Creating my own WordPress site had its ups and downs. The creative potential is endless. The site gives me a platform to be able to do so many things. I was thinking about what I wanted the platform purpose to be for about half an hour. Before this class, I had no idea how website design worked. Granted that we did no coding for this, navigating all the different tools on WordPress was an experience in itself.
The process of setting up WordPress was overwhelming at first. There were unfamiliar terms, settings that felt intimidating, and moments where one wrong click could seemingly derail the entire setup. One feature in particular that put me in a really bad mood was the themes. I felt like I was getting the hang of WordPress, moving everything around, making it look pretty until I activated a theme. That was when all of my work seemed to disappear and the links to the pages that once worked, no longer worked. This ended up taking a lot more time than it should have, and it resulted in me settling for a simpler theme.
On the bright side, this platform gives me something more than just a social media page. Looking ahead, I could use this site as a living digital journal, posting my passions and hobbies and embracing everything that makes me me. It feels less like a bigger, more professional social media page. There is more responsibility involved such as upholding security and maintenance, since they are now in your control. This in turn makes social media platforms much more convenient to use; however, it comes at the cost of ownership and control. On social media, content is twisted by algorithms that are designed to keep users engaged for long periods of time.
Overall, setting up my own WordPress site has reinforced the idea that knowing how the web functions at a basic level allows people to understand the systems they rely on daily. Instead of simply consuming content, I’m now learning how to create and manage it on my own terms. That shift in perspective alone has made the experience worthwhile. Click here to see it.