As user-friendly as WordPress is, people often struggle with the basics of creating a post and adding art elements. Then there are those mysterious text fields …
Some clients pay me to handle all that. Some want to post content themselves. Works for me either way.
Posting text and images to the web is no different than any other skilled activity (golf, cooking). If you never get the repetition of process, you’ll most likely perform poorly.
Say a client has a blog for business, but can’t find the time to post more than once a month. Chances are he’ll screw up while trying to upload content because, essentially, he never practices.
If I don’t practice guitar for a month, I stink next time I play. Same deal.
Isn’t the point of blogs that they’re simple to use? Yes and no. So much depends on your pre-existing skills and on what you want to do.
Whatever your skill level, I recommend less stress:
- Have realistic expectations of yourself. You’ll not learn xhtml, CSS or even all of WordPress in six months.
- Understand that no problem you’re experiencing is unique. Use a search engine to find a solution. The truth is out there.
- Know that in all likelihood, you are the cause of any error, not the software. Retrace your steps until the error exposes itself. Get in touch with your internal puzzle solver.
- Relax: Having your blog look a spectacular mess for an hour is not an emergency. Take your time and figure out what’s wrong. The world will wait.
The Zen Buddhists have something of value to say about WordPress, of course:
If you understand, things are just as they are;
if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
