Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now is to be able to create a WordPress page that looks completely different to the rest of the blog.
So the page when clicked on from the home page of the site looks like a regular sales page.
It’s been in my product ideas document for nearly 2 years now, and for one reason or another I’ve not done anything about it.
I decided that enough was enough and I’d started looking for a decent WordPress developer as I thought it might need a plugin developed and/or a special page template created.
I’m sure there are lots of other people out there that have wanted this too. I mean really sure.
My thought was that all we really need was something that threw away all the WordPress stuff on the page itself so that we could just paste in HTML from a sales page design we already had. Maybe a product we have master resale rights to, or some edited PLR sales page, that kind of thing.
I still wanted all the SEO goodness of WordPress for the rest of the site, but the sales page itself had to be standalone. The other proviso was that it didn’t use CSS or any complicated PHP.
It had to be plain and simple good old table based HTML or nothing at all.
Having decided to do it, I started my research. I bought a couple of existing products to see what approach the product developers had taken, and I was gobsmacked at how complicated it all was.
It seems I could only buy a whole THEME with that kind of functionality in it, and in one case it was all or nothing, ie the whole site had to look like the sales page itself, which isn’t what we want at all is it?
And then a thought occurred to me.
As we all should know by now, developers aren’t marketers. They don’t know what it is that we want exactly unless we pin them down and tell them, and even then it doesn’t always go in.
The people who were putting together these methods of displaying WordPress pages with a unique look were going about it from a developers point of view. They were making it more complicated than it actually is.
I thought to myself that there must be an easier way of doing it, so I started looking at the WordPress documentation. Here’s a heads up on that. It’s written by developers for developers. 🙁
So after spending a couple of hours going round in circles yesterday, I suddenly found the exact piece of information that I was looking for.
A quick test and…
You know what? It’s so easy to do I could have just screamed when I realised.
What the flaming heck are these other product owners on exactly? Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill.
And you know what else?
I’m now going to create a low-cost how-to video list-building product out of this as it’s so easy to do and so understandable that anyone with a bit of basic HTML and FTP knowledge can do it.
Perfect.
I’ll make it freely available to anyone that’s signed up to the free tuition so it won’t cost a penny.
For everybody else, let’s say $7. 😉
Watch this space.
-Frank Haywood
Frank, so many people are unable to see simplicity because it’s (irony of ironies here) so difficult for them.
There are several ways to do what you’ve suggested, but one of the easiest is so easy most people would never think of it, including some developers. I’m just putting the finishing touches to a site for an offline business where I’m using that technique to make some of the pages very unique, and it sure saves a chunk of time.
I’m reminded of a lovely episode of a show in the UK called Red Dwarf, where the main characters were imprisoned on an alien planet. The ‘leader’ made an elaborate plan to escape by tunnelling, using a spoon and a lot of hard work.
The android then suggested that they could just use the transporter device he had in his hand. Queue tremendous audience laughter.
Quite honestly, I’ve seen something similar in real life so many times it’s better than a sitcom.
“Work smarter, not harder”, is a popular saying for a good reason. But sometimes it should be work “simpler, not harder.”
Amin
Nice work Frank. I know of a product that is selling RIGHT now for $97 for a single site license. $247 for multi-site.
Looking forward to your video to compare against that. I’ll buy it at 7 bucks…I don’t even want it for free. I think your research time is more valuable than that. @iflashvideo me on Twitter when you have your video up and I’ll take it. I’m sure you’ll have a couple other takers as well.
Hello there Frank. Glad I cought this post before I go for surgery on Wednesday.
I have also been searching high and low for a “stand-alone” sales page to work of wordpress. The products I did find are so over priced that it is laughable.
Thank goodness we have you who knows things about coding and you are now able to created one of these pages. I do look forward to this new product of yours, as I am dying to use this sort of thing on my blogs.
Take care.
Val
Hi Frank. I must say I agree. WordPress can be used for much more than blogging. And one of the good things about it, is that there are lots of free templates on the internet.
cheers! Hurtig LÃ¥n (sweden)
Wow! Frank, I tried navigating those so called help pages for Word Press myself and would have pulled my hair out if I weren’t already bald! Great work breaking that code and coming up with something simple and useful. I can’t wait to see the video.
Oh, I am signed u for the free tutorial…
Thanks,
Jim Davies – The Web Professor
Hi Frank,
Your idea streaks always keeps me on my toes to watch closely what you are doing next!
I know some great stuff is coming!
I’ll be watching…
Great concept; great work. I’m looking forward to getting this one, Frank.
Frank, do you ever SLEEP? You always come up with the coolest ideas and make them free or very affordable.
Kudos man, I can’t wait to see how to do this. I think a lot of us get trapped in what they call “functional fixity” instead of thinking outside the box like you are so gifted to be able to do.
Thanks….. as always, my friend,
Donna