What’s WordPress? A Beginner’s Guide

From the blue dress/white dress controversy to the continued saga of the pizza rat(s) — a whole lot of moments have presupposed to “break the web.”

Nonetheless, there’s just one platform upon which an enormous percentage of the whole web is built.

As of immediately, in 2023, WordPress powers about 43% of all energetic web sites all over the world.

So, if you ought to create or have been tasked with managing a successful website and wish to search out the very best solution in the marketplace, WordPress is your best bet.

While there’s nobody perfect platform, WordPress comes pretty close. It’s easily adaptable to every type of websites, from easy blogs to booming online stores. The advantages of using WordPress are quite a few, and it’s incredibly easy to start with.

In this text, we’re going to introduce you to WordPress and explain what it’s all about. We’ll discuss a few of its history, the tech that makes it tick, the core elements you must find out about, and even the fundamentals of how one can get a WordPress site up and running for the primary time.

Without further ado, let’s get to know the world’s hottest CMS (And yeah, we’ll cover what meaning, too!).

An Introduction To WordPress

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that you could use to construct and manage a web site. The primary version was created in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little as an alternate version of one other program called b2/cafelog.

From the very starting, WordPress was designed as open-source software. We’ll discuss this idea in additional depth later, but in a nutshell, it signifies that WordPress is maintained by a big community of primarily volunteer programmers and designers. Because of this, WordPress has remained reasonably priced while growing more powerful over time, at the same time as recent features and functionality are added with every new edition.

This summer (2023), World Wide Web Technology Surveys checked out tens of millions of internet sites and located that WordPress was the CMS for 63% of the web sites where they may discern what CMS was in play. It’s protected to say that regardless of what you ought to construct, you possibly can likely do it on WordPress.

But before we dive into all of the cool features and how one can get a WordPress website off the bottom, let’s discuss one interesting caveat newcomers must know.

There’s a difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. The previous (.com) is a hosting solution and site builder from Automattic that lets you create a limited site online at no cost, with upgrades at higher pricing tiers. The latter (.org) is open-source software that you could download (totally free) and use to create a custom site, which requires a hosting service (not free).

Note: This is the reason you’ll sometimes see WordPress.org known as “self-hosted WordPress.”

Since WordPress.org tends to be a more flexible and powerful platform, we’ll be mostly specializing in it throughout the remainder of this text. Nonetheless, note that each platforms possess several of the identical core features and might make many similar end products. Even in case you end up more desirous about the simplicity of a WordPress.com site at the top of the day, we promise that reading this guide won’t be for naught.

Psst: When you’re really desirous about all of the nitty, gritty details, don’t miss our robust guide The Difference Between WordPress.com & WordPress.org. 

Deepen Your Knowledge: Getting To Know CMS

Content management systems, as an idea, were developed to enable users without a variety of technical savvy to provide, publish, and manage, web content.

For businesses, CMS software grants non-technical people the liberty to execute their content marketing strategies (on the front end) and web developers the liberty from getting mired in content work that takes them away from their technical tasks (on the back end). In addition they just about broke the world of dynamic website constructing wide open for the masses.

Today, most CMS software makes much of this possible by the use of a WYSIWYG (pronounced “wiz-ee-wig”) editor — meaning “what you see is what you get.”

It’s called this since it displays content very similar to it can look on the live website, even while it’s still being built. This makes it easy for folk to create blog posts, web pages, and other content-rich elements without knowing coding languages.

WordPress is one form of CMS software, and there are a fantastic many more on the market. There are also different classes of CMS software, from the headless CMS to the much simpler web CMS — which is where our friends over at WordPress.com fall.

While we don’t have the space to go deep into all of the nuances of CMS immediately if you ought to learn more, visit The Comprehensive Guide To Content Management Systems.

When To Use WordPress

While WordPress was originally designed for bloggers, due to its robust capabilities, today it may well be used to construct an entire host of digital entities.

Unsure a WordPress site will give you the results you want? It probably will in case you’re constructing anything like these various web properties:

• Marketing website
• Government website
• News publishing website
• Ecommerce store
• Skilled portfolio
• Forum
• Online community
• Blog
• Job board
• Educational website
• Membership website
• Online marketplace
• Event website

…and beyond.

Elements That Make WordPress Powerful, Yet Beginner-Friendly

Okay, so what exactly is it about WordPress that makes it such a fantastic selection for spinning up and managing a brand new website?

I’m so very glad you asked.

Ease Of Use

At first, a CMS like WordPress may appear more intimidating than what you had in mind when the words “website builder” first passed through your head.

It’s true that WordPress can have a barely steeper learning curve as a consequence of the plethora of settings and customizable features — so that you’ll likely have to put in somewhat time learning the ropes. Nonetheless, on the entire, the WordPress user interface is built to be as user-friendly as possible. You don’t have to know any coding to start, and lots of the advanced settings and features are totally optional for constructing a functional site.

Even 20 years on, WordPress continues to update its editing tools to supply a simple, visual experience just like most other drag-and-drop website builders in the marketplace. As of 2023, full-site editing and block theme functionality work together to make editing WordPress perhaps the very best it’s ever been for non-developers.

So long as you’re willing to speculate a really modest period of time upfront, you’ll find that WordPress is a solid platform for beginners (and one which can sustain as you gain more knowledge and experience).

When you do run into trouble or have any questions though, you’ll also discover that there’s plenty of help available. You could find WordPress tutorials, plenty of useful documentation, WordPress community forums, and, after all, WordPress-focused blogs like ours.

Themes And Plugins

Themes and plugins are additional pieces of software that you could download individually and install in your WordPress site. We’ll cover them in tandem, as the very best solution to use these tools is alongside one another to create probably the most robust experience.

WordPress themes — of which there are over 11,000 to pick from — enable you to customize the looks and layout of your site. They generally also include useful features. WordPress plugins, then again, add recent levels of functionality to your site.

Each things let you are taking the essential WordPress platform and customize it to fit your needs, tastes, and goals. Themes show you how to make your site look unique, and plugins enable you so as to add almost any feature you possibly can consider. With over 60,000 free plugins available within the WordPress Plugin Directory, there are plugins that may show you how to create all the pieces from custom forms, a web-based storefront, show you how to share your content with social media, automate tasks, bolster your site’s security, and far more.

You could find WordPress themes and plugins in loads of places online. Nonetheless, in case you’re feeling overwhelmed, your best bet is to start out with the official WordPress theme and plugin directories. All the pieces in these directories is obtainable at no cost and has been run through a strict vetting process. Plus, that’s where you’ll find many of the essential plugins that you just’ll have to get probably the most out of your site.

Open-Source Ideology (Inexpensive And Powerful!)

As we mentioned earlier, WordPress(.org) is an open-source content management system. This implies anyone is free to download and make changes and enhancements to the software. But don’t worry, that doesn’t make it the Wild West stuffed with bugs and viruses.

Today, open source is all about collaboration, fast improvements, merit, transparency, and pushing the envelope. As well as, it’s maintained by a thriving, dedicated community of WordPress developers. In other words, open-source WordPress software might be more powerful than a number of the cutting-edge but closed source development software being put out today by huge corporations!

There are a variety of benefits to using open-source software like WordPress.org. For instance:

• There are constant improvements, and recent functionality is continuously added.
• The identical individuals who improve the platform are also WordPress users, so there’s a give attention to adding flawless, convenient features.
• You could have an enormous community to show to for help and support. Plus, everyone seems to be welcome to contribute to WordPress if you will have a fantastic idea.
• People make plenty of add-on software, reminiscent of the themes and plugins discussed earlier, so you possibly can extend performance practically endlessly.
• The platform is totally free to make use of without sacrificing power.

Include us as we expand somewhat on that last point.

Since WordPress.org is open-source, it won’t cost you anything to download the software and construct your site. You will should select a site name and a hosting plan, but these elements may be found for a low price.

When you want, it’s also possible to spend money on premium themes and plugins so as to add recent customization options to your site. Nonetheless, that is optional because after all there are a variety of great, free plugins and themes available.

Security Focus

Because WordPress.org is open source and relies heavily on the practice of plugging in tools from third parties, it’s comprehensible that nefarious forces often goal web sites built on the platform.

Actually, on the time of this writing, statistics indicate that only 3% of WordPress’ vulnerabilities resulted from the actual core software. The remaining of the danger lies in exploits which can be discovered in plugins and themes.

That said, security is crucial for any website — and it’s something you ought to start occupied with now. This is especially essential in case you intend to earn a living out of your site or handle sensitive data and private information.

Fortunately, WordPress is provided with not only a security team but in addition the aforementioned community of expert developers who’re all the time searching for, reporting, and fixing bugs. Regular community-led security releases address risks, which is why keeping your site on the most recent version of WordPress — and keeping any add-ons up so far — is among the best things you possibly can do to maintain your website secure.

You’ll be able to secure your WordPress website even further by doing things like choosing managed WordPress hosting, enabling an online application firewall, hardening your file permissions, keeping the variety of admin users limited to a small trusted group, and more.

Money-Making Opportunities

WordPress’ roots as a blogging tool make it ideal for small, personal sites. Nonetheless, today, it’s also perfect for a lot of larger projects — including money-making web sites.

The vast variety of features and functionality available through each the bottom platform in addition to add-ons make WordPress the smart selection if you ought to create a profitable site.

Listed below are just a number of of the ways to earn a living together with your WordPress site:

Whether you’re trying to move your entire business online or simply construct a lucrative side hustle, WordPress will enable you to do it effectively with some labor and patience.

Next Step: Get Began With WordPress

Does WordPress sound like the very best platform on your needs?

Then let’s not waste any time. Start developing your website on WordPress today!

The steps to establishing your first WordPress.org website are as follows:

1. Arrange a domain that aligns with the aim of your website. Use a site checker to search out a reputation that’s available, after which get it registered to make it exclusively yours. The domain registrar you choose is significant for several reasons. Take a look at our guide on selecting the very best WordPress domain name to learn all about that.
2. Select a hosting provider and package. Hosting makes the content of your website available on the web, and the correct hosting company may even show you how to arrange, run, and secure your website. As a beginner, chances are you’ll find one that makes a speciality of WordPress probably the most helpful. Learn more about this essential step in All the pieces You Have to Know About Hosting And Selecting The Right Web Host.
3. Now, install WordPress! You’ll be able to install WordPress manually, but be warned this can require interacting with code. Many web hosts have processes that make it quite easy to establish, including a one-click install method. If that’s essential to you, keep it in mind when shopping around.
4. It’s finally customization time. Visit [yourdomain].com/wp-login.php and log in. Unless you ought to construct from scratch — totally tremendous, but it can take a little bit of poking around! — pick a WordPress theme to get some design and structure in place. From here you possibly can start filling in content and customizing with blocks and plugins.

WordPress has been around for a very long time, nevertheless it’s only convalescing and higher. What was a humble blogging platform has expanded into a robust CMS that’s able to tackle any variety of website.

Need assistance using it to establish your dream site? Discover where DreamHost’s website management, design, development, and marketing pros can assist you.