If you are thinking about building a website using WordPress, the most popular CMS, but are wondering what you are getting yourself into, we are here to give you an answer to the question ‘what is WordPress?’. We will also answer any other WordPress-related questions you might have.
Without further ado, let’s explain everything you need to know about this CMS.
Note: Themes Kingdom team is not affiliated with any of the mentioned products in this post, nor do we make a commission if you end up using them. We simply wanted to name a few products that can help you build a secure, high-performing website.
What is WordPress?
There are many ways one can answer this question.
The first thing you need to know is that WordPress is, by far, the most popular platform you can use to create your website. According to Websitesetup.org, 30+ million website owners chose WP to build their sites. Additionally, WordPress’s market share is over 41%, meaning that every fourth website you visit is most likely built on WordPress.
The second thing you need to be aware of is that WordPress is a solution for quick website building. It’s not a website builder per se, but it is an option that allows you to create a website without having to add, remove, or edit a single code line.
Want to start a food blog and post ALL your recipes? WordPress has your back.
Wish to bring your restaurant to an online world? Use WP.
Want to sell your hand-made products online? Go with WP.
WordPress is a quick solution for website building.
The third thing about WordPress is a bit more technical. At its core, this CMS is open-source software that anyone (who knows how to code) can contribute to in order to improve WordPress codebase and update it. Furthermore, WP software is published under the GNU Public License, which makes it free to download, edit and use. So, basically, if you decide to use WordPress, you get software that you rebrand and sell with no restrictions, but the software has to be released in compliance with the GPL.
The fourth thing about WP is that it is written in the PHP scripting language, and MySQL is the most popular choice of database to store website content.
When was WordPress created, and who made it?
WordPress was created as a project back in 2003. Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little edited the open-source b2/cafelog blogging system (originally built by French programmer Michel Valdrighi), adapted it, and created their own system. A few years later, WordPress officially became the open-source CMS it is today.
Since its foundation, Matt Mullenweg has become the face of WordPress. He’s also the founder of Automattic, the company behind the WordPress.com service.
Today, the answer to the question ‘what is WordPress?’ can righteously be: WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, thanks to its contributors and a huge community.
Who are WordPress’ users?
Some of the most visited websites are powered by WP, including White House, Rolling Stones, Star Wars Blog, TechCrunch, The New York Times, etc.
WordPress is used by individuals, big and small businesses, e-commerce shop owners, designers, developers, sculptors, painters, and others. It’s truly built for anyone that wants a reliable way to make their website.
What can WordPress do?
We would say there’s nothing it can’t do.
With each WP version, developers are improving WordPress’ usability and security.
Nowadays, WordPress can help you build a website using Gutenberg editor and WordPress blocks and patterns. As you might already know, the heart of WordPress is the WP editor. The editor allows you to create pages, posts, and any type of content using the drag-and-drop method.
One of the most recent features WordPress added is Full Site Editing (FSE). Full Site Editing is a collection of WP features that allows you to use blocks for any part of the website, meaning it’s even simpler to create a website and its structure.
Why should you use WordPress?
There are plenty of reasons why you should choose WordPress to build your website. Here are some of them:
1. The CMS is free and open-source.
While you have to pay for hosting and, potentially, for premium WP themes and plugins, you never have to pay to use WordPress software.
2. WordPress is extremely easy to install.
With just a few clicks, you can install WordPress with the help of your hosting account. Some hosting providers even offer a one-click WordPress installation.
3. With WordPress, you can create any website you want.
WordPress has so many themes and plugins you can use to help you create your website. And the best part is that you customize a theme, so that it fits your website needs the best.
4. With WordPress, you don’t have to learn how to program to make a website.
All you need to do is choose one WordPress theme to get started with site building. You don’t have to bother with technical details; WordPress allows you to build a website without editing a single line of code.
5. WordPress has a well-developed community.
Although WordPress is pretty easy to use, you will probably experience some challenges when you first start using it. If you ever get into a bump on the road, you can reach out to the official WordPress community.
6. WordPress is SEO-friendly.
The one WP feature no one can argue about is that WordPress is SEO-friendly. WordPress has numerous plugins that can help you rank high in Google search results, such as Yoast and All-In-One SEO Pack.
7. WordPress has well-created user groups.
If you ever decide to share your website usage with one person or several people, WP has six different user roles, which have different rights, depending on what hierarchy level they are.
8. WordPress is secure.
Although WordPress is always called out for not having the maximum security, we can positively say WP is secure. Sure, no CMS is 100% hacker-proof, but if you follow WordPress security tips and guidelines, you can live life peacefully knowing that there is a slight chance that your website is going to be hacked.
What kind of website can I make with WordPress?
Any type of website you want. Thanks to WP’s massive collection of themes and plugins, you can build the site you want. You can create a business website, an e-commerce shop, blog, portfolio website, resume, membership site, etc.
Note: If you want to start building your website today, check out our post on how to install and set up a WordPress theme. It will take you a couple of minutes to complete the process.
There are WordPress.com and WordPress.org. What’s the difference between these two, and which one should I choose?
WordPress.org, often called self-hosted WordPress, is free, open-source WordPress software that you can install on your own web host. If you choose WordPress.org, you will get a website that is 100% your own, and that you can choose a domain for.
WordPress.com is a service powered by WordPress.org software. It doesn’t require installing the software and choosing a hosting provider.
If you are thinking about which of these two to choose, we recommend you go with WordPress.org, especially if you are building a business site. WordPress.com does give a commodity to create a website in just a few minutes, but you won’t be able to control hosting (which means you are not going to be able to control your website performance).
Final thoughts
We hope you enjoyed reading and learning about WordPress.
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