web-based trainings on WordPress as well as post some short instructional videos.

If you’d like a consultation or training, contact me, John Sarvey at j.sarvey@neu.edu.

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