Indeed, WordPress is one of the most popular platforms for creating web resources, both on the foreign Internet and on the Russian-language network. Its widespread use is due to the many benefits it offers to its users.
Benefits of WordPress
One of the main advantages of WordPress lies in its flexibility and ease of use. Even people without special web development skills can create and manage their websites on this platform. Thanks to a large community of developers and users, you can always find answers to your questions or solutions for various tasks.
In addition, WordPress offers a huge number of themes and plugins that allow you to customize your site to your liking and needs. This makes it possible to create unique and functional web resources, as well as expand their capabilities with the help of various add-ons.
Porting projects from other CMS to WordPress can be tricky, especially if the site was developed with HTML. In such cases, template conversion and content transfer is required, which may require some technical skills or specialist assistance. However, thanks to the popularity of WordPress, there are plenty of resources and tutorials to help you through the process.
Regardless of some of the complexities, moving a project to WordPress can be a worthwhile decision, especially given its popularity and flexibility. This platform offers many tools and resources for creating and managing web resources, making it an attractive choice for many website owners.
Common Reasons for Switching to WordPress
Affordable rate. Since there are many hosting providers to choose from, you may find a different hosting company that offers better value for money than what your website is currently using.
The best support service. 24/7 access to customer support ensures longer uptime and better website performance.
Obtaining additional resources and exploring various hosting options are essential for the growth of your website. It is crucial to prioritize server security to safeguard your website data and maintain the trust and privacy of your visitors. By ensuring better security measures, you can protect your site from potential threats and enhance its overall performance.
One compelling reason to switch your website to WordPress is to enhance its search engine optimization (SEO) capabilities. Regardless of your website’s theme or niche, if you aim to attract more traffic and boost conversions, it’s crucial to ensure that your pages rank high in search engine results.
This is where WordPress proves beneficial. It offers numerous features that can automatically improve your site’s search ranking with minimal effort. WordPress prioritizes user-friendliness, which encourages visitors to spend more time on your site, ultimately reducing your bounce rate.
An active community is an important aspect of any successful platform, and WordPress is no exception. When it comes to WordPress, you will find many websites and communities dedicated exclusively to everything related to this popular content management system.
The WordPress.org forums are known for their vibrant and active nature. Whether you’re a beginner looking for guidance on setting up your first website or an experienced developer looking for cutting-edge solutions, you’ll find plenty of information and support in this community. The diverse range of discussions covers everything from technical troubleshooting to learning about new plugins and themes.
In addition to the official forums, many other websites and communities focused on the WordPress ecosystem have sprung up over the years. These platforms offer tutorials, tips, tricks, and information about various aspects of WordPress development, design, and marketing. Whether you want to learn about the latest trends in web design, optimize your website for search engines, or improve its security, you’ll find dedicated resources and experts ready to help you.
The beauty of an active WordPress community lies in its collaborative nature. People from different backgrounds, skill levels, and areas of expertise come together to share their experiences, give advice and contribute to the overall growth of the platform. It’s not just about finding solutions to problems; it’s also about strengthening bonds, building relationships, and inspiring each other.
In conclusion, the active community surrounding WordPress is a testament to its popularity and versatility. With many websites, forums, and communities to explore, you can access a wealth of knowledge and experience. So, whether you’re new to WordPress or an experienced user, you’ll always find a supportive and engaged community ready to help you make the most of this powerful platform.
Important details to keep in mind when migrating your site to WordPress:
- Evaluate an existing site. Work carefully when viewing the pages of an existing site. Define all content types, and consider fields and forms. Write everything down on paper and back up your existing site;
- Prepare the habitat for the new site. Set up WordPress and get everything ready to import content;
- Content import. Transfer content to a new platform. For small sites, this can be done manually. For large projects, plugins can be used;
- Transfer the site design. Customize your default WordPress theme to match the design of your existing site.
Preparatory work
A mandatory requirement for specialists of all levels is to create a backup copy. This will help to keep a working version in case of erroneous actions to compare details during file correction. All available functionality, forms, and additional modules are noted – this is necessary for further installation in the administrative console.
Preliminary work:
- it is necessary to study all the elements of the site, evaluate the existing navigation for further duplication on the new platform;
- check the content, make an audit, and identify low-quality materials;
- identify all the shortcomings that slowed down the work of the current resource or negatively affected its promotion;
- get familiar with WordPress if you have no experience with it.
Installing WordPress
All operations are recommended to be carried out on a local server: this will ensure the uninterrupted operation of the site on the hosting while all elements are being converted. You can use the popular Open Server program, which has all the necessary tools to create a web resource and database and work with the console and converters. This scheme will allow you to safely transfer your HTML site to WordPress.
Download the engine on the official page, unpack it, and upload it to “/domains/newsite” located in the Open Server program directory. In the context menu, go to PhpMyAdmin to create a database and a user. The login is root, there is no password. Login to the interface is completed. You need to go to the “Users” tab and add a new one. All required fields, login parameters, and privileges are filled in (all checkboxes are set).
After that, the database information is transferred to the corresponding lines of code in the “wp-config-sample.php” file of the engine’s root folder. The information is entered, the file is saved and renamed to “wp-config.php.” Next, the CMS is installed: in the browser, enter the name of the local domain – “newsite”. Load the platform installation script – all data is filled in and confirmed. Everything is ready, to enter the console, follow the link: “newsite/wp-login.php”.
Content transfer
There are several methods that allow you to import site content. The simplest one, which is mostly suitable for small projects, is manually transferring content by copying the HTML code of the article into the WordPress editor and adding SEO data in the widget of the corresponding plugin. This way may create some display errors. To fix this, it is recommended to apply custom styles by inscribing them into the template.
How to transfer an HTML site to WordPress with a large amount of material? You can use the HTML Import 2 plugin (to the HTML Import 2 plugin) or Import HTML Pages. Their capabilities include importing content with formatting elements. Customization at a low level. Therefore, all edits are made manually.
It should be noted that the automatic transfer of materials is not perfect. It allows you to reduce routine work but requires improvements in data display. The third option is to provide work to a specialist who has the appropriate tools and skills to convert the site to CMS.
Design conversion
There are several options for dealing with this situation. The easiest is to create a new template rather than using the styling from the HTML version. This method is suitable for projects in which you need to radically change the appearance of all elements, and this will not affect the behavior of users. Most often, this method is chosen by webmasters of low-visited sites.
There are various ways to handle this situation. One simple option is to design a new template instead of relying on the styling provided by the HTML version. This approach works well when you want to make significant changes to the visual presentation without impacting user experience. Typically, website owners with low traffic tend to opt for this method.
If you have a significant and consistent audience on your website who are familiar with the design, you will need to put in substantial effort to convert the HTML page design into a template for your website engine. To accomplish this, you can utilize a service like Theme Matcher, which will generate a theme file for WordPress based on the existing layout. Generally, the outcomes are highly successful, requiring only minor adjustments. This ensures that the overall concept and appearance of your project are preserved.
Another way is to create a new theme and work with the source code. In this case, detailed processing of each element of the theme and the original design in HTML is carried out. Special knowledge is required to carry out quality work. Otherwise, you need to use the services of professionals (design studios, freelancers).
Conclusion
Before you start moving, you should weigh the pros and cons. It is recommended to select the necessary themes, plugins, and services in advance and not after the fact of work. In the absence of the possibility of independent work on the project, you should contact specialized agencies or freelancers. In any case, before starting work, make a backup copy of the source files of the site.
