A CMS Is Not Enough
Part 1 in the series: Making Stuff Better
WordPress is a particular type of tool called a Content Management System, or as they are commonly referred to, a CMS.
CMS tools are very useful – you, the users of WordPress, do not need to be able to handwrite your html and CSS or even be proficient in Dreamweaver. CMSs allow for non-experts to have a hand in website maintenance.
The functions of the CMS are impressive and powerful. Without it, our thousands of webpages would rely on a handful of people to provide all content updates.
But the tool is not enough.
WordPress cannot: Tell you not to put a header style on an entire paragraph of text.
WordPress cannot: Tell you that, “The deadline is next Friday, so click here [link] to register today!” isn’t as user-friendly or as professional as, “The deadline is next Friday, so register [link] today!”
WordPress cannot: Tell you not to center text.
WordPress cannot: Help you keep your critical content “above the fold,” or tell you where the fold is or what your users think is critical or what the heck “above the fold” even means.
So, you, the folks tasked with updating web content, have to be smarter than the CMS. And we, the writers of the Web Content Blog, want to give you some help. Let’s ease into our series on Making Stuff Better with some resources about writing for the web.
Writing for the user
Since the majority of the content on the web is text, writing is a good place to start. These articles are about writing smarter:
“How Twitter Makes You a Better Writer”
http://www.copyblogger.com/twitter-writing/
“The Disgustingly Simple Rule for Web Writing That’s Often Hard to Swallow”
http://www.copyblogger.com/simple-web-writing/
