Not going to make this a long posting, but am very enthused about the new Wordpress blogging/static page system. Today they released the 3.1 platform and it is everything that I could have hoped for and more. Buddypress integrates beautifully into the platform and should you have your own server space, this is the way to go for most designers.

With many new options to re-design the center column of Facebook Fan pages and the various IFrame possibilties in Wordpress, it would be nearly impossible for most folks to find it a problem to design a world class level site without knowing a bit of code.

It is very exciting to see the industry break out with so many new and exciting possibilities all at once. Of course, it IS that time of the year when we see new things and new ways of presenting our content.

I am pretty jealous of Jen, because anyone with a solid background in CSS, will end up at the top of the heap. Every single program out there that is added this year will have CSS optional areas to tweak and even completely redesign a site with a minor amount of coding.

So, if you are interested (btw. most of these program add ons are NOT free and I have no interest in any of them). First go to www.wordpress.org and see what REAL blogging is about (and they ARE free). Also check out the www.buddypress.com plugin to make your blog a network similar to ning (also free) then go to www.pagelines.com and see the theme "PlatformPro" which gives you many of the options of a WYSIWYG web design software like Dreamweaver.

But CAUTION. It is addictive and there is a learning curve, although not steep, certainly time consuming.

Also adding to the mix are the various optional "center column" design programs that allow you to design a full website in the center column of your Facebook Fan page. However a word of caution. Facebook can change its rules from minute to minute. I certainly would not recommend a Fan page to a business as their only presence on the internet...or yours.

And I cannot give you the addresses because they are competing for your dollar and I have acquaintances working at designing several of them. In any case there is no leader, there, just yet and they are all charging too much money. From $5 to $10 a month for a single fan page. When the prices come down to $10 a year for 10 pages, thats when I MIGHT bite.

Have as good a time as I am trying out all these new programs.