Helen Barrett

Creating a WordPress Online Portfolio! November 14, 2006

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is my first post. I am experimenting with different online tools for creating electronic portfolios. This is the online version of WordPress that does not require your own server. I have replicated this portfolio in my own server space. The real difference is the number of templates available (a lot fewer in the online version) but this versions seems to be newer with a few more features. Either way, I am impressed with the tool.

The major advantage of WordPress is that it has two ways of posting: a blog (organized in reverse chronological order) with categories (the Home link above), and Pages (organized hierarchically and show by name on the main page menu in the template that I am using). What this means for the portfolio process is that the functions of a learning portfolio (reflective journal stored in chronological order) are published separately from a presentation portfolio, where the information can be ordered thematically. This is one of the best Web 2.0 tools I have used so far that covers the portfolio development process. Feedback can be provided through the Comments function of the blog, although I have turned them off on the portfolio pages.

Most of my artifacts were weblinks, but I was able to upload a few files (in the Portfolio-at-a-glance page) and easily link them to the page. The software lacks a folder system to organize the artifacts, something it would need to make it useful as a full-featured portfolio system.