This is about how we built the BajanThings website. This section is a bit techie so feel free to skip straight to the BajanThings Postings.
The BajanThings website uses the self-hosted version of WordPress: a free and open-source blogging tool and a content management system (CMS).
According to W3Tech, WordPress is used by more than 43.1% of the Alexa Top 10 million websites.
To put that number in perspective 32.2% of the Alexa Top 10 million websites do NOT use a CMS.
Of the 43.1% of Alexa Top 10 million websites that DO use a CMS, WordPress dominates with a 63.6% market share.
WordPress is the clear market leader by a long, long, long way, however, the next CMS tools like : Shopify (3.8%), WIX (3.6%) and SquareSpace (3.0%) and Joopla (2.7%) are eroding the WordPress lead – which keeps WordPress continuing to innovate/replicate the best parts of the CMS minnows! Click here if you are interested in the W3Tech methodology.
One of the reasons for the popularity of WordPress is that for such a complex product it is relatively easy to use, its pretty intuitive and you don’t need specialist software installed on your computer. Its also open-source so its free to download and use. All you need is an internet connection and somewhere to host the website and a valid domain.
As WordPress seeks to compete and update its has moved to a block editor design that offers more design flexibility HOWEVER the downside is that its more cumbersome to use than the “the really classic” WordPress (pre 2017and WordPress version 5). In November 2024 post the launch of WordPress version 6.7 – block themes are getting much better.
Block themes are where all the development focus is for WordPress. It’s the future so in 2024 as early adopters we jumped onto the block theme bandwagon.
When we launched BajanThings in December 2014 we commenced using Bruce Wampler’s Weaver Xtreme WordPress theme.
In December 2020 – six years on – we revamped the look and feel of BajanThings using the WordPress Astra Pro theme from Brainstorm Force. Astra Pro is a fast, lightweight, and highly customizable WordPress theme. We particularly liked the new layout of posts on the home page and on the catalogue pages.
In April 2024, four years on from the last update, we made the jump from what is now known as a classic theme (Astra Pro) to the new WordPress paradigm called a block theme (aka FSE theme – standing for Full Site Editing). This third incarnation of BajanThings is built using the Ollie Pro block theme. As we have got more comfortable with the intricacies of block themes we have been incrementally updating the look and feel of BajanThings.
We hope you will like the subtle changes we have made to BajanThings.com
BajanThings is hosted by SiteGround, who are headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. SiteGround are a leading WordPress blog hosting company, with great customer service and support.
If you are looking at setting up a blog or even a website, you should consider using WordPress and hosting it with SiteGround. We would also recommned using the Ollie block theme. [Just for transparency we do not get paid to say that.]
BajanThings is a hobby site. We have included advertising banners from Google AdSense to help contribute to the annual to costs of maintaining BajanThings.com. Contrary to popular belief advertising revenue does not cover the cost of domain registration, hosting, WordPress theme, cache management, dynamic image delivery or specialist plugins needed to maintain BajanThings.com.
As a hobby site BajanThings is driven by altruistic goals: the recording of handed down Bajan history, hiking and international travel… and the odd technical post where we share our learnings of managing a hobby site like this. See the category Website Technology.
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[updated: 15th November 2024]
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