What Is WordPress? A Beginners Guide
Posted on: 30 August 2019
Posted By: YYDevelopment 2 Comments
This article is intended for those of you who don’t know what WordPress is and for those of you who want to develop a website and don’t know if you should use WordPress or other platforms.
WordPress is the most popular CMS (content management system) in the world. You can download WordPress for free and the system is translated into more than 60 languages. It’s also known that more than 25% of the websites around the world are built in WordPress and that number keep getting bigger.
In this article we will explain what is WordPress and what is CMS, we will talk about the difference between HTML website and WordPress website, we will talk about WordPress advantages and we will let you know if you should use WordPress or not.
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What Is WordPress
If you still don’t know what is WordPress it’s about time you will learn. WordPress is a free CMS (content management system) that allows us to easily create and edit websites. In order to start we will explain first what content management system is and what is the different between websites who has it and website who don’t.
Content management system (CMS) is a tool that allows us to build and edit website without the need of coding knowledge. There are many CMS out there like Drupal and Joomla but for now WordPress is the most popular one.
In general there are 2 ways to build websites, the first one is by using languages code like HTML and PHP and the second way is by using content management system like WordPress.
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The Difference Between WordPress and HTML Websites
So after we learned what is WordPress the next thing we need to understand is what the difference between WordPress and HTML sites. In the past when we wanted to create a website we used to build it using HTML code. The problem with HTML is that it was hard to edit it for non-technical users.
Another option we used to have in the past was to use website development company to develop custom CMS that will allow us to edit pages and sections on the site. The problem with this option is that it was very expensive to develop a custom CMS and most business owners weren’t able to afford it.
WordPress on the other hand is a free CMS that allow us to easily develop a website on the exists system and edit or add pages on the site without HTML knowledge.
You will be able to see below how to edit HTML website and how you can edit WordPress website in order to understand the difference between the two.
What Is HTML Website?
HTML is a code language that allows us to build static websites. Editing HTML website can be difficult non-technical users and in order to edit HTML first you will need to download the HTML files from the hosting.
When you done downloading the file you will need to use code editor and manually edit the file in order to change it.
In order to see how HTML code looks like go into your browser and open some website page. Click on your mouse right button and choose the “View Source Code” option.
How To Edit WordPress Websites?
So now that you know it’s not easy to edit HTML website let see how to edit WordPress website. Instead of dealing with the hosting, coding editors and HTML code all you need to do is to login into WordPress admin panel and click on “Edit Page” button that on the top admin bar.
After clicking on the edit page button you will be transferred into the admin panel and there you will be able to edit the page.
WordPress admin panel is very easy to use and there you will be able to edit the pages in a similar way to the way you edit word documents.
6 Reasons Why You Should Use WordPress
After you were able to understand WordPress is used for and why it’s better to use it than using HTML site here are few more reasons why WordPress became such a popular system to build websites over the years.
1) WordPress Is Free
WordPress is a free CMS and you will be able to download the latest version from the link below:
WordPress is free and that means you will be able to learn online how to use the system and how to build or edit website without the need of a big budget.
Now although WordPress is free some of the more professional plugins and themes you can use are not free and if you are interested in a professional website you will most likely need the help of a website developer to do it well and that won’t be for free.
2) WordPress Frequently Updates
Another advantage of WordPress is that the system update frequently. The updates are usually adding new features, fix bugs and sometimes they solve security breaches. In fact, WordPress started out as a blogging system and not as website development system. Because of the way the system updated over the years, it is now possible to build complex sites using WordPress
Thanks to frequent updates and the ability to install plugins (we will talk about it in the next paragraph) WordPress has evolved into the world’s most popular content management system and now it enables us to develop all kind of website.
By the way, if it wasn’t clear our website was also developed by WordPress as you can probably see our website quite complex.
3) The Biggest Advantage – WordPress Plugins
There is no doubt the ability to install plugins is the main reason for WordPress’s success. With plugins we can add or change elements on the site with a push of a button. For example, if you go to the bottom of this page you will see the option to share this tutorial on social media and we did that with plugin called MashShare.
With plugins you can create contact forms, you will be able to do SEO, create complex pages with columns and you can even create e-commerce website. Plugins allows us to develop and promote our websites more easily. The ability to install and sets plugins in just few minutes is what make WordPress so great.
Unfortunately the plugins also have a small disadvantage. Although there are many excellent plugins that can be downloaded for free, most of the good ones cost money.
You can view below to see some of the popular WordPress plugins that are free or has a free version:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/popular/
4) Hugh Selection Of Design Templates
Another reason that makes WordPress so popular is the ability to change the website design template with just one click. There are lots of free WordPress templates so if will be able to change your website design without spending any money on it. Like with the plugins most of the popular themes cost money and they are not for free.
You can view some of the free wordpress templates on the link below:
https:// wordpress.org/themes/browse/popular
5) WordPress Supports More Than 60 Different Languages
Another important benefit of WordPress is that the system is supported in many languages. Nowadays, WordPress is supported on more than 60 different languages and the number keeps increasing over the years. WordPress also has volunteers all over the world help translate the system into different languages.
6) More Than 25% Of The Website Are Built In WordPress
One more thing you should probably know is that WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world. There are reputable sites that have done research and found that more than 25% of sites (worldwide) are built using WordPress. The conclusion is that 1 out of every 4 sites was built with WordPress.
The great demand for WordPress sites and the high demand of developer from customers increase the supply of people and companies who work with WordPress. Large supply leads to competition between the services providers and as a result the prices go down for end consumers. In addition, the fact that there are so many WordPress developers will allow you to easily find a professional developer that will help create or edit your site.
If your site is built using an unknown content management system, finding a programmer that can do changes to your website can sometimes become a difficult task so it’s better and smarter to use WordPress.
Bottom Line – Should I Choose WordPress?
After we understood what WordPress is and after we realized what WordPress advantages are over the competitors, it was time to summarize this article.
In the bottom line WordPress is an excellent content management system that offers many advantages for its users. We have years of experience in developing WordPress websites and our clients are always happy with results. And when more than 25% of the websites are using WordPress there must be a good reason for it. We highly recommend you to use WordPress to develop a website for your business.
If you are looking for a professional website feel free to check our WordPress website development page to view more info about what we have to offer & we also offer WordPress landing pages development services if that something you are looking for.
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Really good tutorial about WordPress and it’s really helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your kind words Dan, happy to hear that you liked it.