Wordpress – What, Why, Where and How
What is WordPress?
WordPress is web-based software that allows you to create websites or blogs. It is an Open Source project, which means there are hundreds of people all over the world developing it.
Wordpress started as a blogging system, but has evolved to be used as a full content management system and more through thousands of plugins and themes.
Why use Wordpress?
Wordpress is used by millions of people because it is easy to work with and flexible for just about any kind of website or blog. It provides content management, giving you the ability to update your website without knowing how to program.
The Wordpress platform is free, search engine friendly and in most cases scales well between large monitors and mobile devices. It can handle different types of media including images, audio and video content.
What are themes and plugins?
Themes
Themes are templates which can be installed within Wordpress to make editing your website or blog easier. Most of them come with their own control panel through which you can customize your website without knowing how to write code – change font and background colours, create slide shows and add other cool elements such as audio and video. There are thousands of free and affordable themes available – ecommerce, photography, magazine style, portfolio, membership, review, gallery, video and many more.
Plugins are pieces of software which add extra functionality to your Wordpress website. Most of them are free and simple to install. However, if you are after a more sophisticated website you can buy plugins which offer more advanced features.
There are thousands of plugins available for just about anything you want to do. Here are some plugins you may wish to consider when setting up a Wordpress website:
- Back up plugins – Backup Buddy, BackUpWordPress
- Security plugins – iTheme or Wordfence Security
- Lead generation forms – Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, MailChimp
- Social sharing plugins – Shareaholic, AddtoAny, Share Buttons by AddThis
- SEO plugins – Yoast SEO, All in One SEO Pack, SEO Ultimate
- Ecommerce plugins – WooCommerce, WP eCommerce, WP EasyCart
Where to upload a Wordpress website?
You can either create your Wordpress website and have it hosted on the Wordpress.com site or install it on your own webhosting account.
Having a self hosted Wordpress site give you more flexibility and allows you to expand functionality through the use of plugins, which the Wordpress.com site does not allow.
There are many hosting companies that offer easy Wordpress set up and installation – check out Dreamhost, Hostgator, HostPapa and BlueHost.
How Do I Get Started with Wordpress?
Although Wordpress is easy to use once it is set up, you will need to understand how it works. There are many free video tutorials which you can find on YouTube – these will show you everything from installing Wordpress, basic steps, such as adding new pages, formatting your content to adding videos and images.
You will also find lots of useful information on the Wordpress website:
https://codex.wordpress.org/New_To_WordPress_-_Where_to_Start
If you are really serious about learning all that you can in an easy step-by-step process, then check out Wordpress tutorials at Lynda.com.
Wordpress is a great platform to use no matter what business you are in. It offers exceptional functionality and flexibility and is relatively easy to use. If you find the initial installation and set up process overwhelming, get your website designer to do it for you.
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