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Guest author Blake Waddill lays it all out: if you don’t know how to code, you darn well ought to!
3 Reasons You Should Learn To Code
-by Blake Waddill
At some point every successful blogger has to decide if they are going to write/edit their own code and be self-sufficient or rely on others to get things done. Your theme is the first thing visitors notice when they get to your site (even before content), so it is important that your page looks as nice as possible. Believe it or not, your theme also has a profound effect on your SEO. Most people don’t have a lot of experience with photoshop, editing HTML, CSS, and PHP, and thus, choices must be made. Most bloggers choose one of 4 major options:
- Have a generic (usually ugly) free theme. Pros: Free, You don’t have to learn anything Cons: Ugly, Unprofessional, There are tons of blogs with the same exact theme.
- Pay for a premium professional theme. Pros: Pretty, Professional, You don’t have to learn anything Cons: Cost money, You have to pay each time you want to change it.
- Learn to code and create/edit a free theme. Pros: Free, Pretty, Professional, You can edit it or fix problems anytime Cons: Time consuming, Possibly ugly/unprofessional.
- Pay for a premium theme and learn to edit it an unlimited number of times. Pros: Pretty, Professional, Save money on any changes required Cons: Cost money.
There are 3 major reasons I decided to learn to code.
1. Learn Code To Make Your Site Look More Professional
One of the biggest reasons I wanted to learn to code was to make my site look more professional. If you come to a site that is ugly and hard to navigate, you won’t even take 20 seconds to read the content. This is the free theme I found:
Propsblog Before ATF (Click to see full length)
The main reason I picked this theme was it had a simple 3 column format that I believed would be easy to edit. If you click on the image, you’ll see a full length image of the page. Notice the 125 x 125 ads do not fit well. The sidebar headers looked funky, the navbar was out of place, and the title looked unprofessional.
I did a quick search on Google for photoshop logo tutorials and whipped up a nice little logo to make the site feel a little more professional. After I finally settled on a logo, it was time to dig into the code. The author of the theme had a few comments in his code saying where to edit the code to insert the logo, but I had no clue what I was looking at.
Website-in-a-Weekend to the rescue, I sent Dave a quick message asking him if he could figure out what I was doing wrong. Like I good teacher, Dave said “I’m too busy, figure it out on your own.” Just kidding, I’m lying. He actually gave me links to several excellent resources including an article about when to use relative positioning which I later used to move the search bar from the top of the screen into my navbar.
After playing with just about every conceivable variable in the CSS, my site finally reached the point it is at now. I still have a lot to do, but because I took the time to learn to code like Dave recommended, I’ll be able to make the change I want on my own time.
Propsblog After ATF (Click to see full length)
2. Learn To Code for SEO
There is no doubt my site looks better now than it did when I started. Looking at the two, you would might not even believe they were the same theme at one point. The search engines feel the same way.
It turns out search engines don’t just look at the on site content, but at the code behind the content also. Search engines use META tags and headers (<h1>, <h2>, etc..) to get an idea of what the important things are on your site. When a search engine sees words with a header tag, it puts more weight on those words than just normal text. The theme I picked (and most other free themes I’ve seen) give the sidebar titles H2 tags and give post titles H3 tags. What is more important to you, the title of the post or “sponsored links”
Rocket Science!
WIAW already has detailed why the Title tag is important. If you want to know how search engines see your webpage check out website grader (WIAW got a 99 out of 100… Shocker, I know).
3. Learn To Code to Save Money
Buying a premium theme can definitely save you time, but what happens when you decide to change something small? Are you going to pay someone to do it for you? What happens when you want to overhaul your whole theme? Another $20-$160+ down the drain! If you get a nice premium theme like Thesis (buy Dave a beer and use his affiliate link if you want to buy Thesis Theme), you can customize things without much help, but if you get a theme from Woo Themes or Theme Forest, you’ll either have to learn to code or pay someone to make changes.
Summary
If you’re serious about blogging, choice 1 isn’t an option. You’re either going to have to shell out money or learn for yourself. Take the time to learn some code, and you’ll be free to change your site anytime you like and save a ton of money in the process. You won’t regret it.
Guest author Blake Waddill is “leveraging” his education in Chemistry at Props Blog dot Com; resources and reviews site with addicted gamer twists. When he isn’t blogging, he’s hanging out with his wife and 3 year old step son or cheering for the Mavs and the Patriots.
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{ 21 comments }
I surely do not know how to code from scratch but i already knew how to edit the code. I think it is enough to have a good blog lay out.
Dana @ Online Knowledge´s last blog ..WordPress Upgrading: 2.8.6. Version
I have no training in coding, but I have learned how to edit a few things just by trial and error – at my house, we call it “chimping.” I’d love to learn how to truly code, but don’t really know where to start. Anybody have a suggestion for the quickest, cheapest way to learn PHP for Wordpress?
Digigirl´s last blog ..Free Wordpress 101 Webinar
@Dana – For design, you don’t need as much PHP as CSS knowledge.
@Digigirl – “Quick” and “cheap” are relative terms. The easiest way to learn it is to want it really, really bad. When you want it badly enough, you find a way to make it happen.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..My Eyeballs Are Bleeding – And How I Write Thousands of Words Every Week
Everything I know about PHP, HTML, and CSS was learned on the fly as I started hacking up my theme files. It started simple enough, I wanted another header image or another item in my side bar.
Before I knew it I was running multiple loops for different content types, varying the stylesheet rules based on which page was displayed, and turning my entire theme upside down.
Learning this stuff has paid me back many times over. It was well worth it.
Sean´s last blog ..By all accounts, I shouldn’t be Writing
@Sean – It’s addictive isn’t it?
Folks: Check out http://onlythevaliant.com/ for an incredible WordPress driven site running multiple loops with a static front page and blog.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..My Eyeballs Are Bleeding – And How I Write Thousands of Words Every Week
I would love to learn more about coding but will need more time to really be able to turn things upside down. BTW, is there any plugin that I can use just to change or tweak the design of a theme – (colors, column widths and other basics design techniques?
DiTesco´s last blog ..Forget Making Money Online – It Sucks #2
@DiTesco – Yes. It’s called Thesis Theme! You’re more than welcome to use my Thesis theme affiliate link.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..How to Use Creative Commons Images From Flickr on WordPress Blog
Many of the best coders are those who learned on their own. Essentially, they had a problem and learned to solve it on their own.
IMO classes are OK but I usually recommend people to only take them after they’ve attempted to do things on their own. Otherwise, I find that almost everything goes right over their heads.
Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..Deep linking gives old posts new life
@Gabe – This is my experience from college as well: students that did not already know how to program pretty much didn’t make it through the first semester of computer science.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..How to Use Creative Commons Images From Flickr on WordPress Blog
haha, Wonder why I though that you were going to say that. OK, if I do decide to acquire Thesis, I’ll will definitely use your link for it. Do I get a coupon or something for that?
DiTesco´s last blog ..DiTesco’s Weekly Echo #10
@DiTesco – Cheaper than hiring someone, faster than learning to do it yourself.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..Why Using a Premium WordPress Theme is Like Investing in Fine Art
Couldn’t agree more.
Programming is one hell of a skill to learn – particularly if you learn the logic behind things (why things don’t work, and why they should), and with solid foundations and good programming logic, you can seek employment in the web development industry (90% of wordpress plugin developers format their code a hell of a lot better than professional developers).
Start with HTML/CSS, but don’t be scared with PHP. It’s not that tricky to learn!
Rhys´s last blog ..The Ethics Of Donation Soliciting
@Rhys – Good points. Thanks for stopping by.
The biggest value I see in programming is that it teaches a unique way of looking at the world.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..How to Use Creative Commons Images From Flickr on WordPress Blog
I know I say it all the time Dave but you seriously put out some solid stuff my man.
As you know I am desperatley trying to learn CSS and some generic WP coding while I am at it. It’s fun so far, not sure it will stay fun.
Extreme John´s last blog ..NFL Week 11 Predictions
I’ve learn to coding after using Thesis theme.
steppinout´s last blog ..Office 2010 Beta Public Download Link Goes Live
@EJ – Having the right tools for the job is important.
For learning CSS, I recommend you invest in a dedicated CSS editor,
and GRAPH PAPER! It turns out design pros still use paper extensively, before the push everything into the computer.
@steppinout – Thesis is a very good example of well-engineered PHP code.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..Why Using a Premium WordPress Theme is Like Investing in Fine Art
So to learn coding one has to learn HTML, PHP, CSS. What have I left out? Funny, I have Firebug in my browser, but it’s just sitting there. Can’t troubleshoot my webpage because I don’t know what to make of it, much less use the darn thing. Many things fly over my head because I’m not grounded on these things.
And you’re right – not everything can be outsourced especially if you’re just learning the ropes and on a non-existent budget like I am.
jan geronimo´s last blog ..Read My Lips: Twitter Lists Are Meant to be Exclusionary
Great post Blake. I am a self taught web developer that began with the simple necessity of saving money. Necessity turned into interest, interest into passion, and passion into a real business.
I remember the days of looking at the code in complete confusion when disaster had over taken one of my projects. Learning how to back up regularly and restore from the back up was the spring board that launched my abilities.
Of course the Internet with all of it’s amazing content is like having a University on your computer. The answers you need are all there in the search box of the browser.
Many thanks to sites like Website In A Weekend
@Dana – Being able to edit code is the first (and most important) step in my opinion. The more you edit code, the better you start to understand it. Eventually, you’ll reach a point where you want to do something, and you’ve edited enough code that you’re able to write code from scratch, or apply code you’ve edited in new and unique ways.
@Digigirl – I think starting with CSS and HTML is probably easier than jumping right into php. I think of them as building blocks to reaching your long term goals.
I think the best way to learn is experiment. If you have your own domain, create a new folder and make a fresh installation of Wordpress. Install a couple of themes you like and start going looking at each CSS and PHP file. Try changing values and see how that changes the way your test installation looks.
@Dave – quick and cheap is relative. I think the best way to learn is to want to learn and take the time playing testing things. Like you’ve said before, someone just giving you “the answer” won’t help you learn anything. (Troubleshooting help, on the other hand, can teach you a thing or two)
@Sean – Thats actually kind of how I started into it as well. I learned HTML some back in the pre web2.0 days, and was a little intimidated by how fancy things on the web have gotten. The more I’ve gotten back into the swing of things, the easier it has become.
I started back messing with my logo, then I decided I wanted to hack up my theme. I haven’t reached loops and whatnot yet, but I’m definitely happy with the results.
@DiTesco – Like Dave said, Thesis is extremely easy to tweak. I definitely intend on moving to Thesis when I do my next major theme revision. Like I suggested before, making a new folder and using a second installation of wordpress, you can start messing around with Stylesheets and see how things change. I also recommend using http://validator.w3.org/ and http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator to see what everything looks like all put together.
@Gabe – I agree completely about classes. Basic classes are normally so basic that you have a “well duh” feeling when you leave class. Most things you learn on those classes you can learn on your own for free using a second install of WP. The more advanced classes where you actually learn how to do cool things will be over a beginners head.
@Rhys – Programming will always be a worthy skill to learn even if you get to the point where you can pay other people to do it for you.
Like you said, I think of HTML and CSS as the basic building blocks, but once you understand them, PHP comes pretty easy.
@Extreme John – I’m glad you liked the post. It is pretty fun. I find it very satisfying to look back and see the huge changes (or small sexy tweeks).
@Steppinout – I don’t have Thesis, but I’ve heard the clean code makes it a million times easier to learn than trying to work with a hacked together theme.
@Jan – It sucks when outsourcing isn’t an option, but that is often the case. I still don’t understand most of the stuff Firebug reports either. What I like to do to learn is find the problems using Firebug or the validation tools I mentioned above and try to fix them. Nothing like fixing other poeple’s bad code to learn how to write good clean code.
@William – Necessity of saving money is probably the reason a lot of people learn to code, but that doesn’t make it a bad one. Like you said, a lot of times labor turns into love. (Unfortunately, it can work the other way too)
Thanks to everyone for reading my guest post. I hope you enjoyed it and it inspires you to take the time to learn to code, even if only just a little.
p.s. Longest comment ever!
Blake @ Props Blog Rewiews´s last blog ..Optimize Anchored Keyword Links To Improve your SEO
Great post! I really can recommend to learn coding too. It might be a bit scary for a complete beginner, but as soon as one gets the feeling how HTML and CSS works it starts to make fun. Thesis is a good theme to start, but my problem with it was that I am already too experienced with wordpress and didn’t want to change my coding habits. Btw.. very interesting blog!
Michel´s last blog ..5 Reasons to use Gmail as your Customer Support System
@Michel – Thanks! WordPress really is a great way to get started learning a little bit about programming.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..Where goes Website In A Weekend? Another Week in Review
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