upgrade website

[Fuzz]

Our website is a bit dated, and really needs a full redesign. I'm thinking of going with Joomla. Has anyone used it? Is there a way to import our old site in some manner, or is it going to be a ground-up rebuild? We have loads of pages(275ish) so an import would really help.

Can you use a text editor to modify Joomla pages, or is it all kind of compiled and not really touchable without the Joomla editor? We have one google map tool I created using fusion tables, and I'm going to have to create a few more as our previous maps are all flash based, so an upgrade is order. Will I be able to embed these?

I'm OK with html, css, some javascript...web design isn't my primary job but I've reskinned our site a few times over the years and done most of the heavy lifting on it.

Thanks!

[Iceman90]

I would bet that Joomla is overkill for what you need. My suggestion, if you want a CMS, is to look at WordPress. It isn't right for everyone, but it is free and has a great support community.

Either way, it's essentially a site rebuild. Especially the Flash stuff, Flash isn't supported on most browsers anymore.

PM me, I teach web development at SAIT and might be able to hook you up with one of our students to help.

[Fuzz]

The flash stuff is just maps so I'll be converting that to a Google maps fusion table myself. My only issue with wordpress is from the little I hear about it, is vulnerabilities. Is that a big issue?

My main reasons for the upgrade will be modernize the look, make it responsive, convert to HTTPS, get rid of Flash and make news updates easier.

[KTrain]

WordPress is fine from a security standpoint if you ensure you're keeping the software updated. Any CMS is going to have vulnerabilities if you let the software get outdated.

Use a plugin like Wordfence to monitor logins and outdated plugins and you should be fine.

If you're able to get the content from your current site into a CSV file, there are ways you import that data in bulk into new WordPress pages.

[Fuzz]

Alright, thanks. This is going to be a spare time thing and my first priority will be figure out how to do the maps. Maybe I'll setup a dev Wordpress site and see how it goes. Can you manually edit the html code of Wordpress if needed?

[KTrain]

WordPress primarily runs on PHP but you can edit the theme's HTML quite easily. There's also opportunity to use HTML within the content editor.

Though I wouldn't do too much editing of HTML directly within WordPress. Keep the files local and update to the live site via FTP (or whatever your poison).

[photon]

When you say import your old site, do you mean importing just the content? Or importing the content and the look?

For the look, that would have to be rebuilt, a template would have to be created for whatever is running the site.

The content, there are usually tools that can help with that kind of thing but I don't know how good they are, I would imagine any tool would have to be tweaked by someone to get a good import, but having an automated process should be possible assuming the pages are mostly consistent with each other.

You would have to use the built in editor, most CMSs (content management system, Joomla is one of) the user generated content isn't stored in text files so can't be edited directly, the content is stored in a database. That said you should be able to embed anything that you create in the pages in the CMS.

Any reason for choosing Joomla? Wordpress is probably the most popular and pervasive CMS and you'd find the most support for it out there. The times I've used Joomla I haven't had great experiences, while Wordpress has almost always been easier and cleaner.

EDIT: Sorry should have refreshed before posting

[Fuzz]

Ya, I'd just want the content imported, need a brand new look!

I'm not set on Joomla at all, Wordpress looks like it might be more suitable. Thanks!

[photon]

There are some importer apps for Wordpress out there, if your content on the existing site is consistent (i.e. the content is in the same set of tags) then it should be pretty easy to get it imported into the new site.

[Fuzz]

Nice, ya most of it is pretty consistent. If I could do a bulk import, then fix up the issues that might be easier than starting from scratch and copying/pasting all the text.

[Thor]

So I started a travel, tourism company in Iceland that I plan to go live later this summer.

Currently I am using wordpress but if I want a professional website, should I be looking at hiring someone to create a site from scratch or can wordpress handle all my needs, once I hire someone to handle the design.

[photon]

Wordpress should be able to handle your needs, including general e-commerce, unless they are very specific. Usually you want some kind of content management system rather than just a custom built website as it makes it easier to add or change content.

[Iceman90]

Originally Posted by Thor

So I started a travel, tourism company in Iceland that I plan to go live later this summer.

Currently I am using wordpress but if I want a professional website, should I be looking at hiring someone to create a site from scratch or can wordpress handle all my needs, once I hire someone to handle the design.

Without knowing all your needs, that is hard to say, but WordPress can probably handle what you need. You'll likely need some plugins to add functionality.

[Fuzz]

I've spent a bit of time with wordpress, and while it is easy enough to create a site with the look I was aiming for, I've found it rather restrictive at using code I've already made for Google Maps with fusion tables. I can use a bunch of extensions, but none of them do what I want. I was hoping to be able to drop my previous code in without to much work.

Anyway, I'm giving Joomla a try. Just upgrading the install from 2.x to 3.x, since the Telus installer still uses an ancient version. Stupid Telus. Might need a new web host too, by the time this is over.

[KTrain]

What kind of code are you looking to drop in? Just because you're on WordPress doesn't mean you're restricted to using plugins or the content editor. Creating a single page template with your code is doable.

Shoot me an email if you need a hand troubleshooting WordPress: kevin@buildstudio.ca

[Fuzz]

It's all javascript. I'm sure it's mostly my lack of knowledge. I'm going to fiddle with Joomla a bit and see which I prefer but thanks for the offer, I may be in touch soon.