WordPress has been around for some time but it can be much more than just a way to get your daily “thought bubbles” online. It is a powerful content management system but there are a number of plug-ins and applications available which, together with a little ingenuity, can allow you to use WordPress for far more than just blogging.
For example, you can use WordPress as a contact manager. With WP–CRM, you can add contacts from the front end of WordPress, associate an image with each contact, assign a category, create notes, clickable e-mail and website links and automatically dial numbers, subject to configuration. It requires a theme and appropriate plug-ins and step-by-step instructions are available here.
How about setting up WordPress to showcase your talents? You can create a portfolio if you are a photographer, web designer or artist. You can either utilize a specially made theme, or you can use the link manager contained within WordPress itself to create and display your portfolio. Simply enter all the data, such as name, link to website, special attributes, categories, description, screenshots etc., and once this is complete you can then use WordPress tags and codes to display it. You can see a step-by-step guide here.
WordPress can be used as a Twitter clone. This could be your own private micro-blogging site and although you may not be directly linked to the power of Twitter, you will have fewer restrictions. WordPress has already come up with an appropriate theme for you involving easy posting from the front page and dynamic updates. Check it out here.
Affiliates will know the power of a review site. WordPress can be used to create user powered review sites on any subject. A plug-in is available to help you create a completely new site or enhance your existing blog. Find out about WP Review Site.
Forums are powerful by themselves, so why not add this option to your WordPress setup and increase the power exponentially. Google loves forums as well due to the interactivity of the traffic and they will create a lot of credibility for your product, niche or group. You can get the plug-in here.
Do you know of any weird and wonderful WordPress ways?
Adam Toren