WordPress Explained
In summary, What Is WordPress? Explained for Beginners WordPress is the easiest and most popular way to create your own website or blog. In fact, WordPress powers over 42.7% of all websites on the internet. Yes – more than one in four websites you visit are likely powered by WordPress.
Delving into the technical realm, WordPress stands out as an open-source content management system governed by the GPLv2 license, granting unrestricted usage and modification privileges to all. Acting as a digital Swiss army knife, a content management system streamlines the management of vital website components, such as content, sans the necessity of programming prowess.
The end result is that WordPress makes building a website accessible to anyone – even those who are not developers.
What kind of websites can WordPress create?
In the past, WordPress predominantly served as a platform for crafting blogs rather than conventional websites. However, with changes in core code alongside the vast ecosystem of plugins and themes, thanks to WordPress, you can now build any kind of website with WordPress.
For example, WordPress not only powers a large number of business websites and blogs but is also the most popular way to create an e-commerce store!
With WordPress, you can create:
Business websites
E-commerce stores
Blogs
Portfolios
Startups
Forums
Social networks
Membership sites
What is the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?
We’ve covered the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com in more detail, but here’s a brief version:
WordPress.org, often referred to as self-hosted WordPress, is free, open-source WordPress software that you can install on your own web host to create a website that is 100% your own.
WordPress.com operates as a revenue-generating platform, offering paid services fueled by the underlying WordPress.org software. It’s easy to use, but you lose some flexibility compared to self-hosted WordPress.
Most of the time, when people say “WordPress,” they mean self-hosted WordPress available on WordPress.org. For those seeking complete ownership of their website, self-hosted WordPress.org remains the preferred choice in most cases.
WordPress was brought to life by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little in 2003, marking its longstanding presence in the digital realm?
WordPress was created in 2003 as a standalone project that emerged from a branch of the previous project called b2/cafelog.
WordPress is open-source software, so it has been developed by a large community of contributors. However, if we trace the origins of WordPress, its original creators were Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little.
Since then, Matt Mullenweg has become closely associated with WordPress. He is also a co-founder of Automattic, the company behind the successful WordPress.com service.
The establishment of WordPress as a blogging platform in 2003 and its history since then have been quite long…
But suffice it to say that WordPress has evolved and developed into the most popular solution for creating any kind of website, thanks to its contributors and the vast community.
Who uses WordPress?
WordPress is used by individuals, large businesses, and everyone in between! As an immediate note, we use WordPress! So the site you are currently viewing is powered by WordPress. Many other prominent organizations also use WordPress.
Why should you use WordPress?
Alright, so more than 42.7% of all websites on the internet are using WordPress, including renowned institutions like the White House and Microsoft.
But what about you? Why should you use WordPress?
Well, it doesn’t matter what kind of website you want to create; there are many reasons to use WordPress.
WordPress is free and open-source:
The biggest advantage of WordPress is that it is free, open-source software. While you may have to pay for hosting, you’ll never have to pay just to use WordPress software, which is not the case with platforms like Squarespace.
WordPress is extensible:
Even if you’re not a developer, you can easily customize your website thanks to the vast ecosystem of WordPress themes and plugins:
Themes – These primarily change the appearance of your website.
Plugins – These mainly change how your website functions. Plugins can be as small as a contact form or as large as creating an e-commerce store.
Currently, there are over 50,000 free WordPress plugins and 5,000 free WordPress themes, alongside many premium options. The point is – you have a lot of options!
Installing WordPress is easy:
Do you think you need technical skills to create your own website? Think again! Unlocking the power of web design has never been easier. With just a few clicks, you can seamlessly integrate WordPress into your website, transforming it into a dynamic platform ready to captivate your audience.
Nowadays, most web hosts either:
Offer WordPress pre-installed for you, so your site is ready to go immediately.
Provide dedicated tools that make the installation process very beginner-friendly.
As shown below, you can create a new WordPress site in your MyKinsta dashboard by selecting WordPress sites in the customer sidebar menu and then clicking Add Site in the upper right corner. A dropdown menu will allow you to choose creating a new site or starting a migration to Kinsta for an existing site.
Can I install WordPress on my personal computer?
Absolutely! There are many good reasons why you would want to install WordPress on your local computer. Whether you’re starting a new site, installing a new theme or plugin, or just want a secure place to experiment with your existing website without the fear of breaking it.
In such situations, our top suggestion is DevKinsta, a complimentary tool designed to effortlessly set up WordPress on both Mac and PC platforms, streamlining your website development process.
WordPress is flexible:
We’ve already discussed this, but WordPress is great because it lets you create almost any kind of website. Even better, your website can grow with you.
Do you want to add a forum to your existing WordPress site? No problem – just install the bbPress plugin! Do you want to add a social network? No worries! Just use the BuddyPress plugin.
You’re never stuck in a specific set of functionalities – you can always customize and expand.
Getting help with WordPress is easy:
Because WordPress is so popular, getting help when you encounter any issues is easy. There are plenty of options available:
Blogs
Tutorials
Forums
Facebook groups
Developers