Learning from Libraries that Use WordPress

With its intuitive interface and open-source development method, the WordPress web platform has emerged as a uniquely flexible content management system (CMS) with many library-related applications. In this book Jones and Farrington, two web designer/librarians, explore the variety of ways libraries are implementing WordPress as a CMS, from simple "out-of-the-box" websites to large sites with many custom features. Emphasizing a library-specific perspective, the authors

• Offer a brief history of WordPress, reviewing its genesis and sketching in some possible future directions
• Analyze the software's strengths and weaknesses, spotlighting its advantages over other existing web publishing platforms as well as discussing the limitations libraries have encountered
• Present a variety of case studies, offering first-hand examples which detail why WordPress was selected, methods of implementation and degree of customization, feedback from users, and reflections on usability
• Discuss essential plug-ins, themes, and other specialized applications for library sites

This useful book shows how scores of libraries have used WordPress to create library websites that are both user-friendly and easy to maintain.