Wordpress and CSS, bitches

I finally feel like I'm getting a huge chunk of my life back, and it could NOT have come soon enough. Getting CrossFit 603 up and running has been my whole life for the last six weeks, and the most time consuming thing of all, at least in the beginning, was creating our web site.

The 603 site was the bane of my existence for a solid month. Servers, databases, FTPs, CSS and PHP. Graphics, templates, sidebars and widgets. And Wordpress. Frickin' Wordpress. But I slaved away on the thing for nights on end, because our web site was the most important non-training project we had on deck. After all, as an affiliate owner, your web site often makes your very first impression. And people have short attention spans these days - you only have a few seconds to capture their interest and keep them hanging on your page. Plus I expect my 603'ers to check the site every single day... so they'd better like what they see.

Your web site should be clean, simple, easy to read and easy to navigate. It should be functionally efficient, properly coded for search engines and workable across all browsers. And it should look HOT. It should reflect your affiliate's culture, your attitude, your personality. But all of this magic has to be created through a bunch of coded letters, numbers and symbols that might as well be Cyrillic, for all I know. No wonder so many of us need help.

I could have paid someone to help me, but I'm stubborn. And, at times, Dumb. I was insistent on figuring it all out all by myself... which is why the site took about fourteen times as long to create as it probably should have. And why I found myself on the CrossFit Boards early one morning, begging someone on the Wordpress thread to help me with the LAST THREE THINGS I wanted to do but could NOT figure out.

Enter Adam Kayce, the Wordpress Man and my personal high-tech hero.

In about 30 minutes, Adam had fixed all three site flaws - things I had been trying to figure out for weeks. And he gave me a bunch of good recommendations about site improvements, code fixes, widgets and plug-ins. I wish I had talked to him in the beginning... I would have saved myself an awful lot of late nights.

Adam and I have since been talking about his idea for a Wordpress virtual class, JUST for CrossFitters who need to build a web site (either for their affiliate or for their own personal use). I thought it was a great idea, and since he helped me fix my site up so quickly and effectively, I am happy to spread the word about Adam's CSS kung-fu to my fellow CrossFitters. Check it out below - the next class starts on April 22nd.

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Is the idea of having, managing, or creating a website—or (gulp) hiring someone to create a website for you—a bit overwhelming? Well, if it's not, it should be.

If you want to have a great site that your clients, friends, or fellow CrossFitters actually enjoy using, WordPress is a great way to go about it. The problem is, knowing how to tweak it to be the site of your dreams can be harder than a 250 pound split snatch.

Not any more.

You don't have to settle for an ugly site. Or a simple one. Or a stock template that everyone's sister is using to broadcast her love of American Girl.

By taking the essential principles of CrossFit (say it with me... "Constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity!") and using them to teach web design and development principles, you can learn how to be your own website expert, and save the endless back-and-forth, endless sinkhole of money that goes along with relying on a designer.

This next round of WebFit, which starts on April 22, is open only to CrossFitters. That way we can specifically address the needs and concerns of CrossFit sites, with a population that speaks the same language. (It doesn't matter if you're an affiliate owner, trainer, or enthusiast... as long as you CrossFit, you're good to go.)

Interested? Curious? Check out http://monkatwork.com/webfit/ for more details.

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So for those of you thinking about hiring someone to help you with your web site... talk to Adam. He'll get you up and running, and teach you how to keep it up all by your own educated self.