The Internet in 2004

What was the internet like in 2004 when Facebook first launched and you were in elementary school?

Facebook now has more users- close to 1 billion- than the entire internet had in 2004.

In 2004, the web had 50 million sites. Now it has more than 600 million.

Britney Spears was Google’s most popular search query — followed by Paris Hilton, Christina Aguilera, and Pamela Anderson.

Google lagged behind MSN, Yahoo, and AOL.

People used Friendster and Myspace (social networks prior to Facebook).

“Wallpaper’ ranked number one on Google’s list of most searched-for “tech stuff.”

Now, 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube EVERY MINUTE (YouTube launched seven years ago).

Just some food for thought before today’s class! The internet is constantly changing and it’s extremely important for web designers/developers to stay on top of trends and best practices.

Today’s Class

What is a content management system (CMS)?

Why would a CMS be important?

Some examples of well-known, free, open source content management systems: WordPress (our class blog uses it), Drupal, Joomla.

There are also tons of CMS’ out there created by web developers that are available for purchase or even for free. Be wary of free downloads, however! Always do your homework and look into these services. Google is your friend and will help you find comments, reviews, and help forums.

WordPress is often associated with blogs, but it’s a very powerful and easy to use CMS that can suit the needs of just about any website or blog. In addition to it powering our class blog, it’s also used for the school website, www.medfordpublicschools.org.

WordPress comes in two “flavors:” You can begin blogging in minutes with a free blog hosted at www.WordPress.com, or you can download WordPress to install on your web host at www.WordPress.org.

If you decide to use WordPress I would highly recommend finding a host that supports WordPress and that might even automatically install it for you (Bluehost.com is one example).

Your Assignment Today

When using WordPress you have to select a theme. There are TONS of themes out there, some free and some not free. WordPress has a directory of free themes. Please go to the directory (link below) and select at least two themes you think should be considered for our class blog.

WordPress themes:
http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/

Submit themes:
http://bit.ly/Lcwi0A