3 reasons why I chose WordPress for my ePortfolio

In my last post, I switched gears a bit to look forward to my innovation plan but now I want to get back to writing about creating my ePortfolio. Unlike what I was used to from undergrad, in the DLL program, the assignments follow the COVA model giving me the student the choice of how I want to show my learning. DLL students are required to create and maintain an ePortfolio throughout the program. At first, I did not realize the ePortfolio was basically just a personal website and blog. After I had that realization, it wasn’t so scary. With my background in graphic design and WordPress websites, I knew that actually creating the site would not be too difficult. I was more concerned about the content and its organization. However, I did not just choose WordPress by default, I did my research and came up with 3 these reasons why to use it.

Reason 1: The test of Time

When I first made my personal portfolio site, it was for art school (over 10 years ago) and I made the mistake of building it on my Mac, then that program got outdated and I could not go back and update my site. So for my ePortfolio I realized I needed a robust platform that can withstand the test of time. WordPress has been around for over 15 years now and with frequent updates, I am confident that it won’t disappear and force me to abandon my site again.

Reason 2: Features

I have had lots of experience with WordPress over the years and have used it to set up dozens of websites for friends and businesses. With a background in coding I am easily frustrated with drag and drop website builders like Weebly, because even though they are pretty and quick, I knew I was going to miss all of my go-to Plug-ins like Yoast SEO. I was also tempted to use Squarespace because it is so pretty but again I was going to miss the scalability of WordPress.  Reading this article helped me make up my mind between Squarespace and WordPress. https://www.websitetooltester.com/en/blog/squarespace-vs-wordpress/

Reason 3: The Cost

Since I already pay for hosting and own my domain, it just didn’t make sense to pay an additional fee to start a Squarespace or Wix site. There is a free option for Wix but the ads would probably bother me. I currently use Host Monster for all of my websites and decided not to add another expense to what I already pay. I chose HostMonster because, for as little as $4.95 a month, it even includes WordPress integration tools making it easy to install custom themes and get the most out of WordPress’ many features. Even their pricier options are less than the $12/month personal price of Squarespace or the $11/month for Wix.

I did play around with each of the website builders I mentioned and they do have a lot of great features and are very user-friendly. But in the end, because of these 3 reasons, I decided to stick to WordPress for my ePortfolio. If you however decide to use Weebly I do still recommend hosting through HostMonster instead of paying for hosting through Weebly. HostMonster includes Weeby as on of their integrated website builders for the same low price, plus you will have access to so many more tools like G Suite email.