Customer Reviews

Sites that Soar!: Magazine-style WordPress themes made easy

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Certain books have titles that imply that you already know the basics of the subject and a interested in going beyond. Sites that soar is perfectly fine if you want a quick read (more like glance) on the basics of using Wordpress. Like it's ad says, it is filled with screen shots, but this is hardly much of an asset since the author talks almost exclusively about rudiments of the subject. I have read other Wordpress books which cover the material so much better. What bothers me is that the book is supposedly about magazine style themes. It makes only passing comments about that as a distinct kind of Wordpress theme. There is a certain amount of truth to the title when they use the word easy. Easy but not good, and definitely do not soar. If this author wrote a book on mathematics it be about the strategies of adding two and two. I was hoping and still am looking to find a really good book on the subject so I can modify an existing magazine style theme. Let me know and I'll buy it.

This is a difficult book to classify.

There is no question that the author is earnestly seeking to help others following in her path of trying to use magazine style WordPress templates.

WordPress, if you aren't aware of it, is among the leading blog applications available. It is one of those programs where the basics, such as putting up a simple blog, can be learned in minutes. But WordPress is capable of great power and can be used for a variety of purposes, such as a fairly sophisticated Content Management System and, as is described here, with templates for creating magazine style websites.

Such websites with their profusion of stories accompanied by illustrations appear to be complex and perhaps behind the grasp of the ordinary user without intensive training and experience.

Author Aisling D'Art promises to make creating a magazine style website easy "with step-by-step instructions in everyday English and lots of screen shots".

The problem is that D'Art is not a very good technical writer, apparently lacked a skilled editor and produced this book in a word processing program. She rambles, includes much extraneous material where it doesn't really fit and white space has obviously been used liberally to pad the page count.

The book simply isn't very good. "WordPress For Dummies" by Lisa Sabin-Wilson, which D'Art references several times, is a far superior introduction to WordPress, though not to magazine style themes specifically.

However, there may be people who really are deathly afraid of approaching software like WordPress without a true step-by-excruciating-step guide to accomplishing one specific task. Those people may find "Sites that Soar" helpful. For most of us, though, "WordPress For Dummies" is the far better choice. Just be prepared to spend some time learning how to use magazine style templates on your own. It isn't that hard if you have a touch of patience.

Jerry

I'm impressed. Sites That Soar is a wonderful and practical resource. It's very clearly laid out in a step-by-step format. Everything you need to know and then some. I particularly liked the "more than you need to know" segments.

Plenty of illustrations and screen-shots make it easy to understand and implement. Even a complete novice can follow these simple instructions and create a WordPress site like that looks terrific.

There are numerous options here that I probably wouldn't have attempted on my own. But armed with these easy-as-pie steps, I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I get the feeling the author was once in my shoes and understands the mindset and everything that goes with it.

This book makes it easy to not only get comfortable with WordPress, but to go way beyond the basic look, feel and functionality. It gives you the confidence to move forward without taking a class or reading through a 400-page textbook. It kind of feels like having a teacher you like in the room with you, ready to answer your questions as they arise.

Talk about the level of details. Typically you can get a book on the subject of designing and creating your own website including all of the technical details in a book that's about 50 pages or so.

But the level of detail in this book is unbelievable.
No matter what your level, you'll be sure to get everything setup correctly following these instructions. And the design does look great.
Who knew you site building could be so much more easier than just a few years ago.

I give it a big thumbs up.

I have read dozens of books about setting up and coding websites and it is extremely rare to find a book that presents the material in such a clear, comprehensive, step-by-step format without all the incomprehensible technobabble you find in other similar books. Whether you have zero experience at setting up a blog website, or you are an experienced blogger, you will come away from this book much better prepared to launch your own professional looking website.

Sites That Soar will leave no doubt in your mind about each step needed to build your website even if you are completely clueless. The author gives you free resources for a professional magazine-style blog theme, so you do not have to go out and buy a theme to get started. She also describes in great detail the free plugins you need to make your blog run the way you want it to, and where to get the plugins. You will learn the difference between pages and posts, and how to build and maintain a blog website you will be proud of.

Each step in the process of building your blog is illustrated with screenshots and detailed explanations, leaving you with no doubt as to exactly what your next step will be. The author leads you through each setting you need to customize your blog and explains what each setting is and why you need it.

If you have never installed a blog at a hosting service you will get more than one alternative just in case you get stuck. Never heard of SEO? The appendix tells you what free plugin you will want to download and optimize your site and improve your rankings with the search engines. If .htaccess is Greek to your ears, you will get detailed instructions and step-by-step screenshots that leave no doubt about what you need to do.

Building more than one Blog? Once you have followed the steps in this book and gained a little experience, you will be able to set up professional looking blogs, ready for your content, in three hours or less. If you only ever build one blog website, this is the book for you.

Like any book dealing with technical materials, you can expect that there will be a learning curve involved. With Sites That Soar, you will dramatically shorten that learning curve.

I build a lot of websites and this is one book that I will refer to often. I highly recommend it as an excellent book for anyone who wants to build a website they can be proud of.

When I first started out investigating setting up a wordpress website, I was more than a little intimidated. It seemed so new and complicated. However, after going thru Sites that Soar!, I feel that I can now get started with information on every aspect of the set-up. As I learn best visually, I especially like all the screen shots that show exactly what to do. Thank you to the author for making my learning curve shorter and easier.