A NEW USER’S GUIDE TO WORD-PRESS
A NEW USER’S GUIDE TO WORD-PRESS
Bluehost was founded in 2003 with one goal: to make a better hosting
company. Built on open source technology, it’s since grown to become
one of the world’s largest cloud-based online solutions providers
focused on small and medium-sized businesses. Its experts confidently
guide users towards a successful web presence, and its platform now
powers millions of websites across the globe, serving the needs of small
businesses, bloggers, WordPress devotees, entrepreneurs, and more.
INTRODUCTION
If you’re looking to build
a website for personal
or business needs, you
should look no further
than WordPress.
WordPress is one of the world’s most
widely used site building software
programs. It’s free and open source
so that it can be modified by and
shared with any user in the WordPress
community. The core WordPress software
package can be downloaded by anyone
from WordPress.org, or it can be installed
as part of a hosting package from a web
hosting provider.
WordPress users make over 1.3 million
new posts on WordPress sites every day
using this free and open source content
management system (CMS). WordPress
was designed to make online publishing
available to everyone with any kind of
content to share. And with a global
community of WordPress users and a
constantly growing library of plugins
and themes, it continues to top the list
as the most popular CMS today.
Here’s why WordPress is the best CMS around for any kind of website.
WordPress Is Supported
Everywhere
Because WordPress is so widely used,
it has a large and loyal following around
the world. WordPress users work
with the platform’s creators to keep it
updated and secure and to help new
users get started. New and experienced
users can get around-the-clock support
for problems, questions, and issues
about using WordPress and its many
CMS strategies. There are weekend
boot camps, user groups, and forums,
as well as the tutorials and help desk
at WordPress.org.
- GET FREE DOMAIN NAME WITH EVERY HOSTING CLick Here
WordPress Is Managed for
the People, by the People
WordPress has been built on the
collective help of hundreds of industry
experts. Each of these experts works
hard to build developments that
improve WordPress for all of its users.
There are continuous innovations from
contributors around the globe that help
build a product that helps users thrive.
It’s a win-win. There are contributor
teams for everything from core and
marketing to design and documentation.
WordPress Manages All Types of Content
The WordPress platform consists of
three essential elements: its core code
plus a long list of themes and plugins
that allow people to customize the
appearance and functionality of a site
in virtually endless ways. Thousands
of themes and plugins can be installed
from the WordPress directories on
the admin dashboard, or they can
be purchased or downloaded for
free from a variety of third-party
developers and vendors.
Themes control the appearance and
layout of a WordPress site, but they
can also include tools for managing
text, images, and other kinds of
content. Depending on the kind of
CMS they need, people can choose
from themes designed to support
blogs, e-commerce, podcasts, or
portfolios. Themes can be used as
is with minimal customization or can
be modified to suit even more specific
needs by users with experience in
web design and development.
Plugins are small pieces of code that can
add a variety of specific functions to a
WordPress site, and this includes many
aspects of content management. People
can install a combination of plugins
from the WordPress Plugin Directory or
from third-party developers to create
customized functionality for managing
specific kinds of content on their sites.
Along with functions for creating and
managing content, plugins can also
add tools for collaboration and project
management. WordPress themes and
plugins allow users ranging from
personal bloggers to large enterprises
to assemble a set of content management
tools that are specifically designed to
meet their needs.
WordPress Is Flexible
and Adaptable
Versatile, flexible, and always free, WordPress has all the tools a webmaster
or novice user needs for creating and
sharing content of all kinds anywhere
in the world.
The differences between WordPress.com
and WordPress.org arise from the
differences between hosted and
self-hosted websites, so choosing between
them largely depends on the level of
control a user wants over the design
and management of a site.
WordPress.com: A Hosted Alternative for Easy Use
WordPress.com provides all the tools for a hosted website. It offers people a platform for getting a site up and running with no coding expertise needed. WordPress.com takes care of the ongoing management of the site. At its simplest level, all people need to do is to sign up for a free account, pick a theme, and start publishing. This makes WordPress.com a popular choice for students, bloggers, and creatives who don’t have a need—or an interest in— the full range of customization options offered by WordPress.org.WordPress.com offers multiple plans Starting with the basic free account. For more services and options, such as adding a custom theme, users can move up to paid plans that include Personal, Premium, and Business offering a variety of bonuses. Each of these paid plans allows for greater customization and control over a site’s operations so that it more closely resembles a self-hosted WordPress site.
The convenience and ease of use that make a WordPress.com site so appealing also have their drawbacks. Unless a user upgrades to a paid plan that includes a custom domain name, a WordPress.com site will always have the extension “wordpress.com” in the site name—a sure sign that you’re using a hosted site. A domain name that includes the host provider in that way can signal a personal site or blog, not a professional business site.
WordPress.org: Hands-On and Versatile
WordPress.org is the home of the WordPress software files, a collection of templates in the PHP programming language that can be modified by any user. With its vast collection of customization templates, plugins for added functionality, and a visual text editor, WordPress.org can be used by both beginners and experienced site designers who can work directly with its files and style-sheet for precise customization. With this self-hosted version of WordPress, it’s up to the user to maintain the site aside from features offered by the hosting provider and to install the plugins and other elements for customizing the site.
Comparing Key Features on WordPress.com and WordPress.org
THEMES
- Themes are a defining feature of WordPress sites. With a WordPress.com hosted site, you have the choice of a wide range of pre made free themes—all that’s needed is to add the content you want. Unless you’re paying for premium, you can’t add a theme from an outside source.
- The self-hosted WordPress.org version allows you to install and change themes at will, and themes can come from any source. Both premium and free themes can be customized using tools on the admin dashboard, or more experienced designers can work directly with WordPress files to fully customize their site. Generally speaking, premium themes have more capabilities and customization features compared to free themes.
PLUGINS
- WordPress is famous for its long list of premium and free plugins—bits of code designed by developers in the community to add specific functions that aren’t available in the basic install. Plugins can be used for things such as creating a contact form, building an online store, or adding a gallery to the site. You can even fill the analytics gaps on your site by installing Jetpack, an all-in-one social sharing plugin designed by WordPress.com and check other Wordpress Plugins
DOMAIN NAMES
- When you choose a domain name, it becomes your site’s online identity, and most business experts advocate owning your own domain. Self-hosted WordPress.org sites have custom domain names that clearly indicate the site isn’t being hosted on a third-party platform. Unless you’re paying for premium to have a custom domain, a WordPress.com site always comes with the extension “wordpress.com” after your domain name.
- WordPress.com and WordPress.org offer different ways to take advantage of the site building power of WordPress. Which should you choose? That depends on your plans for your site and the way you want to run it.
- Whether you’ve chosen a domain name or want to give it a little more thought, you should start building your website, one section at a time.
NOTE
- GET FREE DOMAIN NAME WITH EVERY HOSTING CLick Here
If you’re ready to
through some major parts
of WordPress you should
understand to get
online today.
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