For the past two months, I’ve been diving into WordPress, mainly to prepare for an exciting event—the Oxford Indie Book Fair, scheduled for December 2024. As part of the event organization team, I took on the role of managing the fair’s website, and WordPress quickly became the tool of choice. So far, it’s been a great medium to learn, especially given the needs of an event like this, where managing multiple exhibitor profiles and event details is crucial.
For the book fair’s site, I’ve been working with custom PHP plugins to handle exhibitor profiles. By writing custom scripts that run on the admin side of the site, I can create new menus and manage exhibitor data effectively. WordPress has a shortcode system, which allows me to run specific functions directly within WordPress pages—an efficient way to streamline management tasks without needing to dive into backend code each time.
One thing that impressed me the most was the WordPress block editor. Unlike other “free” website builders such as Wix, where features are often limited for non-paying users, WordPress offers far more flexibility. I chose to avoid those platforms because of their feature restrictions, which usually require upgrades to unlock key functionalities. With WordPress, all that’s really needed are hosting fees, and from there, you’re free to customize almost everything, from layouts to content management features.
Beyond the book fair, I’ve used WordPress to build my own blog page, where I’ve started to document my progress and test new features. Setting up the blog was surprisingly simple, and it’s turned into a valuable space for experimenting with everything from layout options to content organization. It doubles as a portfolio, allowing me to showcase my projects and personal achievements in a professional, accessible way.
Going forward, I hope to deepen my WordPress skills and continue exploring its potential. The platform has already proven itself as a powerful tool, and this blog page is the perfect workshop to try out new ideas and document everything I learn.