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WordPress Tip: Integrate WordPress into an Existing Website

by Tom Johnson on Dec 28, 2008
categories: blogging technical-writingwordpress

I integrated a WordPress blog into another website this weekend. The original site, pictured below, was http://tamarabonet.com.

Original site (built in Dreamweaver)
Original site (built in Dreamweaver)

Here's the WordPress blog I customized (http://tamarabonet.com/blog) to look identical to the existing site:

Blog (built in WordPress)
WordPres Blog (created to match original)

This is my third blog design in which I ported over an existing html site into a WordPress theme. I'm getting better at it, but it still takes me a full day to do it.

I also recently created a WordPress blog for a voiceover site. The following image shows the original site.

Original Site (Built in Dreamweaver)
Original Site (Built in Dreamweaver)

And here is the WordPress blog I customized to match the original.

WordPress blog to match original site
WordPress blog (created to match original)

As you can see, the WordPress blog looks almost identical to the original site. By far the most difficult part about porting over an HTML site is dealing with tables. People often use tables when they build sites in Dreamweaver. But WordPress doesn't use tables -- it uses div tags to structure the layout.

When I create the WordPress theme, I've found I can't just remove the original site's tables and have the WordPress theme match the original site in a seamless way. So I leave the tables in.

The only post I've written on integrating a WordPress blog into a Dreamweaver-built HTML site is this one: "Seamlessly Integrating a Blog into Your Existing Website." From it, I've had a handful of people contact me.

I would write a tutorial for this process, but it would take me too long, and most people don't want the hassle of doing it themselves anyway. If you're thinking about adding a blog that matches your existing website, let me know. I can create a custom blog theme for you.  See my WordPress Consulting page for details.

About Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.

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