What is WordPress and Why Should You Use It?
WordPress is open-source software that you can use to create websites, and manage their content without coding. It is the most popular, reliable, and secure web publishing platform to date that is used by over 39% of website administrators across the globe.
Do you know what’s the best thing about WordPress? Anyone can change or modify it according to their needs without paying a single penny. A few of the best examples of WordPress powered websites are TechCrunch, TED Blog, BBC America, The Walt Disney Company, Evernote, Angry Birds, and many more.
As far as its usage goes, you can install WordPress to create corporate and business sites, personal and professional blogs, and as a great Content Management System (CMS).
What are the Top 7 Elements of WordPress?
1. Post
Posts are the informative content written frequently for the visitors of a site to update them about the latest happenings in the industry. It has an official publication date at the top with the name of the author who has actually written it. When you create a post for your website, you have the choice to assign it the “Categories” and “Tags” based on the topic it refers to. This will make it easy for your readers to find the content that they are interested in.
What’s more? Posts display in your site’s RSS feed that helps your readers to be updated with your content. However, they will need an RSS reader to subscribe to your site’s RSS feed and access your blogs then.
If you want to get a glimpse of WordPress posts, simply head to the blog or news section of any business website. There you will find a number of articles that are published for target readers’ consumption.
2. Pages
Pages are the static content that you see on any website like contact us, about us, and others. Such pages neither have a publish date nor the name of the author. Though it is mentioned in the backend of the site, it is not displayed on the front-end.
Since there is no formal way of organizing the pages, you can do so by making one page a “parent page” and another page a “child page”. This will help you store all the related pages in one place so that your readers can access them easily.
Apart from this, pages usually don’t have a comment section like posts where readers can have a discussion about the topic.
3. Media
Media is a built-in tab in the WordPress admin section that allows you to upload various media files including audio, video, images, and so on. This tab splits further into two screens in which the first one shows all the available files in your media library, while the second one allows you to upload new files to your library.
One thing to note here is that it is not necessary to add media items to your posts or pages from the media library only. You can do so while writing blog posts as well.
4. Themes
Themes are a set of files that are responsible for the actual design of your website. With the term “Design”, I mean everything including color, typography, and layout that makes your site as a whole.
A theme may include images, templates, style sheets, and custom pages that a design is made of. You can find a number of themes in the WordPress repository in which some are free, others are paid. Though you will get a free theme by default when creating your website, you always have the option to upgrade it to a paid theme or just pick another free theme.
5. Plugins
Plugins are small software that is used to extend the functionality of WordPress websites or add new features to them. It is coded in the PHP programming language and is usually free for users.
Whether you want to add a contact form, chatbot, or security monitor to your site, all you need to do is go to the WordPress directory and install a relevant plugin. However, be informed that not all plugins you see there are free of cost, some are paid as well. So, it is necessary to analyze your requirements first and install plugins then.
6. Comments
Comments are the texts posted by readers about the blog or article they just read. Usually, you will find a comments section in a post or page just below the main content. However, you can enable or disable them from the backend of your site.
Once you have enabled the comments, you will see a number of users sharing their feedback at the bottom of your posts or pages. The good thing about comments is that you can modify how you receive them or how it displays on your website.
Remember, comments are a great way of communication with your audience that encourages them to ask questions, share views, and give feedback on the quality of your content.
7. Users
Users are the people who manage and use a WordPress website. Before your site is up and running, it is important to assign users with different user roles. Based on their roles, they will be able to make necessary changes that are required for better site management.
Some common user roles in WordPress include editor, author, subscriber, and site administrator. Once you have assigned different user roles to different people, they can log into your site with a username and password and then make the changes that are under their jurisdiction.
Take note that the users granted lower access roles will see a limited number of options once they log into WordPress.
Conclusion
So, you have seen what WordPress is, why you should use it, and what are its different elements. I hope everything is clear to you. If not, you can drop a comment right below and we will answer it ASAP.
One thing I would like to recommend before finishing this blog is to check the authenticity of themes and plugins before installing them on your WordPress website. This is because there are thousands of themes and plugins available in the WordPress repository that come from a third-party service provider. They may have malicious scripts that could tamper with the security of your site. So, it’s better to be aware than regret later.