Starting an ePortfolio

When starting an ePortfolio the most stressful part was determining what exactly was considered an ePortfolio.  As with many things, there is so much information on the internet that one can fall down the rabbit hole. After completing my many hours and endless clicks on links I was able to come up with an answer, simply put, it is a website for students to showcase their work along with other things.  

Similar to internet browsers Chrome, Firefox, Yahoo, or Safari you have options when it comes to picking the right platform that works for you. I was able to narrow my options down to two; Wix or WordPress. There were many different factors I had to consider such as how easy was it to navigate, pricing, accessibility, and other factors. In this case for the class, I choose using WordPress simply because I have had some experience navigating it on the backend.  

The downside to using WordPress is that I chose a platform that required payment. Initially there were some discounts however I personally believe it was a bit pricey. In retrospect, I paid for familiarity. Looking back at it, this is a decision I regret. I believe I should’ve taken my time and done more research to find a more reasonable platform or reasonably priced. With this plan, I am required to make now an annual payment to keep the website up and running. As with all things, the price will go up upon renewal because I will lose all the discounts. 

One of the things that I am proud of, is that although it had been a long time since I used WordPress I was still able to navigate through the backend of the administrative side without too many problems. It was a fear that I would have to take special training or go to YouTube University for assistance.  

Even though navigating through such a time-consuming process, such as starting an ePortfoliio, I believe the fact that I am able to have autonomy of the content makes the project connects more and become more than just a grade, it also becomes a passion.  

In the future, I plan on migrating my content over to a different more affordable platform, but that will likely be closer to the end of the year that I have already paid for.