@elizabeth-jamieson Couldn’t agree more – I never use the visual editor!

@stevecurran – That’s really good to hear.  Thank you.

Hi Robin (@atlantarobin)

I hope this doesn’t sound too harsh but I couldn’t find a way to express what I wanted to say  that didn’t!

I haven’t used InstaBuilder – but I’ve seen the marketing for it. My niche is teaching people not to need/rely on visual products because I believe that knowing a bit about HTML and CSS can only help a  person who wants to do their own site maintenance. Tools that lead on how much you don’t need to know are ultimately just feeding a habit.

The page I did on the guest post was done with pure HTML and CSS.  It just happened to be on a Genesis Theme, but it could have been any theme. So it’s nothing to do with how premium a theme is but everything to do with having a bit of markup knowledge.

The only thing someone might need a plugin or theme to do is to get rid of the header and the sidebars on the theme when they are making a landing page. The rest you can do quite easily with HTML and CSS. 

In my membership club I teach the use of Premise for sales pages – not because it does any magic, but because it helps to organise everything to make the building of sales pages a bit easier. But I still make sure everyone does it all using HTML and CSS.  I ban the use of the visual editor to prove to people they were handicapped when they relied on it.  I’ve only had one person complain that it was all too difficult, but he is still in the Club so I think he is coming to terms with it.  I am there to support them anyway.


But it’s not for everyone.


Other than that yes, I strictly stick to Genesis only – my membership site is called the Genesis Club.  It’s so much easier to get stuff done using Genesis and its child themes and that is why I recommend it.


Anyone who thinks they are saving something by using free themes and with minimal tech knowledge are really not serious. There is so much more to setting up than theme and plugin choice alone. There is the installation, security and performance side too. A WordPress site that stands any chance of doing well is not something that can be created with no tech knowledge and without some sort of ongoing investment.


You are left having to give them what they want, knowing it will never work. That is why I don’t deal with that type of local niche any more.


Liz

@elizabeth-jamieson

Thanks for your thoughtful and very relevant explanation. 

It reminds me of the gentleman here on SME who owns an independent computer store who often has buyers come in with a Walmart or BestBuy ad asking him to match their price on the computer ad de jour. He explains to them that he doesn’t sell just computers, he sells his ability to help you pick the right computer for YOU and the job you want to get done, he sells excellent service, he sells his knowledge, he sells his support, and he gives you the opportunity to keep his local community thriving by keeping the dollars from those sales circulating through their community and not sent out of state or out of country to support someone else’s community. And despite the blood pressure problem of dealing with such customers, he’s going to keep running his business his way because deep down he knows his way is best for both himself and everyone in his community. 

Having been in the communications business for over 25+ years, I’ve witnessed how “professionals” in this industry have struggled to survive in the midst of these kinds of conversations and against an ever-changing, rapidly changing environment of plug, play, and throw away. I commend you for teaching the masses that there’s a better, long-lasting, self-taught way… with just a tad of learning curve to endure in order to get passed that plug, play, and throw-away mentality.

Your article made it clear you definitely have the technical skills, the teaching skills, the persuasion skills, and the gumption to lead our plug, play, and throw away generation toward more self-actualizing businesses and less product-dependency.

In other words… well said, Miss Liz!

Robin Carlisle

I hear you, Liz. But sometimes it seems there is no end to my ignorance and no clear path to learn what I need to know, lol. Gotta be a Master Student to survive these days, with or without plugins, HTML or CSS.

For example, on the advice of who-knows-who and recommendations from Mashable and a slew of biggies and experts, I just changed out my WP Super Cache plugin to the reported faster WP 3 Cache (or some such name).

Well, yes indeedy, it does appear to have speeded things up, but OMG! The form of options to fill out is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy over my head and level of experience. So much so, I really haven’t a clue as to what it was that I just did. I get warning boxes at the top that tell me things are missing, but I haven’t a clue as to what they are or where to look to find them. 

Now I’m feeling queezy and loving the new speed and instant refresh on the site, but deathly afraid I’ve just done something that spells my site’s doom. Ouchy!

Bottom line, me thinks you are more right than not about learning basic HTML and CSS. I’m sure I would feel less anxious if I had that HTML/CSS knowledge under my belt.

Robin Carlisle