About Us

We have been building websites and back end systems since 1995 and so have a background in HTML, CSS, PHP and other important technology. Today we focus on delivering WordPress as a reliable website platform that is easily managed by the owner, needing only occasional technical intervention.

Additionally we provide installation and technical support / repair to businesses and individuals covering their computers, devices and networks.

Naturally WordPress provide economical hosting of WordPress installations for everyone, running on business grade services.

A Personal Support Service to those who need just a helping hand, and those wanting full support, as technology trainers we can help you all the way. Maybe only whilst you are getting your feet wet or are years down the line, we are on call to provide guidance or problem solving, even personal customisation and development as needed.

A Fully Managed Solution is available for those who need  a web presence but are busy running a business.

Training to help you go that bit further, delivered by experienced qualified college lecturers, not techies.

WordPress, Naturally

We have been building websites and back end systems since 1995 and so have a background in HTML, CSS and PHP as well as other important technology. Today we focus on delivering WordPress as a reliable website platform that is easily managed by the owner, needing only occasional technical intervention.

Naturally WordPress provide economical hosting of WordPress installations for everyone, running on business grade services.

A Personal Support Service to those who need just a helping hand, and those wanting full support, as technology trainers we can help you all the way. Maybe only whilst you are getting your feet wet or are years down the line, we are on call to provide guidance or problem solving, even personal customisation and development as needed.

A Fully Managed Solution is available for those who need  a web presence but are busy running a business.

Training to help you go that bit further, delivered by experienced qualified college lecturers, not techies.

Naturally WordPress is brought to you by NW3biz who provide tech. solutions to small businesses, startups, non-profits and charities as well as non-commercial individuals.

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November WordPress hack day

Learnt some interesting stuff, even though can’t say I contributed much – still recovering from a cold. But am now more primed for next time.

Spent some good time with the translators: every version has strings of text that have to be identified and manually translated into hundreds of different local languages and dialects (over 170?).

Democracy: give people a voice online

So that WordPress can continue to be embraced by all worldly communities, and bring freedom to online publishers everywhere, it must be ‘language accessible’. Not everyone speaks english (thankfully) and should have the freedom to publish using tools written in their own language: there have been over 2 million WordPress installs in Japanese alone. There are languages you’d never believe still existed.

Same goes for the documentation.

Using WordPress? Now, you all speak something – so this is something everyone can contribute to. Whether its WordPress admin pages or the documentation, have you seen anything that’s ‘not quite right’? Get in and change it, make it better, give back and everyone benefits – writing code is not compulsory.

Find out more about the translations here and the polyglot homepage here. Information about documentation is here

Thanks to the organisers, WordPress London and sponsors CampaignMonitor, SiteGround, MooveAgency and humanmadeltd and support from London University.

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What to think about when buying a #WordPress #theme

A client has been talking to me about a WordPress theme they have bought, or actually, were they complaining?

The story goes they found a lovely theme online that looked ever so good and would fit their needs perfectly. Of course they bought it thinking it was the solution to all their website design problems. No need for a profession developer now, just install and get on with the important jobs of filing the site with content.

Fair dues, that’s why people buy a theme isn’t it? And why one goes to the effort of designing one, to make it into a saleable commodity.

So what happens? It’s all installed, no problems, but it ends up as just a blank page. Where’s all the pretty layout and pictures that were on the sales page? To the technically minded this makes sense, the images are probably copyright anyway. But the average buyer surely isn’t technically minded?

Problem two: so with the best will in the world they set about filling the site with the navigation and content they think they need. Sadly this isn’t the navigation the theme designer thought they’d need. And you bought the theme ‘cos you liked their layout, not yours. Subtle point.

So they’re back to talking to a developer, the step they were trying to avoid by buying the theme in the first place (though I’m sure it was nothing personal). It makes you wonder why go to all the trouble and be out of pocket too. At least all is not lost.

Lessons learnt

Choose the theme you like but remember to look closely at it, the navigation and its layout, the structure of the content. Do you have suitable artwork where required?

It might be an idea to involve a developer early on to avoid these pit falls: one session of advice now could be cheaper than later; many themes aren’t cheap, and once invested you are (often mostly) committed.

You will (very likely) need to fit your content to their arrangement, maybe more rigidly than you had in mind.

Note the demo page that caught your eye is likely to be the front page too, not the content page the rest of the site is made up of.

WordPress theme designer?

Tell me what you are thinking ..

More help

If you’d like some books on WordPress try here, and specifically on themes, here. WordPress Web Design For Dummies might be a good start