WordPress is an open-source Content Management System (CMS), which allows you to design, create and post your content on one platform, for the world to see. You could choose to create an individual account or a multi-author account. Multiple authors give the advantage of a rich content source from different perspectives. WordPress provides the fastest and easiest way to publish a blog post and multiple features like choosing a theme of your choice and choosing between various plug-ins so you have control over the look and feel of your site, which your readers get. It also gives the authors the option to monetize their website. Considering the various tools and features, what started as a blogging site is now more actively used as a website builder for various businesses.
This article will make you acquainted with these different tools and features that a WordPress site offers. Keep reading if you are new to WordPress. And if you already have a WordPress account, this article will work as a refresher for you. You might come across some features that you are aware of but have missed using.
Below are the different elements of a WordPress site.
To start with, you should know that there are two types of accounts a WordPress site provides. One is free and the other is the paid version. The basic difference is that in the free version the domain name belongs to WordPress and the monetization option is not available. As a beginner, you can start with the free version. As you start to get a hang of the various features, you can opt for the paid version and start monetizing your account. A paid account is more relevant if you have long-term business plans and multiple authors for your site.
Users: WordPress provides the option of creating a single-user individual account, or a multi-user account where every user is marked as an author. Multiple users are basically for a company account whereas single users are for individual authors where only the blog owner can post content and is the sole moderator for this blog. Multi-user account offers a more content-rich site with a greater number of posts with different perspectives.
Pages – For your different account needs, you can choose to create different pages on the same account. For ex: the main page could be your recent posts, and other pages could provide a list of different products and services that you are offering for the readers to subscribe to or purchase.
Posts – are the different articles that are published on the blog or any of the pages. You can choose which posts appear first on your account and you can even link these different posts to each other. The posts need to be audience oriented since it would determine the overall footfall on your site.
Media – any image or video that is uploaded on the website is blog media or page media. You can choose to create a separate page for your videos or images. If you have the monetization option activated, you can even choose to sell these images to your readers.
Comments – Readers relate more to blogs where they get to interact and share their experiences and thoughts with the author. As a blog moderator, you can choose which comments you would want to reflect in your posts. You have the choice to remove the trolls and un-required comments from your page. You also have a choice to interact back with your readers. This will ensure more repeat readers and increase the footfall on your blog.
Themes: Themes dictate the overall appearance of your blog. WordPress provides a plethora of free-of-cost themes to choose from. It also offers a paid customizable option wherein you get the option to create your very own theme for your blog.
Plug-ins: The most common feature where people get confused and think of giving up on creating a WordPress blog is a plug-in. I would suggest not giving up just yet. Exploring one feature at a time, one slowly gets a hang of it. Most of the time, the plugins are separate paid options that users or blog owners can avail and this makes your life much easier. If you have to add any new feature to your account, which is not available in your pre-selected theme, then it is possible through plug-ins. Some basic features of any plugin are; user registration, creating forums (or creating communities), job listings, or a career page (more relevant to a business, rather than an individual-owned blog).
Hope you have clarity by now on the basic elements of a WordPress account. Please feel free to share your feedback or queries in the comments section.