I don't really do this work any more but I have come out of retirement to help (another) local charity to have an up to date web presence, so a simple, non commercial brochure and blog site. No great security issues, just a handful of more or less static pages and a news/blog/updates page. It's for a group who monitor the presence of deer in the countryside.

Anyway, what little I knew about wordpress is long forgotten and out of date anyway, but would that be a simple job - to set up the domain on free hosting with a free theme would it not? Swap out some header images and make a few other adjustments? For some reason I am slightly intimidated by the complexity WP has taken on. I used to use a nice simple flat file CMS (GetSimple) but it hasn't been much developed in years although someone has set it up for php 8. I could go back to that but an old platform is probably going to throw up some issues, or am I wrong?

So Wordpress?or the devil I know? or is there some other option for a really simple site. I am happy with writing and editing simple html and css.

Loads of options for a simple wordpress site.

Install and login. Click on posts > add new and start writing.

Wordpress uses blocks for formatting which means you can add all sorts of things with a few clicks. May take a couple of hours to get the hang of things but it's quite intuitive.

Adding menus, plugins and themes hasn't changed so you may well remember more than you think.

That is very good of you, Tim!

Don't let the task intimidate you: you have the collective wisdom and experience of Web Designer Forum behind you and I'd be surprised if it doesn't all come back to you once you get started.

If you roll with WordPress you'll be surprised at just how much is achievable relatively easily. Its ubiquity means that there is likely a free theme you can base your design on that more closely matches your vision for the website than what is available through GetSimple.

Version 6.5.4 drops tomorrow iirc

Keep us posted 🤘

The basic principles of adding a theme, post/page and images have not changed a great deal.

You may find working with the WordPress' Guttenberg editing experience a bit of a learning curve (I personally hate it and avoid it if I can, some people love it), but you don't have to use it. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/

1 hour ago, Matticus said:

You may find working with the WordPress' Guttenberg editing experience a bit of a learning curve...

Gutenberg isn't a thing anymore. It was the name used during the transition to blocks and is no longer relevant.

Editing with blocks is no different to using the TinyMCE editor. The only thing that has changed is the location of the icons. If you haven't played with the latest blocks you are missing out on so many things. Stuff that used to need all sorts of custom CSS are now so simple to add to a page.

I appreciate the encouragement from you all! Wordpress it is then, that's decided. If you are curious this is the old site that needs updating:
https://www.quantockdeergroup.co.uk/index.html

I have got as far as moving it 'as is' onto free 20i hosting and putting it on https. I will look at some free themes, any recommendations? We have a lot of pictures of deer so for a change finding good images won't be a problem.

TW

Edited May 29, 20242 yr by TimW
making link work

I remember this site! You have asked about before.

Don't worry about the theme for now. Use the 2022 theme and get the content transferred over.

Once you have all the pages in place and uploaded all the images and fixed the menus then go looking for a theme.

I built this theme to be as simple as possible with all the features you need:

https://tradesman-theme.co.uk/

It's free and I can help with support if needed.

Thanks, a kind offer.

I will take a good look. Nothing happens quickly round here these days but I will be on it sooner or later.  You may have seen the site but more likely I was working on another one years ago  - there are a number of organisations involved in conservation and wildlife around the Hills who need web help from time to time

Tim W

You could be clever and set up wordpress multisite. It would mean you have all the various conservation sites with their own domains but managed centrally.

For a simple brochure + blog site, WordPress is still a good choice if you keep it minimal—use a lightweight theme (Astra or default WP theme), avoid page builders, and install only essential plugins.

If you’re comfortable with HTML/CSS and want something even simpler and faster, a static site (Hugo/Eleventy + Netlify) is an excellent alternative.