18 Alternative Ways To Use Wordpress

Posted on 26. Oct, 2009 by Michael in Blogging

Hello Everyone,
Wordpress is by far the best CMS system out there, you can do so many different things with it, from running a job board site to a CSS gallery. Today I wanted to showcase some of the best alternative ways to using Wordpress and prove that it can be so much more than just a blog. The great thing about Wordpress is it’s so easy to use, in fact I would go as far as saying it’s idiot proof because all you have to do is fill in fields and your page is done. This is why so many other people use it as there platform for other type websites, such as Membership Sites, Review Sites and Portfolio Websites. I hope you enjoy the list and let me know how your online business has benefited from Wordpress.

WordPress e-Commerce

This plugin makes WordPress into a really neat online store. Most online stores are bulky, expensive and complicated, not this one, it’s simple and free, just like Wordpress itself!

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WishList Member

WishList Member is the fastest way to turn a WordPress site into a full Membership Site. And if you buy now, you get a free copy of “Crush It”.

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WP Review Site

This plugin enables you to turn your WordPress website into a fully functional review site. At the moment there is a special introductory price of only $97.

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BB Press

This is a WordPress forum plugin from the creators of WordPress. Its free to download, and handles any task you throw at it.

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WordPress Wiki

WordPress Wiki is a theme for WordPress that turns it into a lightweight wiki without all the complications. It also has a FAQ plugin built into it.

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Portfolio Blog

This is an extraordinary WordPress theme that enables you to have a full single page portfolio layout that runs entirely on WordPress. And its only $25.

Another recommended portfolio theme plugin is YourFolio and Modern Portfolio.

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WordPress Gallery

There are so many galleries out on the internet. Gallery Pro is a WordPress Theme that allows you to change your blog into a gallery. Another cool gallery theme for WordPress is Showcase Theme.

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JobPress

JobPress integrates a job board into your WordPress website. It comes with all the features you would expect from a professional job board software, but half the price. This plug-in could be used as a standalone website or as a great additional way to monetize your blog, I will be using this plug-in on one of my sites very soon!

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WP Contact Manager

WP Contact Manager is a low priced WordPress theme that turns your site into a contact book.

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OneNews

OneNews is a WordPress theme that allows you to easily create a single-page news aggregator such as PpoURL’s or Alltop within a few clicks.

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Classipress

This is a WordPress theme that turns your WordPress website into a classified ads site. They call it Craigslist for WordPress.

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Article Directory

Here is a neat WordPress build for an article directory website. This article directory plugin has many different features, and is free to download!

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Video Site

Ever wanted to have your own video trailer site? Video Flick is a low priced video trailer theme for WordPress.

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WordPress Multi-User

WordPress Multi-User (MU for short) is a blog tool and publishing platform that allows you to run thousands of WordPress blogs with one single install of WordPress. A great way to built your own Blogspot/Wordpress.com style website, I personally have used this to build a niche travel site, offering all customers a blog so they can share their experiences with friends and family back home.

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BuddyPress

BuddyPress is a huge mix of WordPress plugins and themes, to run a social network based on WordPress MU.

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WordPress CMS

With the Arthemia theme, you can run it like a content management system, rather than a blog.

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P2 Theme

The P2 theme is like twitter in a box. Great theme for companys or organisations to stay up to date with what everyone is doing, all in one place.

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Digg Clone

This plugin adds voting functionality for posts. This function is similar to Reddit or Digg, in that visitors can vote for and against.

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When I began to research for different ways to using Wordpress, I soon realised that I could be doing a lot more to improve my website. For example I could use the Wiki theme for a Wikipedia area on any blogging FAQ people have and I could add a job board for those looking for web design work to be done for their blog.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post.

To Our Success,

Michael Dunlop

PS. What’s your goal for your blog? is it to share knowledge or are you using it in a different way to most others?

If you're really considering making a living through blogging, then you absolutely have to check out Blogging To The Bank by Rob Benwell. In his book, the UK millionaire blogger reveals step by step how he makes as much as $90,480 a month from just a few hours work.

For people ready to dive into a more premium guide, you should consider Blog Mastermind by Yaro Starak. Yaro teaches how you too can master the exact SYSTEM he uses to make a minimum of $10,000 to as much as $35,000 per month, blogging part time.

Tags: Add a forum to your blog, Add a Job Board To Your Blog, Add JobPress to Your Blog, Adding BB press to your blog, Article Directory Wordpress Plugin, Classipress, Create a Membership Site, Different Ways To Use Wordpress, JobPress, Video Site Plugin, WishList Member, WordPress e-Commerce, WordPress Gallery, WordPress Wiki, WP Contact Manager, WP Review Site

70 Responses to “18 Alternative Ways To Use Wordpress”

Shane Hudson

27. Oct, 2009

Very good list of wordpress cms examples! It is so true, wordpress is not used creatively enough!

Reply to this comment
Tom - StandOutBlogger.com

27. Oct, 2009

Very cool list! Really gets you thinking about alternate ways to make money online.

Reply to this comment
Designium

27. Oct, 2009

Nice post. My website (blog) is for being active on my spare time with design stuff

Reply to this comment
Nice ideas

27. Oct, 2009

Cool WP features

Reply to this comment
Cosmin

27. Oct, 2009

So true, WordPress can handle almost any idea (though some complex things aren’t easily achievable)

I’ve also used WP on my site, as it is sooo easy to run a gallery & a blog together.

Reply to this comment
Marian

27. Oct, 2009

Great list, now I know what to do with some of my domains!

Thanks.

Marian

Reply to this comment
befashionlike the fashion blog

27. Oct, 2009

Hi,

Thanks for this selection sorry for my bad english i’m french

I use the Video Site theme for my fashion blog, and for october i thnk to reach 30000 visit and 90 000 pages view.
I have launch the blog in july!!

Wordpress is the best to make money easely

Reply to this comment
Marc Falk

27. Oct, 2009

Great post! I love Wordpress and this post surely shows why.

Reply to this comment
Rob

27. Oct, 2009

Love your list Michael.

Especially your comment on WPMU caught my eye.
With the upcoming merger of WP and WPMU it makes even more sense to look at WPMU. Compatibility is still an issue though, but what worries me more is how the search engines will adapt to WPMU. How will they treat a one man band like me, starting up a WPMU blog hosting others.
Or me consolidating all my WP sites into one WPMU site.
I see a lot of unfair de-indexing penalties for alleged blogfarming happening.

Reply to this comment
Umer Hayat

27. Oct, 2009

always a great post.

It was something that I ever dreamed to find such thing at one place and you did it.
Thanks Micheal

Reply to this comment
Kyle

27. Oct, 2009

WP is in my opinion by far the best open source CMS, blog and MU platform at this time. It’s extremely simple to integrate it into any website and allow your clients or users to use its default UI to preform their required actions.

Anyone who hasn’t tried WP as a CMS, blog or MU platform might just want to try it You may never go back to your old methods. Plus the support on WP is soo unreal!

(If anyone knows of another platform apart from Drupal or Joomla that could rival WP then by all means please let me know, thanks)

Reply to this comment
Heinrich Hattingh

27. Oct, 2009

Awesome Post! Been looking for some of these for a while now.

Great website BTW.

Reply to this comment
Muzi Mohale

27. Oct, 2009

Wow Michael, you’re opened up opportunities for generating extra revenue especially with the JobPress theme which I’m going to be integrating on my blog. No wonder WordPress is so popular it breaks new ground all the time.

Reply to this comment
Jasmine

27. Oct, 2009

Thank you so much for this post. It will be very valuable to me an my group especially because we are reconstructing our blog-based website.

Reply to this comment
Marketing Infowrangler

27. Oct, 2009

Wow, who knew there were more ways to use WordPress than just for a mediocre, low-traffic blog like mine!

Reply to this comment
Johnluffa

27. Oct, 2009

Thanks sharing these tips and tools.
I am really interested in the membership and the Job board tool..

Great Stuff

Reply to this comment
Sameer

27. Oct, 2009

amazing list Micheal

never knew we could actually use wordpress for so many different types of sites and applications, would definitely give some of them a try. specially the job boards and the review sites.

thanks a load!

Reply to this comment
James Ballard

27. Oct, 2009

Hopefully WP will keep getting better and not get replaced by the “next best thing”

Reply to this comment
Karen

27. Oct, 2009

Great information Michael, I always enjoy the content on your blog, I will be sure to add some of these plugins to my blogs. Thanks Again!

Reply to this comment
Bianca

27. Oct, 2009

Really helpful post!

Reply to this comment
Chuck Smith

27. Oct, 2009

Very cool post. There were a few of these plugins/themes that I wasn’t aware of, especially the uses for WPMU. Thanks for sharing, and I’ll let my folks know about this post.

Regards,
Chuck

Reply to this comment
David

27. Oct, 2009

I am in the process of updating my blog and so am very greatful to you for posting these 18 killer selections. I have also just subcribed to your blog for further updates.

Great post.

Reply to this comment
khalid

27. Oct, 2009

cool list, i would love to start video site feature in my wordpress site, lets see.

Reply to this comment
Maricel

27. Oct, 2009

Wordpress is really impressive. I don’t think that there’s really a need to learn how to use other content management systems. It seems that wordpress has a plugin or a theme for everything.

Reply to this comment
Will

27. Oct, 2009

Michael,
I had been looking for a few of these the past few weeks but was having trouble finding exactly the right fit. I was pleasantly surprised when I read this post and saw the exact thing I was looking to implement.

Thanks,

Will

Reply to this comment
tony ramirez

27. Oct, 2009

Wow!! theres is so much you can do!

Reply to this comment
Teen Blogger

27. Oct, 2009

Great list.

This is going to be bookmarked for sure.

I hope WP continue creating new and imprpved plugins and products.

Reply to this comment
ProMomBlogger

27. Oct, 2009

this article is cool. I really like the Wiki part of the site and would like to install that for sure on my site (WP Thesis hosted on the root).

I personally love the Simple:Press Forum better because I can upload plugins and it’s so easy to install.

I also like the Digg Voting site as well. I need to look into why it cost $97 for a “star rating” feature when you could get another plugin similar for free?

Here’s you your success too!

Reply to this comment
TradeProfits

27. Oct, 2009

I have recently bought WP Review Site which is a great plugin. However, if some of you are thinking about paying $97 for it, you might want to look into this free version first called GD site rating.. It has more options and it is free

Reply to this comment
Paul

27. Oct, 2009

Great post Michael, thank you for sharing this.

Reply to this comment
Danny Ethridge

28. Oct, 2009

Michael, you have done an excellent job of researching and posting all of this information. A tip of the hat to you sir. I will post a link to this page on my site! Again, thanks!

Danny
Internet Marketing Toolman

Reply to this comment
TiagoJMonteiro

28. Oct, 2009

Nice post, Michael.
But is it possible to have some pages of the same website with a certain theme, while still having some other pages with other themes?

Reply to this comment
Mike

28. Oct, 2009

Thanks for the effort of sharing the list. I didn’t really know that wordpress can do so much until I read your post. I was just using it as a blog and Cms , but now I have a lots of ideas and enough for me to get myself busy. Thanks again for the sharing.

Reply to this comment
Lex Garey

28. Oct, 2009

Your list is fantastic. It blows my mind that there are even more alternatives than what you’ve listed. It’s truly amazing that one platform has so much power. Wordpress is the holy grail of CMS.

Keep up the inspirational work!

Reply to this comment
Brad West

28. Oct, 2009

Looking at the gallery to purchase. Got to work a few things out in my head about what I want to do. Probably go around and round for a couple days.

Great list though, it is worthy of a book mark for sure.
Thanks
Brad West ~ onomoney

Reply to this comment
Alena

28. Oct, 2009

Thank you, this is a great post. I’m just starting a new blog in a niche market and need all the tips I can get, especially about Wordpress as I want to host it there..

Reply to this comment
Arena Creative Stock Photography

28. Oct, 2009

Wow, so many plugins – so little time!

Reply to this comment
Richard

28. Oct, 2009

I’m not tech savvy person. I’ve been using Wordpress for 3 years now for selling cars online. Very user-friendly.

Reply to this comment
dan

28. Oct, 2009

Great post Michael!
JobPress sounds like it’s worth a look.

Reply to this comment
Delighted

29. Oct, 2009

BEST post i have seen in a while, I want to use all of these! great work, you did your homework I can tell… thanks Michael

Reply to this comment
sergi

29. Oct, 2009

thanks a lot!!

Reply to this comment
Muzi Mohale

29. Oct, 2009

I’ve sent the guys from JobPress and WishList a question about PayPal as a payment option and I’ve yet to get feedback after 2 days. Being based in South Africa I cannot receive funds through PayPal, therefore wanted to find it if I could replaced PayPal with another credit card service provider?

Would also be interested to know, if the membership theme can run a dating website?

Reply to this comment
SalStabler

30. Oct, 2009

Great list michael, i’ve personally used the OneNews WP, which has worked very well for my other blog projects.

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Great Resources to Discover & Check Out This Week | Blog Tipz

30. Oct, 2009

[...] your typography for the best readability within WordPress. There are plenty of resources included.18 Alternative Ways to Use WordPressEven more great uses of WordPress, ideal for people who thought that WordPress was limited to [...]

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Anchorage Ak

31. Oct, 2009

Great list micheal.. thank you for this, maybe I can start making some money now from a couple of my dead domains.

Reply to this comment
A.Sinclair

01. Nov, 2009

Very nice selection you have here. I am off to check out a couple of them.

Thanks

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Cool Tip to Make Sense of Neglected (Parked) Domains: Creative WordPress Uses | Daily SEO Tip

04. Nov, 2009

[...] So go ahead, find your neglected domain(s) and set up a site. And here’s a great post to get some inspiration: 18 Alternative Ways To Use Wordpress [...]

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Kevin Byrd

04. Nov, 2009

this is a great post. thanks it gave me some more ideas and I will also repost your link in FB

Reply to this comment
Gary Parenti

04. Nov, 2009

Hello Michael,

Income Diary popped up on my Buzz
Software.This looks like another great
post as usual.CYA

To Your Success,
Gary,

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Colorado Springs Real Estate by Kathy Torline

04. Nov, 2009

Great article — made me rethink about the domain names that I’m not using and how I can use Wordpress for them. Another thing to add to my ever growing list of things to do.

Reply to this comment
Julian

05. Nov, 2009

This is a great post, thank you

Julian

Reply to this comment
Dave Obersby

05. Nov, 2009

All great ideas for Wordpress. Its so versatile!

Dave

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93 liens sur PHP, Wordpress, Photoshop, jQuery, CSS3, …

07. Nov, 2009

[...] 18 Alternative Ways To Use Wordpress 18 utilisations alternatives de Wordpress [...]

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Nadir

07. Nov, 2009

Awesome list. Thanks. Liked the WP Review Site plugin

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Dimox

08. Nov, 2009

Thanks for linking to my Article Directory plugin! I’m very pleased.

Reply to this comment
Peter Safe

09. Nov, 2009

Thank you Michael.
I have been searching for ways to better my blog and you have given me some terrific ideas.
Great info on plugins and templates.

Cheers

Peter

Reply to this comment
mupet

10. Nov, 2009

Wordpress is great, i just create digg clone using wordpress, take a look here wordtaps.cm

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18 maneras de usar WordPress como CMS

10. Nov, 2009

[...] | Incomediary | WordPress Plugin [...]

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Zee

11. Nov, 2009

Way too cool. I’ll have to bookmark this page to go through them one by one. Really thought WP is just for blogging. Thanks.

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Vitalka

11. Nov, 2009

Yes, sure – we are not using our parked domain
But this list is giving several ideas on how to use them to help for main site/blog.
I am personally impressed with Voting site idea. Never thought about that before…

Reply to this comment
Antoni Febrer Barber

13. Nov, 2009

What can I say? Wordpress, I love You. You make my job easy.

Thanks for this stuff.

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rrd

13. Nov, 2009

+1 wordpress video: http://gouranga.tv

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ThatsGravy

13. Nov, 2009

This is FANTASTIC! Thanks a ton for this. I’ve been going back and forth on a number of CMS solutions, and so far, I really like Wordpress!

Reply to this comment
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14. Nov, 2009

[...] designs? If so you might love this site: WP Scoop. While I was there I found this cool article: 18 Alterntive Ways to Use WordPress. I also like this WP Theme Building Cheat [...]

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Anne McCrady

15. Nov, 2009

Thanks for the post. I have several domains I am holding as sites for an upcoming book title. Now I am thinking about how to use them to actually generate material for the book. I am a Wordpress blogger, but a novice at using Wordpress for more than the basics. Thanks!

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James

15. Nov, 2009

Love the site…with the economy down, who isn

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satrap

16. Nov, 2009

great list, word press is the greatest. it really helps you do many things that you though impossible. thanks for sharing this information.

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Online Reputation Management

19. Nov, 2009

This one is a great start for those sites of mine to be put into use and not as a junk on my registrars and hosting.

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alex

10. Dec, 2009

I like these wordpress theme. Are they free?

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AgentMango|PC Holics

10. Dec, 2009

wow! Never read an article like that. Im still using blogger. I wish to install wordpress.

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