What is word press

What is WordPress?

At its core, WordPress is the simplest, most popular way to create your own website or blog. In fact, WordPress powers over 43.3% of all the websites on the Internet. Yes – more than one in four websites that you visit are likely powered by WordPress.

On a slightly more technical level, WordPress is an open-source content management system licensed under GPLv2, which means that anyone can use or modify the WordPress software for free. A content management system is basically a tool that makes it easy to manage important aspects of your website – like content – without needing to know anything about programming.

The end result is that WordPress makes building a website accessible to anyone – even people who aren’t developers.

What is #WordPress? Simply put, it’s the best way to build a website. 😉Click to Tweet

What Kinds Of Websites Can WordPress Make?

Many years ago, WordPress was primarily a tool to create a blog, rather than more traditional websites. That hasn’t been true for a long time, though. Nowadays, thanks to changes to the core code, as well as WordPress’ massive ecosystem of plugins and themes, you can create any type of website with WordPress.

For example, not only does WordPress power a huge number of business sites and blogs, it’s also the most popular way to create an eCommerce store as well! With WordPress, you can create:

• Business websites
• eCommerce stores
• Blogs
• Portfolios
• Resumes
• Forums
• Social networks
• Membership sites
• …pretty much anything else you can dream up.

Here’s how to install a WordPress theme.

Check Out Our Video Guide to WordPress Themes

What’s The Difference Between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?

We’ve covered the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com in a lot more detail, but here’s the short version:

• WordPress.org, often called self-hosted WordPress, is the free, open-source WordPress software that you can install on your own web host to create a website that’s 100% your own.
• WordPress.com is a for-profit, paid service that is powered by the WordPress.org software. It’s simple to use, but you lose much of the flexibility of the self-hosted WordPress.

Most of the time, when people say “WordPress”, they mean the self-hosted WordPress available at WordPress.org. If you want to truly own your website, self-hosted WordPress.org is almost always the best option.

All you need to do to get started with self-hosted WordPress is purchase web hosting and a domain name.

Who Made WordPress And How Long Has It Been Around?

WordPress was created as a standalone project all the way back in 2003, originating as an offshoot of a previous project called b2/cafelog.

WordPress is open-source software, so nowadays it’s made by a huge community of contributors. But if we were to trace WordPress’ origins back to its roots, its original creation was a collaboration between Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little.

Since then, Matt Mullenweg has largely become the face of WordPress. And he’s also the founder of Automattic, which is the company behind the for-profit WordPress.com service.

The history of WordPress between its founding as a blog platform back in 2003 and today is a long one…

But suffice it to say, WordPress has pushed forward and, thanks to its contributors and huge community, developed into the most popular solution to create any type of website.

Who Uses WordPress?

WordPress is used by individuals, big businesses, and everyone in between! On an immediate note, we use WordPress! So the very site that you’re looking at right now is powered by WordPress. Lots of other well-known entities use WordPress as well. Here are some of our favorite examples:

Whitehouse.gov

The official Whitehouse.gov website is powered by WordPress:

Microsoft

Microsoft uses WordPress to power its official blog. It also uses WordPress to power blogs for specific products like Windows and Skype:

The Rolling Stones

Even famous bands love WordPress! The Rolling Stones’ website is powered entirely by WordPress:

Why Should You Use WordPress?

Ok, so over 43.3% of all the websites on the Internet are using WordPress, including well-known entities like the White House and Microsoft.

But what about you? Why should you use WordPress?

Well, no matter what type of website you want to create, there are plenty of reasons to use WordPress. Here are some of the biggest:

WordPress Is Free And Open Source

One of the biggest benefits of WordPress is that it’s free, open-source software. While you will need to pay a little bit for hosting, you will never have to pay just to use the WordPress software, which isn’t the case with alternatives like Squarespace.

Beyond that, you can also find lots of open-source plugins and themes to change how your website looks and functions. Speaking of….

WordPress Is Extensible

Even if you aren’t a developer, you can easily modify your website thanks to WordPress’ huge ecosystem of themes and plugins:

• Themes – these primarily change how your website looks.
• Plugins – these primarily change how your website functions. Plugins can be something small, like a contact form, or huge, like creating an eCommerce store.

Currently, there are over 50,000 free WordPress plugins and 5,000 free WordPress themes, as well as tons of premium options. That to say – you have plenty of choices! Here is a hand-picked list of the best WordPress plugins.

WordPress Is Easy To Install

Think you need to be a tech genius to create your own website? Think again! If you can click a few buttons, you can install WordPress on your site.

Nowadays, most web hosts either:

• Offer to preinstall WordPress for you so that your site is ready to go right away.
• Give you dedicated tools that make the install process very beginner-friendly.

As shown below, Kinsta customers create a new WordPress site in the MyKinsta dashboard by selecting WordPress Sites in the sidebar menu and then clicking Add Site in the upper right corner. A drop-down menu will allow you to choose the creation of a new site or begin the migration to Kinsta of an existing site.

Can I Install WordPress On My Personal Computer?

Absolutely! There are several good reasons why you might want to install WordPress on a local computer. You are building a new site from scratch, install a new theme or plugin or you just want a safe space to experiment with your existing website, without fear of breaking it.
In this case, we recommend a free tool called DevKinsta that allows you to install WordPress on your Mac or PC.

WordPress Is Flexible

We’ve touched on this already, but WordPress is great because it lets you create pretty much any type of website. Better yet, your website can also evolve with you.

Want to add a forum to your existing WordPress site? No problem – just install the bbPress plugin! Want to add a social network? No worries! Just use the BuddyPress plugin.

You’re never locked into a specific set of functions – you can always adapt and evolve.

We’ve taken our knowledge of effective website management at scale, and turned it into an ebook and video course. Click to download The Guide to Managing 60+ WordPress Sites!

It’s Easy To Find WordPress Help

Because WordPress is so popular, it’s easy to find help if you ever run into any issues. There are heaps of…

• Blogs
• Tutorials
• Forums
• Facebook Groups
• Developers

…that you can turn to for free and paid help if needed.

Need More Convincing?

Still not convinced that WordPress is the best way to build a website? Read this post for a deeper look at ten of the best reasons to use WordPress.

So What Is WordPress? It’s The Best Way To Build A Website

WordPress is the most popular way to build a website for a reason. If you want to build any type of website, from a blog to an eCommerce store, WordPress is a great option.

Just remember that self-hosted WordPress.org and WordPress.com are not the same thing. And, in most situations, self-hosted WordPress.org is what you want to build a website. Self-hosted WordPress.org gives you more ownership as well as access to all the perks and benefits of the WordPress community.

So how will you use WordPress? We can’t wait to find out!

This article is about the web content management system (WordPress, WordPress.org). For the blog host, see WordPress.com.

WordPress

Original author(s)	Mike Little Matt Mullenweg
Developer(s)	WordPress Foundation
Initial release	May 27, 2003; 19 years ago[1]
Stable release	6.2[2]  / 29 March 2023; 15 days ago
Repository	core.trac.wordpress.org/browser
Written in	PHP
Operating system	Unix-like, Windows, Linux
Size	23.2 MB (compressed)
Type	Blog software, content management system, content management framework
License	GPLv2 or later[3]
Website	wordpress.org

WordPress (WP or WordPress.org) is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) written in hypertext preprocessor (PHP) language^[4] and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database with supported HTTPS. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system, referred to within WordPress as «Themes». WordPress was originally created as a blog-publishing system but has evolved to support other web content types including more traditional mailing lists and Internet fora, media galleries, membership sites, learning management systems (LMS) and online stores. WordPress is used by 42.8% of the top 10 million websites as of October 2021.^[5][6]

WordPress was released on May 27, 2003, by its founders, American developer Matt Mullenweg^[1] and English developer Mike Little,^[7][8] as a fork of b2/cafelog. The software is released under the GPLv2 (or later) license.^[9]

To function, WordPress has to be installed on a web server, either part of an Internet hosting service like WordPress.com or a computer running the software package WordPress.org to serve as a network host in its own right.^[10] A local computer may be used for single-user testing and learning purposes.

WordPress Foundation owns WordPress, WordPress projects, and other related trademarks.^[11]

Overview[edit]

«WordPress is a factory that makes webpages»^[12] is a core analogy designed to clarify the functions of WordPress: it stores content and enables a user to create and publish webpages, requiring nothing beyond a domain and a hosting service.

WordPress has a web template system using a template processor. Its architecture is a front controller, routing all requests for non-static URIs to a single PHP file that parses the URI and identifies the target page. This allows support for more human-readable permalinks.^[13]

Themes[edit]

WordPress users may install and switch among many different themes. Themes allow users to change the look and functionality of a WordPress website without altering the core code or site content. Custom code can be added to the website by using a child theme. Every WordPress website requires at least one theme to be present. Themes may be directly installed using the WordPress «Appearance» administration tool in the dashboard, or theme folders may be copied directly into the themes directory.^[14] WordPress themes are generally classified into two categories: free and premium. Many free themes are listed in the WordPress theme directory (also known as the repository), and premium themes are available for purchase from marketplaces and individual WordPress developers. WordPress users may also create and develop their own custom themes.^[15]

Plugins[edit]

WordPress’ plugin architecture allows users to extend or depreciate the features and functionality of a website or blog.^{[16] [17]} As of December 2021, WordPress.org has 59,756 plugins available,^[18] each of which offers custom functions and features enabling users to tailor their sites to their specific needs. However, this does not include the available premium plugins (approximately 1,500+), which may not be listed in the WordPress.org repository. These customizations range from search engine optimization (SEO) to client portals used to display private information to logged-in users, to content management systems, to content displaying features, such as the addition of widgets and navigation bars. Not all available plugins are always abreast with the upgrades, and as a result, they may not function properly or may not function at all. If the plugin developer has not tested the plugin with the last two major versions of WordPress, a warning message will be displayed on the plugin directory, informing users that the plugin may not work properly with the latest WordPress version.^[19] Most plugins are available through WordPress themselves, either via downloading them and installing the files manually via FTP or through the WordPress dashboard. However, many third parties offer plugins through their own websites, many of which are paid packages.

Web developers who wish to develop plugins need to learn WordPress’ hook system, which consists of over 2,000 hooks (as of Version 5.7 in 2021)^[20] divided into two categories: action hooks and filter hooks.^[21]

Plugins also represent a development strategy that can transform WordPress into all sorts of software systems and applications, limited only by the imagination and creativity of programmers. These are implemented using custom plugins to create non-website systems, such as headless WordPress applications and Software as a Service (SaaS) products.

Plugins could also be used by hackers targeting sites that use WordPress, as hackers could exploit bugs in WordPress plugins instead of bugs in WordPress itself.^[22]

Mobile applications[edit]

Phone apps for WordPress exist for WebOS,^[23] Android,^[24] iOS,^[25][26] Windows Phone, and BlackBerry.^[27] These applications, designed by Automattic, have options such as adding new blog posts and pages, commenting, moderating comments, replying to comments in addition to the ability to view the stats.^[25][26]

Accessibility[edit]

The WordPress Accessibility Team has worked to improve the accessibility for core WordPress as well as support a clear identification of accessible themes.^[28] The WordPress Accessibility Team provides continuing educational support about web accessibility and inclusive design. The WordPress Accessibility Coding Standards state that «All new or updated code released in WordPress must conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 at level AA.»^[29]

Other features[edit]

WordPress also features integrated link management, a search engine–friendly, clean permalink structure; the ability to assign multiple categories to posts; and support for tagging of posts. Automatic filters are also included, providing standardized formatting and styling of text in posts (for example, converting regular quotes to smart quotes). WordPress also supports the Trackback and Pingback standards for displaying links to other sites that have themselves linked to a post or an article. WordPress posts can be edited in HTML, using the visual editor, or using one of several plugins that allow for a variety of customized editing features.

Multi-user and multi-blogging[edit]

Before version 3, WordPress supported one blog per installation, although multiple concurrent copies may be run from different directories if configured to use separate database tables. WordPress Multisites (previously referred to as WordPress Multi-User, WordPress MU, or WPMU) was a fork of WordPress created to allow multiple blogs to exist within one installation but can be administered by a centralized maintainer. WordPress MU makes it possible for those with websites to host their own blogging communities, as well as control and moderate all the blogs from a single dashboard. WordPress MU adds eight new data tables for each blog.

As of the release of WordPress 3, WordPress MU has merged with WordPress.^[30]

History[edit]

b2/cafelog, more commonly known as b2 or catalog, was the precursor to WordPress.^[31] b2/cafelog was estimated to have been installed on approximately 2,000 blogs as of May 2003.^[32] It was written in PHP for use with MySQL by Michel Valdrighi, who is now a contributing developer to WordPress. Although WordPress is the official successor, another project, b2evolution, is also in active development.

As the development of b2/cafelog slowed down, Matt Mullenweg began pondering the idea of forking b2/cafelog and new features that he would want in a new CMS, in a blog post written on January 24, 2003.^[33] Mike Little, a professional developer, became the first to comment on the blog post expressing interest to contribute.^[33][34] The two worked together to create the first version of WordPress, version 0.70,^[35] which was released on May 27, 2003.^[36] Christine Selleck Tremoulet, a friend of Mullenweg, suggested the name WordPress.^[37][38]

In 2004 the licensing terms for the competing Movable Type package were changed by Six Apart, resulting in many of its most influential users migrating to WordPress.^[39][40] By October 2009 the Open Source CMS MarketShare Report concluded that WordPress enjoyed the greatest brand strength of any open-source content management system.

As of May 2021, WordPress is used by 64.8% of all the websites whose content management system is known, and 41.4% of the top 10 million websites.^[5]

Awards and recognition[edit]

• Winner of InfoWorld’s «Best of open source software awards: Collaboration», awarded in 2008.^[41]
• Winner of Open Source CMS Awards’s «Overall Best Open Source CMS», awarded in 2009.^[42]
• Winner of digital synergy’s «Hall of Fame CMS category in the 2010 Open Source», awarded in 2010.^[43]
• Winner of InfoWorld’s «Bossie award for Best Open Source Software», awarded in 2011.^[44]
• WordPress has a five star privacy rating from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.^[45]

Release history[edit]

Main releases of WordPress are codenamed after well-known jazz musicians, starting from version 1.0.^[46][47]

Although only the current release is officially supported, security updates are backported «as a courtesy» to all versions as far back as 4.0.^[48]

Version	Code name	Release date	Notes
0.7	none	May 27, 2003[49]	Used the same file structure as its predecessor, b2/cafelog, and continued the numbering from its last release, 0.6.[50] Only 0.71-gold is available for download in the official WordPress Release Archive page.
1.0	Davis	January 3, 2004[51]	Added search engine-friendly permalinks, multiple categories, dead-simple installation and upgrade, comment moderation, XFN support, and Atom support.
1.0.2	Blakey	March 11, 2004[52]	This was only a bugfix release and contained no new features.
1.2	Mingus	May 22, 2004[53]	Added support of Plugins; in which the same identification headers are used unchanged in WordPress releases as of 2011.
1.5	Strayhorn	February 17, 2005[54]	Added a range of vital features, such as the ability to manage static pages and a template/Theme system. It was also equipped with a new default template (code named Kubrick).[55] designed by Michael Heilemann.
2.0	Duke	December 31, 2005[56]	Added rich editing, better administration tools, image uploading, faster posting, improved import system, fully overhauled the back end, and various improvements to Plugin developers.
2.1	Ella	January 22, 2007[57]	Corrected security issues, a redesigned interface, enhanced editing tools (including integrated spell check and auto save), and improved content management options.
2.2	Getz	May 16, 2007[58]	Added widget support for templates, updated Atom feed support, and speed optimizations.
2.3	Dexter	September 24, 2007[59]	Added native tagging support, new taxonomy system for categories, and easy notification of updates, fully supports Atom 1.0, with the publishing protocol, and some much-needed security fixes.
2.5	Brecker	March 29, 2008[60]	Major revamp to the dashboard, dashboard widgets, multi-file upload, extended search, improved editor, an improved plugin system, and more.
2.6	Tyner	July 15, 2008[61]	Added new features that made WordPress a more powerful CMS: it can now track changes to every post and page and allow easy posting from anywhere on the web.
2.7	Coltrane	December 11, 2008[62]	Administration interface was redesigned fully, added automatic upgrades, and installed plugins, from within the administration interface.
2.8	Baker	June 10, 2009[63]	Added speed improvements, automatically installing themes from within the administration interface, introducing the CodePress editor for syntax highlighting, and a redesigned widget interface.
2.9	Carmen	December 19, 2009[64]	Added global undo, built-in image editor, batch plugin updating, and many less visible tweaks.
3.0	Thelonious	June 17, 2010[65]	Added a new theme APIs, merged WordPress and WordPress MU, creating the new multi-site functionality, new default theme «Twenty Ten» and a refreshed, lighter admin UI.
3.1	Reinhardt	February 23, 2011[66]	-Added the Admin Bar, which is displayed on all blog pages when an admin is logged in, and Post Format, best explained as a Tumblr-like micro-blogging feature. It provides easy access to many critical functions, such as comments and updates. Includes internal linking abilities, a newly streamlined writing interface, and many other changes.
3.2	Gershwin	July 4, 2011[67]	Focused on making WordPress faster and lighter. Released only four months after version 3.1, reflecting the growing speed of development in the WordPress community.
3.3	Sonny	December 12, 2011[68]	Focused on making WordPress friendlier for beginners and tablet computer users.
3.4	Green	June 13, 2012[69]	Focused on improvements to theme customization, Twitter integration and several minor changes.
3.5	Elvin	December 11, 2012[70]	Support for the Retina Display, color picker, a new default theme «Twenty Twelve», improved image workflow.
3.6	Oscar	August 1, 2013[71]	New default theme «Twenty Thirteen», admin enhancements, post formats UI update, menus UI improvements, new revision system, autosave, and post locking.
3.7	Basie	October 24, 2013[72]	Automatically apply maintenance and security updates in the background, stronger password recommendations, and support for automatically installing the right language files and keeping them up to date.
3.8	Parker	December 12, 2013[73]	Improved admin interface, responsive design for mobile devices, new typography using Open Sans, admin color schemes, redesigned theme management interface, simplified main dashboard, «Twenty Fourteen» magazine-style default theme, second release using «Plugin-first development process».
3.9	Smith	April 16, 2014[74]	Improvements to the editor for media, live widget and header previews, and new theme browser.
4.0	Benny	September 4, 2014[75]	Improved media management, embeds, writing interface, easy language change, theme customizer, plugin discovery, and compatibility with PHP 5.5 and MySQL 5.6.[76]
4.1	Dinah	December 18, 2014[77]	Twenty Fifteen as the new default theme, distraction-free writing, easy language switch, Vine embeds, and plugin recommendations.
4.2	Powell	April 23, 2015[78]	New «Press This» features, improved characters support, emoji support, improved customizer, new embeds, and updated plugin system.
4.3	Billie	August 18, 2015[79]	Focus on the mobile experience, better passwords, and improved customizer.
4.4	Clifford	December 8, 2015[80]	Introduction of «Twenty Sixteen» theme, and improved responsive images and embeds.
4.5	Coleman	April 12, 2016[81]	Added inline linking, formatting shortcuts, live responsive previews, and other updates under the hood.
4.6	Pepper	August 16, 2016[82]	Added streamlined updates, native fonts, editor improvements with inline link checker and content recovery, and other updates under the hood.
4.7	Vaughan	December 6, 2016[83]	Comes with new default theme «Twenty Seventeen», Video Header Support, PDF preview, custom CSS in the live preview, editor Improvements, and other updates under the hood.
4.8	Evans	June 8, 2017[84]	The next-generation editor. Additional specific goals include the TinyMCE inline element/link boundaries, new media widgets, and WYSIWYG in the text widget. End Support for Internet Explorer Versions 8, 9, and 10.
4.9	Tipton	November 16, 2017[85]	Improved theme customizer experience, including scheduling, frontend preview links, autosave revisions, theme browsing, improved menu functions, and syntax highlighting. Added a new gallery widget and updated text and video widgets. Theme editor gives warnings and rollbacks when saving files that produce fatal errors.[86]
5.0	Bebo	December 6, 2018[87]	New block-based editor Gutenberg[88] with new default theme «Twenty Nineteen».
5.1	Betty	February 21, 2019[89]	PHP version upgrade notices and block editor improvements.
5.2	Jaco	May 7, 2019[90]	Include Site Health Check, PHP error protection, the all-new block directory, and update package signing.
5.3	Kirk	November 12, 2019[91]	Polish current user interactions and make user interfaces more user-friendly. New default theme «Twenty Twenty», was designed by Anders Norén.
5.4	Adderley	March 31, 2020[92]	Social Icons and Buttons blocks added, blocks customization and user interface improved, added features for personal data exports, custom fields for menu items, blocks improvements for developers.[93]
5.5	Eckstine	August 11, 2020[94]	Added lazy-loading images, XML sitemaps by default, auto-updates to plugins and themes, and improvements to the block editor.[95]
5.6	Simone	December 8, 2020[96]	New default theme «Twenty Twenty-One,» Gutenberg enhancements, automatic updates for core releases, increased support for PHP 8, application passwords for REST API authentication, improved accessibility.[97]
5.7	Esperanza	March 9, 2021[98]	New editor is easier to use, do more without writing custom code, simpler default color palette, from HTTP to HTTPS in a single click, new Robots API, lazy-load your iframes and ongoing cleanup after update to jQuery 3.5.1.[99]
5.8	Tatum	July 20, 2021[100]	Block widgets, query loop blocks, block themes, List View, Pattern Transformations, Duotone, new theme.json file, dropped IE11 support, WebP image support, new block support flags.[101]
5.9	Joséphine	January 25, 2022[102]	New default theme «Twenty Twenty-Two», new WordPress Admin feature Site Editor, Block Themes manageable through Site Editor, new Navigation block, improved block controls, Pattern Directory, List View, refactored Gallery block, Theme.json child theme support, block-level locking, multiple stylesheets per block.[103]
6.0	Arturo	May 24, 2022[104]	Gutenberg writing improvements, multiple style variations and expanded template options for block themes, integrated patterns, additional design tools, multiple block selections from the list view, block locking, and various performance, and accessibility improvements.[105]
6.1	Misha	November 1, 2022[106]	Gutenberg writing improvements, design tools for more consistency and control, cleaner layouts and document settings visualization, menu management, fluid typography, improved block placeholders, and spacing presets.[107]
6.2	Dolphy	March 29, 2023[108]	Reimagined Site Editor interface, improved Navigation block, Block Inserter, and organized block settings sidebar with tabs for Settings and Styles. A collection of header and footer patterns for block themes is also available, as well as Openverse media integration and Distraction Free mode for writing. The new Style Book provides a complete overview of how each block in the site’s library looks, and users can now copy and paste styles and add custom CSS for more control over their site’s appearance. Other features include sticky positioning for top-level group blocks, options to import favorite widgets from Classic themes, and local fonts in default WordPress themes for better privacy with Google Fonts included.[109]
Legend: Old version, not maintained Older version, still maintained Current stable version Latest preview version Future release

WordPress 5.0 «Bebo»[edit]

The December 2018 release of WordPress 5.0, «Bebo», is named in homage to the pioneering Cuban jazz musician Bebo Valdés.^[110]

It included a new default editor «Gutenberg» – a block-based editor; it allows users to modify their displayed content in a much more user-friendly way than prior iterations. Blocks are abstract units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a web page.^[111] Past content that was created on WordPress pages is listed under what is referred to as a Classic Block.^[112] Before Gutenberg, there were several block-based editors available as WordPress plugins, e.g. Elementor. Following the release of Gutenberg, comparisons were made between it and those existing plugins.^[113][114]

Classic Editor plugin[edit]

The Classic Editor plugin was created as a result of User preferences and helped website developers maintain past plugins only compatible with WordPress 4.9, giving plugin developers time to get their plugins updated & compatible with the 5.0 release. Having the Classic Editor plugin installed restores the «classic» editing experience that WordPress has had up until the WordPress 5.0 release.^[115] The Classic Editor plugin will be supported at least until 2024.^[116]

As of November 2022, the Classic Editor plugin is active on over 5 million installations of WordPress.^[117]

Vulnerabilities[edit]

Many security issues^[118] have been uncovered in the software, particularly in 2007, 2008, and 2015. According to Secunia, WordPress in April 2009 had seven unpatched security advisories (out of 32 total), with a maximum rating of «Less Critical». Secunia maintains an up-to-date list of WordPress vulnerabilities.^[119]

In January 2007, many high-profile search engine optimization (SEO) blogs, as well as many low-profile commercial blogs featuring AdSense, were targeted and attacked with a WordPress exploit.^[120] A separate vulnerability on one of the project site’s web servers allowed an attacker to introduce exploitable code in the form of a back door to some downloads of WordPress 2.1.1. The 2.1.2 release addressed this issue; an advisory released at the time advised all users to upgrade immediately.^[121]

In May 2007, a study revealed that 98% of WordPress blogs being run were exploitable because they were running outdated and unsupported versions of the software.^[122] To help mitigate this problem, WordPress made updating the software a much easier, «one-click» automated process in version 2.7 (released in December 2008).^[123] However, the filesystem security settings required to enable the update process can be an additional risk.^[124]

In a June 2007 interview, Stefan Esser, the founder of the PHP Security Response Team, spoke critically of WordPress’ security track record, citing problems with the application’s architecture that made it unnecessarily difficult to write code that is secure from SQL injection vulnerabilities, as well as some other problems.^[125]

In June 2013, it was found that some of the 50 most downloaded WordPress plugins were vulnerable to common Web attacks such as SQL injection and XSS. A separate inspection of the top 10 e-commerce plugins showed that seven of them were vulnerable.^[126]

To promote better security and to streamline the update experience overall, automatic background updates were introduced in WordPress 3.7.^[127]

Individual installations of WordPress can be protected with security plugins that prevent user enumeration, hide resources and thwart probes. Users can also protect their WordPress installations by taking steps such as keeping all WordPress installations, themes, and plugins updated, using only trusted themes and plugins,^[128] and editing the site’s .htaccess configuration file if supported by the webserver to prevent many types of SQL injection attacks and block unauthorized access to sensitive files. It is especially important to keep WordPress plugins updated because would-be hackers can easily list all the plugins a site uses and then run scans searching for any vulnerabilities against those plugins. If vulnerabilities are found, they may be exploited to allow hackers to, for example, upload their own files (such as a web shell) that collect sensitive information.

Developers can also use tools to analyze potential vulnerabilities, including Jetpack Protect, WPScan, WordPress Auditor, and WordPress Sploit Framework developed by 0pc0deFR. These types of tools research known vulnerabilities, such as CSRF, LFI, RFI, XSS, SQL injection, and user enumeration. However, not all vulnerabilities can be detected by tools, so it is advisable to check the code of plugins, themes, and other add-ins from other developers.

In March 2015, it was reported that the Yoast SEO plugin was vulnerable to SQL injection, allowing attackers to potentially execute arbitrary SQL commands.^[129][130] The issue was fixed in version 1.7.4 of the plugin.^[131]

In January 2017, security auditors at Sucuri identified a vulnerability in the WordPress REST API that would allow any unauthenticated user to modify any post or page within a site running WordPress 4.7 or greater. The auditors quietly notified WordPress developers, and within six days WordPress released a high-priority patch to version 4.7.2, which addressed the problem.^[132][133]

As of WordPress 6.0, the minimum PHP version requirement is PHP 5.6,^[134] which was released on August 28, 2014,^[135] and which has been unsupported by the PHP Group and not received any security patches since December 31, 2018.^[135] Thus, WordPress recommends using PHP version 7.4 or greater.^[134]

In the absence of specific alterations to their default formatting code, WordPress-based websites use the canvas element to detect whether the browser can correctly render emoji. Because Tor Browser does not currently discriminate between this legitimate use of the Canvas API and an effort to perform canvas fingerprinting, it warns that the website is attempting to ‘extract HTML5 canvas image data. Ongoing efforts seek workarounds to reassure privacy advocates while retaining the ability to check for proper emoji rendering capability.^[136]

Development and support[edit]

Key developers[edit]

Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little were co-founders of the project. The core lead developers include Helen Hou-Sandí, Dion Hulse, Mark Jaquith, Matt Mullenweg, Andrew Ozz, and Andrew Nacin.^[137][138]

WordPress is also developed by its community, including WP tester, a group of volunteers who test each release. They have early access to nightly builds, beta versions, and release candidates. Errors are documented in a special mailing list or the project’s Trac tool.

Though largely developed by the community surrounding it, WordPress is closely associated with Automattic, the company founded by Matt Mullenweg.^[139]

WordPress Foundation[edit]

WordPress Foundation is a non-profit organization that was set up to support the WordPress project.^{[140][141][142]} The purpose of the organization is to guarantee open access to WordPress’s software projects forever.^[140][141] As part of this, the organization owns and manages WordPress, WordCamp, and related trademarks.^{[140][143][144]} In January 2010, Matt Mullenweg formed the organization^[140] to own and manage the trademarks of WordPress project.^[145][144] Previously – from 2006 onwards – Automattic acted as a short-term owner of the WordPress trademarks. From the beginning, he intended later to place the WordPress trademarks with the WordPress Foundation, which did not yet exist in 2006 and which eventually took longer to set up than expected.^[145][146]

WordPress Photo Directory[edit]

On December 14, 2021, Matt Mullenweg announced the WordPress Photo Directory at the State of the Word 2021 event.^[147] It is an open-source image directory for open images maintained by the WordPress project.^[147] The image directory aims to provide an open alternative to closed image banks, such as Unsplash, Pixbaby, and Adobe Stock, whose licensing terms have become restrictive in recent years. Use in WordPress themes, for example, is restricted.^[147][148] In January 2022, the project began to gather volunteers, and in February, its own developer website was launched, where team representatives were next selected.^[149]

WordCamp developer and user conferences[edit]

WordCamps are casual, locally organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress.^[150] The first such event was WordCamp 2006 in August 2006 in San Francisco, which lasted one day and had over 500 attendees.^[151][152] The first WordCamp outside San Francisco was held in Beijing in September 2007.^[153] Since then, there have been over 1,022 WordCamps in over 75 cities in 65 countries around the world.^[150] WordCamp San Francisco 2014 was the last official annual conference of WordPress developers and users taking place in San Francisco, having now been replaced with WordCamp US.^[154] First ran in 2013 as WordCamp Europe, regional WordCamps in other geographical regions are held to connect people who aren’t already active in their local communities and inspire attendees to start user communities in their hometowns.^[155] In 2019, the Nordic region had its own WordCamp Nordic.^[156][157] The first WordCamp Asia was to be held in 2020,^[158] but cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[159]

Support[edit]

WordPress’ primary support website is WordPress.org. This support website hosts both WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress and a living repository for WordPress information and documentation,^[160]
and WordPress Forums, an active online community of WordPress users.^[161]

See also[edit]

• Weblog software
• NextGEN Gallery
• List of content management systems
• WordPress.com

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website

В одном из материалов мы рассказали, как завести виртуальный хостинг и опубликовать на нём сайт. Теперь мы сделаем следующий шаг: поставим на сервер платформу для сайтов и блогов под названием «Вордпресс».

Что такое Вордпресс

WordPress — бесплатный движок сайта, который позволяет создавать страницы без знания HTML-кода. Сейчас это самая популярная платформа для сайтов в интернете. Благодаря своей популярности она обросла бесконечным количеством надстроек и возможностей, поэтому сейчас на Вордпрессе можно сделать ВСЁ.

Причина такой популярности — в бесплатности, открытом коде и плагинах. Вордпресс — система с открытым исходным кодом, а это значит, что каждый может посмотреть, как она устроена, и использовать её для своих целей. Благодаря этому программисты поняли, как работает Вордпресс, и сделали для него множество тем и плагинов.

Многим нравится Вордпресс потому, что за него не нужно платить — это тоже плюс открытых исходников. Его можно легально устанавливать и использовать для своих нужд: от сайта-визитки до корпоративного портала.

Наш журнал «Код» тоже работает на Вордпрессе, но не из-за бесплатности, а потому что Вордпресс довольно легко поддерживать: почти для всего есть готовые плагины, а встроенные инструменты Вордпресса надёжны и хороши.

Поставить себе Вордпресс несложно: большинство хостингов предоставляют такую услугу бесплатно, а на остальные он ставится вручную. Как это сделать самому — расскажем в одной из ближайших статей.

Что можно сделать на Вордпрессе

Всё.

На Вордпрессе можно сделать всё.

Сайт-визитку, интернет-магазин, промостраницу, серию страниц, онлайн-сервис, многоязычный сайт, каталог, энциклопедию, личный блог, публичный блог, научный журнал, сайт с рассылкой, рассылку без сайта, сайт под паролем…

Наверное, на Вордпрессе нельзя сделать онлайн-игру. Но сайт для онлайн-игры — можно.

Архитектура

У Вордпресса интересное устройство. Можно представить, что он собирает ваш сайт из независимых кусков — настолько независимых, что вы удивитесь.

Контент. У Вордпресса есть понятие контента: это текст, картинки, название статей, теги, категории, описания статей и всякие метаданные. Всё это хранится в базе данных и пока что никак не связано с дизайном.

Тема. Отдельно от контента живёт тема — это как бы минипрограмма, которая отвечает за вывод контента. Во сколько колонок он выводится? Как оформляется? Какие стили? Где выводится главная картинка, а где — имя автора? Как устроена навигация по тегам и категориям? Всё это живёт внутри штуки, которую мы называем темой.

Плагины. Отдельно от контента и тем живут плагины — это минипрограммы, которые отвечают за какое-то особое поведение: например, комментарии на сайте, нападайку с подпиской на рассылку, кеширование или отображение цитат великих людей на главной странице. Отдельный класс плагинов — редакторы контента: они позволяют верстать сложные страницы со спецэффектами, красивыми кнопками, анимациями и многоколоночным расположением контента. Плагины не зависят от темы: любой плагин можно воткнуть в любую тему (за редким исключением).

База. Всем этим управляет база — собственно, сам Вордпресс. Он отвечает за связь с сервером, технический вывод страниц, создание контента в текстовом редакторе, хранение и резервирование данных, вход по паролю, загрузку и обновление тем и т. д. Это как бы невидимая операционная система вашего сайта. Плюс есть видимая админская панель, через которую вы будете работать над сайтом.

Когда вы ставите чистый Вордпресс, в него уже загружена одна стандартная тема. То есть даже на минималках Вордпресса у вас уже может получиться приличный сайт.

Темы

Темы меняют внешний вид сайта — от простой замены цвета на некоторых элементах до полной переработки дизайна. Если взять один и тот же сайт и применить к нему две разные темы, то единственное сходство будет в контенте, а снаружи сайты будут казаться непохожими друг на друга.

При этом всё содержимое сайта никуда не исчезает — меняется лишь оболочка. Это позволяет экспериментировать с дизайном без опасений, что текст и фото могут куда-то пропасть.

Темы бывают платные и бесплатные. Бесплатные темы обычно простенькие и неказистые, а платные делают на высоком уровне, с кучей эффектов и надстроек. Справедливости ради, часто эти темы тоже выглядят по-колхозному. Полистать каталог платных тем можно на themeforest.net.

Будьте осторожны, выбирая платную тему: внешне она может выглядеть как карамелька, но если приглядеться — карамельные в них только фотографии. За счёт классных цветов, композиций и фактур такие темы выглядят здорово, но с вашим контентом они могут работать не так эффектно, как кажется при покупке.

Плагины

Плагины расширяют стандартные возможности движка. Например, Вордпресс сам по себе не умеет показывать формы обратной связи, а с плагином Contact Form 7 — умеет. С галереями то же самое: Вордпресс не сможет вывести галерею красиво, а с плагином NextGEN Gallery — сможет.

Плагины есть на все случаи жизни — от SEO-оптимизации до кеширования и ускорения загрузки сайта. Если вам нужно добавить какую-то новую возможность на сайт, но Вордпресс этого не умеет, — поищите плагин. Скорее всего, для вашей задачи он уже есть, в том числе и бесплатный.

Как и темы, плагины бывают платными и бесплатными — это зависит только от разработчика. Причём не обязательно, что платные плагины будут работать лучше других, главное, чтобы они решали вашу задачу. Почти у любого платного плагина есть бесплатный аналог или тестовый период, в течение которого можно выяснить, подходит вам этот продукт или нет.

Разработчики плагинов хоть и заинтересованы писать код качественно, но далеко не всегда у них это получается. Многие плагины могут оказаться небезопасными или плохо оптимизированными, поэтому могут замедлять сайт или открывать его для хакеров. Есть ситуации, когда плагины конфликтуют друг с другом или вообще намертво вешают сайт. Читайте отзывы в магазине плагинов и тестируйте их на внутреннем сервере, прежде чем выкатывать на боевой.

Администрирование сайта и создание контента

Чтобы сделать жизнь пользователей Вордпресса проще, разработчики создали админку — специальную страницу, где собраны все возможности движка по созданию и обработке контента. Вот что можно там сделать:

Это базовые возможности админки на Вордпрессе, и каждый плагин или тема расширяют её возможности.

Как установить и настроить

Про установку и настройку у нас будет отдельный проект — с кодом, серверными технологиями и паролями. Всё как мы любим. Подпишитесь, чтобы не пропустить.

WordPress is a free, open-source website creation platform. On a more technical level, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) written in PHP that uses a MySQL database. In non-geek speak, WordPress is the easiest and most powerful blogging and website builder in existence today.

WordPress is an excellent website platform for a variety of websites. From blogging to e-commerce to business and portfolio websites, WordPress is a versatile CMS. Designed with usability and flexibility in mind, WordPress is a great solution for both large and small websites.

What is a WordPress Website?

A WordPress website is any website that uses WordPress as its content management system (CMS). WordPress powers both the backend of the website (the interface where a user logs in to make changes or add new content) and the frontend (the visible part of the website that your visitors see on the web).

Here are just a few examples of the types of websites you can build with WordPress:

• Blog – A blog is a special type of website devoted to sharing thoughts, photos, reviews, tutorials, recipes and so much more. Blogs usually display the most recently-published content first.
• E-commerce website – An e-commerce website allows you to sell goods or services online and collect payment via an online payment system. You can download and install a WordPress e-commerce plugin to extend the default functionality of WordPress so you can have an online store on your website.
• Business website – Many businesses will benefit from having an online presence in the form of their own website. If your business needs a website for customers to learn about your company and what you have to offer, WordPress is an excellent option. Customers can contact you, ask for a quote, schedule an appointment and much more.
• Membership website – A membership website allows you to put content behind a paywall or an account login. To access pages or posts, users must login or pay for the content. WordPress can also handle membership websites with additional plugins.
• Portfolio website – Show off your artwork, design skills and more with a portfolio website built on WordPress.
• Forum website – A forum website can be a helpful place for users to ask questions or share advice. Believe it or not, many forum websites run on WordPress.
• Event website – Hosting an event? WordPress makes it easy for you to share your event details and sell tickets.
• E-learning website – Students can take online courses, track their progress, download resources and much more from an e-learning website. With a special kind of plugin called a WordPress LMS plugin, you can offer online courses from a WordPress website.
• Wedding website – Share the details of your big day with a wedding website built on WordPress. With an array of WordPress wedding themes, you can get a website up quickly and easily.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to customizing a WordPress website. WordPress themes and plugins can add new design options and added functionality. Check out WordPress.org for free themes and plugins.

Is WordPress right for me?

If you’re wondering why WordPress is such a widely used website content management system, here are some of the benefits of WordPress as a website platform:

• Simplicity: WordPress allows you to publish and build your website content quickly. Even as a beginner, you can easily use WordPress.
• The cost is free – The actual WordPress software available on WordPress.org is free to download and use. You will, however, need to pay for web hosting and a domain name.
• Flexibility: WordPress allows you to create many types of websites, from personal blogs and online stores to online magazines and newspapers.
• Easy to use – If you can use a word processing software like Microsoft Word, you can use WordPress to build and manage a website.
• Open-source software – WordPress is open-source software that is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), meaning it isn’t owned by a single company or entity. Hundreds of developers and users collaborate and contribute to the software to improve it. The spirit of open-source means constant improvements, accountability, and free usage for everyone.
• No need to know code – WordPress removes the requirement of needing to know how to code to build a website. While WordPress utilizes a variety of coding languages, there’s no need to know any of them to use WordPress.
• Extendable with WordPress plugins – The core WordPress software can be extended with WordPress plugins. WordPress plugins are bits of software that you can upload to your website to add more features (such as e-commerce, SEO, backups, contact forms, and more). There are thousands of free WordPress plugins available on the WordPress.org plugin directory and a thriving premium (paid) plugins industry.
• Highly customizable with WordPress themes – WordPress themes provide the design and layout of your website. With a click of a button, you can change the entire look of your website by applying a new WordPress theme. More advanced WordPress themes are more like WordPress page builders, giving you even more control of your layouts.
• Website security – While no website platform is 100% secure, WordPress security continues to improve with a vigilant security team of core developers and users. Common WordPress security issues are usually due to user error rather than the software itself.
• A thriving community of users and developers – When you have a WordPress website, you can also get involved in the greater WordPress community through your local WordPress Meetup, WordCamps, and more. The WordPress community has a reputation for being incredibly welcoming, helpful, and innovative.
• A premium plugin and theme industry – While there are loads of free plugins and themes, most serious WordPress website owners invest in premium (paid) plugins or themes. Why? Your purchase of a reputable premium plugin or theme helps pay for the ongoing development and support of the plugin or theme, including new features, security patches, and more.

WordPress Features

As a website-building platform and CMS, WordPress boasts an impressive feature set. Here are just a few of the many features of WordPress.

• SEO – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) begins at a technical level, and WordPress delivers an exceptional code base for SEO. SEO allows your website’s content to be found via standard search engines such as Google or Bing. Check out these free WordPress SEO training videos to learn more.
• Speed – WordPress is a lean website framework that is constantly striving to remove code “bloat” that slows down the loading speed of a website.
• Mobile-friendly – Most WordPress themes are now mobile-friendly or responsive out-of-the-box.
• Media file library – WordPress includes a built-in media library where you can upload and embed media files such as images or videos into your pages or posts. You can even perform basic edits to your images within WordPress.
• Easy-to-use user interface – WordPress is very easy to use with no complicated settings. If you can use a WordPress processor, you can use WordPress. WordPress also has a focus on accessibility.
• Custom menus – WordPress makes it easy to create navigation menus with links to your pages or custom links.
• Built-in blog – Adding a blog to your website is as simple as publishing a post.
• New in WordPress 6.1: Do More With Full Site Editing, Accessibility, and More – WordPress 6.1 presents significant performance, development, and accessibility enhancements. WordPress users will see various improvements to the existing blocks and the new Table of Contents block. WordPress 6.1 also introduced more templates and extends patterns to all post types.

About WordPress

WordPress began in 2003 when Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg forked a little-known blogging tool known as B2/cafelog. Little and Mullenweg sought to create a better blogging platform, built on the original B2 code base, but with more robust features and more consistent development.

The result is WordPress. First a tool for blogging, WordPress quickly grew to be an extensive content management system (CMS) able to handle a variety of websites.

WordPress Usage Statistics Across the Web

According to usage statistics of content management systems now report that WordPress powers over 60 million websites, or 43% of all websites on the internet and over 64% of all websites whose content management systems are known.

Because WordPress is free and so easy to use, it has been widely adopted as the gold standard for website builders.

Who uses WordPress?

Rest easy, knowing you’re in good company if you use WordPress to publish on the web. Many famous blogs, news outlets, music sites, Fortune 500 companies, and celebrities use WordPress, including NBC, CBS, USA Today, Time, Disney, Airbnb, Spotify, TechCrunch, and even Pioneer Woman.

If you’re ever curious about who uses WordPress, head on over to the WordPress site showcase, and you’ll be impressed by the number of well-known sites and famous people using WordPress to power their websites.

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

If you’re just getting started with WordPress, there are a few important things to know. First up, you’ll need to know the difference between WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org.

The difference between WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org can be a little confusing if you are new to using WordPress.

• WordPress.com is the hosted version of WordPress, where you can create a WordPress.com account to make a blog or website.
  • By default, your website’s URL or domain will include the word “WordPress,” like myblog.wordpress.com.
  • Paid upgrades include a custom domain, Google Analytics integration, more storage space, the ability to add your own plugins and themes, and more.
  • WordPress.com is owned by Automattic, a company founded by one of the original WordPress creators, Matt Mullenweg.
• WordPress.org is where you can download the WordPress software to install on your own server or web hosting account.
  • The WordPress software is open-source, so it is free to download and use.
  • To use the WordPress.org version of WordPress, you’ll need to have a domain name and web hosting purchased from another reputable company like Liquidweb.
  • Most web hosts offer a WordPress “quick install” or done-for-you installation of WordPress to help you get started if you don’t want to install WordPress yourself.
  • WordPress.org is the non-profit foundation of Automattic.

How do I start using WordPress?

Now you’re probably asking, “how do I start WordPress?”

Again, WordPress is free. Yep, that’s right – it’s 100% free. You can get started today with a WordPress website in just a few steps.

You’ll need a few things to get started with WordPress:

• Quality web hosting
• A domain name
• The WordPress software installed on your website (most web hosts will handle this for you.)

If you’d rather use the hosted version of WordPress available on WordPress.com, you’ll simply need to create a WordPress.com account to get started.

What is a WordPress Plugin?

A WordPress plugin is a package of additional code that you can upload to your website to add new features, functionality, or integrations.

• Plugins can be added via the Plugins menu in your WordPress dashboard.
• Using the built-in search function, you can find a free plugin available on the WordPress.org Plugin directory.
• Plugins can also be packaged as zip files that you upload through the Plugins menu uploader in your WordPress dashboard.

WordPress Plugin Tutorials

Here are two video tutorials on WordPress plugins:

• What are WordPress Plugins? – WordPress plugins are bits of software that can be uploaded to extend and expand the functionality of your WordPress site. In this tutorial, we cover the basics of WordPress plugins.
• Installing WordPress Plugins – Installing WordPress plugins on your site is a simple process. Learn how in this video.

Must-Have WordPress Plugins for All WordPress Sites

All WordPress websites will benefit from these must-have WordPress plugins.

• WordPress backup plugin – WordPress doesn’t have a built-in backup function, so having a WordPress backup solution in place will save you a ton of headaches should you lose any data on your website. Having a backup plan is also crucial to mitigate a security breach or hack. BackupBuddy is the original WordPress backup plugin to back up, restore, or even move your website to a new host or domain.
• WordPress security plugin – A WordPress security plugin such as iThemes Security works to fix common security holes and harden your website against attacks.
• WordPress SEO plugin – A WordPress SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math can help you add additional SEO (Search Engine Optimization) features and functionality.
• WordPress form plugin – Add robust forms to your website, such as contact forms, surveys, upload files, and more, with a form builder plugin like Fluent Forms.
• WordPress e-commerce plugin – If you want to sell goods or services on your website through an online store, a WordPress e-commerce plugin such as WooCommerce is a must-have.
• WordPress donations plugin – Accept gifts for charity, or other purposes, through customizable donation forms with GiveWP, view donor data and fundraising reports, manage donors, and integrate with a wide variety of third-party gateways and services.

What is a WordPress Theme?

A WordPress theme provides the design “framework” of your website. Most WordPress themes provide:

• The overall design (the look, feel, and style) of your site
• Site-wide font styles
• Color scheme
• Styles for blog posts and blog archives
• Page layouts (or templates)
• Widget locations
• Additional stylistic details

Some themes operate like WordPress page builders, allowing you to create your own page layouts without code.

• Themes can be added via the Appearance > Themes menu in your WordPress dashboard.
• Using the built-in search function, you can find a free theme available on WordPress.org.
• Themes can also be packaged as zip files that you upload through the Appearance > Themes menu uploader in your WordPress dashboard.

Kadence Theme

Kadence Theme from Kadence WP is a lightweight yet full-featured WordPress theme for creating beautiful, fast-loading, and accessible websites easier than ever. It features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop header and footer builder to build any type of header in minutes. It features a full library of gorgeous starter templates that are easy to modify with our intelligent global font and color controls. With extensive integration with the most popular 3rd party plugins, you can quickly build impressive ecommerce websites, course websites, business websites, and more.

WordPress Theme Tutorials

Here are two WordPress theme tutorials:

• What is a WordPress Theme? – A WordPress theme provides all of the front-end stylings of your WordPress site. Most WordPress themes provide your site’s overall design or style, font styling, colors, widget locations, page layouts (or templates), styles for blog posts and blog archives, and additional stylistic details.
• How to Install a WordPress Theme – In addition to the default theme included with your WordPress installation, you can also install your own WordPress theme to change the look and style of your site.

Free WordPress Tutorials

If you are a WordPress beginner, there are helpful WordPress tutorials to help you get started and learn WordPress. From how to access your WordPress login screen to how to add a WordPress post or page, these video tutorials cover all the basics.

• Your WordPress Login – Once WordPress has been installed on your web server, you can access your WordPress login page from two different URLs.
• Exploring the WordPress Dashboard – The WordPress Dashboard allows you to control all of the behind-the-scene details of managing your site. Once you find your way around the dashboard, you’ll realize it’s really easy to use and navigate.
• Using the WordPress Admin Bar – the WordPress Admin Bar or toolbar. The WordPress Admin Bar is a shortcut area that allows you to access the behind-the-scenes controls when you’re on the front end of your WordPress blog or website.
• Exploring WordPress Settings – WordPress offers many settings for customizing your website’s functions. In this tutorial, we cover WordPress Settings in depth.
• WordPress Posts vs Pages – When it comes to creating content for your WordPress site, you have the option to choose between creating either a post or a page. Both have respective uses and can add dynamic elements to your site.
• Creating a WordPress Post – This tutorial covers adding your first WordPress post.
• Adding Links in WordPress – The WordPress post and page editor makes it easy to add hyperlinks to other web pages from your content. This tutorial covers how to add links to your content.
• Adding Images in WordPress – Using a visual element like an image or photo is a great way to spruce up your post or page content. Learn how easy it is to add images in WordPress.
• Using the WordPress Media Library – In this tutorial, we walk through using the WordPress Media Library. The WordPress Media Library contains all the files you’ve uploaded to your WordPress site, with the most recent uploads listed first.
• Formatting WordPress Posts – In this tutorial, we cover some of the basics of formatting your WordPress posts with the built-in WordPress post editor.
• Scheduling WordPress Posts – Scheduling WordPress posts is an easy way to control when your content is published. In this video, we show you how to use the built-in WordPress post scheduler to add a time to publish.
• WordPress Categories & Tags – WordPress categories and tags can add an organizational structure to your WordPress posts. This tutorial covers how to use categories and tags.
• Creating a WordPress Page – Creating a WordPress page is very similar to creating a post. Just remember that pages are intended for static content, while posts are time-based.
• Applying a WordPress Page Template – Some WordPress themes include page templates that change how your pages are formatted on the front end (the visible part of your website). By using page templates, your WordPress theme can give you some flexibility for how your pages look and where certain page elements are located.
• Creating a Custom Menu in WordPress – Not sure how to best use menus in your WordPress site? In this short video, we share some tips and tricks to get your site navigation up and running in no time.
• Managing Comments in WordPress – Comments add a more interactive discussion element to your website, allowing visitors to comment on posts or pages. This video shows you how to manage comments on your website.
• Creating Users in WordPress – Creating users in WordPress allows you to add users with different roles and access privileges to your site. Once created, a user will be able to log in to your site with a username and password.

Making Money with WordPress

New industries have sprouted from WordPress. Today, the possibilities of making money with WordPress range from running an online store to building websites for clients to WordPress consulting.

• Build WordPress websites for clients – If you are a web developer or designer, you can specialize in WordPress websites. Since WordPress is so easy to use, training clients to use their websites is a bonus of specializing in WordPress.
• WordPress maintenance – Often, WordPress site owners don’t have time to maintain their websites. WordPress maintenance includes important website tasks such as software updates, backups, security, SEO and more.

• WordPress SEO – WordPress SEO services can be useful to many businesses hoping to generate more organic search traffic and outrank their competitors. You can specialize in WordPress SEO by providing web site audits, keyword research, content writing and more.
• WordPress consulting – Some businesses need guidance on how to design, build, grow or improve their website. WordPress consultants know all the ins and outs of WordPress optimization, functionality, tools and features.
• Content writing – Knowing how to use WordPress makes you an appealing candidate to many businesses that need content marketing services.

Learn WordPress

Check out the entire series of free WordPress tutorials, free WordPress ebooks, and download our free Getting Started with WordPress ebook to learn more.

Creating a new website is a daunting task. You want to build something your customers will love, but you don’t want the setup to take several months or be so technical that you need a developer for every single copy update.

In your research, you’ve probably come across WordPress as a possible solution. But there’s one issue — you have no clue what WordPress is or how it can help your business.

No worries, this beginner’s guide will teach you everything you need to know.

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS). It’s a popular tool for individuals without any coding experience who want to build websites and blogs. The software doesn’t cost anything. Anyone can install, use, and modify it for free.

Hobby or Lifestyle Blogs

Due to WordPress’s origin in the blog space, its features for this purpose are rich, including:

• The ability to differentiate between posts and pages
• A robust WYSIWYG editor for easy post creation
• Posts, tags, and categories for creating a rich content organization system
• Options for users to leave comments and you to easily moderate them

Once you have WordPress installed, the main thing you’ll want to do is choose a theme that appeals to you and what you want to accomplish with your blog. There are themes that accommodate news, magazine, and tiled layouts (and more).

Next, you’ll want to add plugins for any functionality you want that doesn’t come with the theme, such as social sharing buttons or click-to-tweet.

Professional Portfolios

You can also find a variety of themes for professional portfolios, making WordPress a great choice for showcasing your personal brand. The «Pages» functionality can be used for your homepage, About page, contact page, etc. while the «Posts» functionality can be used for the specific pieces you want to highlight — whether they’re in image, text, audio, or video format.

You can choose a theme with a built-in gallery, or you can install plugins for portfolio carousels or sliders.

Business Websites

A business website needs to get even more mileage out of WordPress, in many cases having more pages and posts than the average personal blog or site and needing additional functionality. However, due to its powerful built-in CMS capabilities and the open-source community continuing to iterate solutions, WordPress is fantastic at meeting those needs.

You can choose a website theme that works best for what you’re looking to accomplish and then customize it according to your brand. Page builders such as Elementor and Divi make the layout process even easier.

With plugins for SEO, lead capture, analytics, and more, you’ll be able to integrate and grow your business using WordPress.

E-Commerce Stores

WordPress is particularly good for creating online stores. With e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce, you can manage products, payments, and shipping in the back end while your visitors have an enjoyable shopping experience on the front end.

Mobile Applications

It can be far more convenient for some users to access your site’s features through a mobile app rather than their device’s browser. App development can be costly, but WordPress plugins can turn your site into an app with no hassle.

Membership Sites

If you’re looking to monetize your efforts by restricting premium content to members only, WordPress supports plugins to create membership sites. You’ll be able to manage payments, set up member levels, and monitor signups.

Want to know more about building a WordPress website? Check out this ultimate guide to WordPress.

Why Use WordPress?

WordPress is the beloved platform for many bloggers and businesses. In fact, more than 40% of all websites online use WordPress. Here are a few reasons why WordPress is so popular:

1. WordPress is open-source.

WordPress is an open-source platform. This means anyone can modify the source code and redistribute the software. It’s designed for people to contribute their ideas to improve the platform. There’s an open-source community that helps make WordPress even better.

2. WordPress is easy to use for a beginner.

WordPress doesn’t require a computer engineering degree. It’s actually built for non-technical people. The user interface is intuitive and friendly. To add a new design to your website, you can simply download a theme. If you need to add a new function, like a contact form, you just install a plugin. Web development tasks that used to take hours to complete can be done in a matter of minutes.

3. WordPress is SEO-friendly.

It’s not enough to just build a WordPress website. You want people to find and visit your website through search engine optimization. With SEO plugins, like Yoast SEO, you can boost your rankings with internal linking suggestions and meta description templates.

4. WordPress supports all media types.

WordPress doesn’t limit any major media types. So, you can use any combination of text, images, and videos on your website. In this competitive market for consumers’ attention, it’s good to know that the platform gives you creative freedom.

5. WordPress is secure.

Security is a major concern for businesses. With the number of data breaches happening every year, you want peace of mind that your data (and your customers’ data) will be protected. As long as you keep plugins updated and passwords secure, WordPress is one of the safest and secure CMS platforms. The platform offers several features to safeguard your website, like logging out idle users and adding two-factor authentication.

6. WordPress is free to use.

WordPress is completely free. It won’t cost you anything to use the software. However, you will need to pay a third-party hosting provider to make your website available online.

When Did WordPress Start?

In 2003, WordPress was created by Matt Mullenweg, a college student at the time. It started as a relaunch of a previous project called b2/cafelog, originally built by Michel Valdrighi. Matt saw an opportunity to improve the functionality of a website without modifying its core source code. And WordPress was born.

The Importance of WordPress 1.0

Matt developed a new branch of b2 on SourceForge by forking the original concept. With the help of his friends, he created another version and got the name WordPress.

Several iterations later, WordPress 1.0 was released to the public in 2004. It was codenamed “Davis” because Matt admired jazz artists, like Miles Davis. Similar to the platform today, this version included multiple categories to group your website content and comment moderation.

The Rise of WordPress

WordPress gained traction after a competitor changed its pricing structure. Users started looking for alternative solutions, like WordPress. After quitting his job, Matt started his own company Automattic. He raised $1.10 million in Series A funding from multiple investors, including True Ventures, Radar Partners, and Polaris Ventures.

The WordPress of Today

WordPress is now a growing community of developers, designers, and bloggers. In 2017, WordPress redesigned its user experience with a new editor called Gutenberg. The latest version, WordPress 5.0 (Bebo), includes a new and improved showcase theme. Major industries continue to see the value of the platform.

Resources to Build Your WordPress Website

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when building your website. There are so many options when it comes to hosting providers, page builders, and plugins. So, we narrowed down the list to get you started.

And once you’ve decided which of the resources listed below is best for your business, check out this video of five tips for building your WordPress Website:

• WP Engine provides managed WordPress hosting for your website. Built for agencies, enterprises, and small businesses, this company offers a secure and reliable service.

• WPMU Dev is an all-in-one WordPress platform. You get everything from hosting to security protection to marketing tools to help you run a successful website.
• All in One SEO is a complete SEO plugin and toolkit for WordPress. With its TruSEO score and actionable checklist, you can easily optimize every page and post on your website for higher search engine rankings. 

• WooCommerce helps you build an online business easier. This e-commerce platform includes unrestricted customization and built-in blogging to help your business grow.

• Elementor boasts more than 3 million websites using its WordPress page builder. With no technical skills, you can design stunning web pages from pre-made templates.

• GravityForms lets you create advanced forms with its visual editor. Convert more visitors with its conditional logic feature that configures your forms to show or hide fields based on the visitors’ selections.
• WP Beginner is a free WordPress resource for beginners. Their blog offers advice and tips on how to improve your website.
• The Events Calendar family of WordPress tools gives users free and paid options for calendars, RSVP and ticketing, and comprehensive events management.

Don’t be intimidated by the website creation process. While many website tools exist, WordPress offers you the flexibility to create an amazing online presence for your business.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

If you’re looking to build a website, you’ve probably run across information on WordPress, the most popular content management system (CMS) on the web. But what exactly is WordPress? What can you create with it? And how can you build a site using its tools?

Let’s take a look at the answers to all of those questions, plus a few more.

What is WordPress?

At its core, WordPress is free software that anyone can use to create a website. It falls into the category of CMS — content management system — which is a tool used to build and manage websites without code. In fact, this is a key component of WordPress, because it empowers business owners, bloggers, influencers, and the average person to share what they’re passionate about on the web.

On their website, WordPress states: “We believe great software should work with minimum set up, so you can focus on sharing your story, product, or services freely.” This is at the heart of everything they do.

Here are some other important things to know about WordPress:

• It’s open-source. The software is freely available and can be modified and distributed in any number of ways. What does this mean for you? There’s a huge community of people passionate about WordPress who are involved in making it better each and every day. They work together to develop new features, fix bugs, and solve problems that users experience. You can trust that you’re getting opinions and solutions from the best of the best in their respective areas.
• It’s incredibly powerful and flexible. WordPress includes tons of top-notch features by default. But there are also thousands of free and premium plugins available with additional functionality you can incorporate. There’s a solution for just about any need you have, so there are absolutely no limits when it comes to your site. And, if there isn’t an out-of-the-box solution, the code can be easily modified by a developer to build whatever you’d like.
• It’s the most popular website building tool. 43% of the web uses WordPress, from small blogs to enterprise sites, online stores, and forums.
• The community is like no other. This goes back to the idea of open-source. There are lots of people — experts and beginners alike — who love the freedoms that come with WordPress. You’ll find online support forums, Facebook groups, podcasts, and in-person meetups full of people to connect with, share tips and tricks with, and learn from.

What is WordPress used for?

We touched just a bit on how flexible WordPress is, so it should be no surprise that it can be used in a huge variety of ways. Let’s look at just a few!

A site builder

You can use WordPress to build absolutely any kind of site you can imagine, from a hobby blog to a business site with hundreds of thousands of visitors. And you can do all of this without having to edit a single line of code! 

How does it work?

WordPress content revolves around the block editor, a powerful drag-and-drop tool that you can use to create any sort of design you’d like. It uses blocks to construct pages and posts — these are individual elements that make up a page, like paragraphs, headings, images, videos, and columns. All you have to do is find the one you want to use, drag it into your page, then click a few buttons to customize settings like colors and styles. 

There’s also a library full of block patterns that you can choose from. These act as pre-designed layouts for entire sections of content — think pricing tables, portfolios, FAQs, and service grids. Just drag a section you like into your page design, then switch out images and text as necessary. Then you’re ready to go — it’s that simple!

And you really can create anything you can dream up. Gracenote, for example, created a clean, professional website to showcase their entertainment services and impressive client database. Thatgamecompany built a highly-visual site with full-screen videos and fun animations that feature their video games. And the Dallas Mavericks have a WordPress website full of grunge textures, interactive elements, and colorful photos.

Three completely different sites — all built with WordPress.

An eCommerce store builder

Online stores can encompass a wide variety of merchants, from traditional retailers and digital product creators to membership sites, service-based businesses, wholesalers, and software engineers. And WordPress enables you to create all of those store types — and more — with the help of WooCommerce.

WooCommerce is the eCommerce arm of WordPress, supported and maintained by Automattic. It’s completely free, and integrates seamlessly with WordPress sites to add everything you need for an online store. It enables you to list products, accept payments, ship physical items, offer coupons, and more. There’s also an impressive library full of free and premium extensions that provide additional functionality for subscriptions, memberships, marketing, design, and more.  

Adding products and setting up your store is just as simple as creating pages and posts. There’s a setup wizard that walks you through all the steps you need to get started, even making suggestions based on the type of store you’re running.

And the product builder is straightforward, making adding items to your store fast and easy. All you have to do is fill out a series of fields — like the product title, price, SKU, description, and inventory levels — then add images to the gallery.

Of course, there’s a lot more you can do with your store, especially when harnessing the power of extensions. And there’s extensive documentation and a knowledgeable support team available to help you along the way.

Want some real-life examples? Here are some WooCommerce stores across a variety of industries and product types:

• Good Dye Young sells hair dye and other accessories — physical products that they ship to their customers.
• Style Girlfriend offers styling services for men, accepting payments and displaying those services with WooCommerce.
• TipoType is a type foundry, with a variety of digital typefaces and licenses for sale.
• boldSOCKS sells both one-off socks for men and women, along with subscription boxes that automatically ship products once a month.
• Dumpster Market compiles dumpster rentals across the country and enables customers to book them for a chosen date and time.
• Perfusion.com offers a membership program that provides subscribers with access to a cardiovascular content library, event discounts, a database of medical professionals, premium tools, and more.
• Porta Pro Chem is a distributor of portable restroom supplies, offering product quotes and special pricing for each of their wholesale customers.
• AdvantageLearn.com provides online courses to students preparing for university.

As you can see, the possibilities with WordPress and WooCommerce are endless. See even more examples.

A blog and publishing platform

Content creation and publishing are at the heart of everything that WordPress does. In fact, it was originally built as a blogging platform! That means that it provides top-level tools for bloggers and publishers.

It’s easy to present content in a way that’s consumable by site visitors, whether that’s in a grid, masonry format, or simple vertical feed. And, of course, the technical aspects are all there, too. WordPress is responsive, accessible, and SEO-friendly, ensuring that everyone can make the most of your posts — from mobile, desktop, and screen reader users to search engine robots.

You can add blog posts to your website using the block editor that we discussed in more detail above. This enables you to easily create truly unique content that’s more than just text. You can include images, videos, quote boxes, social media feeds, sliders, and more! 

But don’t just take it from us. There are endless examples of sites using WordPress as a blog or publishing tool. TechCrunch, for instance, has a clean, super engaging layout for their blog posts, including elements like social share buttons and email newsletter options. Oh She Glows has a beautiful, image-heavy blog feed to showcase available recipes. And Pousta uses WordPress to display the content that makes up their graphic-focused arts and culture magazine.

A customer relationship management system (CRM)

A customer relationship management tool (CRM) corrals all the information about your contacts, prospects, customers, and clients in one place, making it easier to manage and keep up with each and every one.

Jetpack CRM allows you to truly use WordPress as a CRM. It pulls all of its tools directly into the WordPress dashboard, available in the same place that you add posts, create pages, and more. But what exactly does it do and how can it help you?

It strengthens your sales, marketing, and customer service processes no matter what type of business you run. It gathers all of your customer and prospect data in one place, so you can view key information — like revenue and sales funnel information — at a glance. The CRM also has a detailed profile for each contact, with a record of every single interaction you’ve had with them, plus their preferences and engagement history with your company.

Want to set up a client portal? Send quotes and invoices? Share prospect information across sales team members? Email specific segments of your customer base? Jetpack CRM enables you to do all of that, from inside WordPress. This is an incredibly powerful opportunity for any business, whether you run an ice cream shop, online store, or graphic design agency.

How to use WordPress to build a secure site

Okay, so now that you have the answer to, “What is WordPress?” and you’ve learned what WordPress is used for, let’s dive into how you can build a safe, secure website.

1. Find a host for your WordPress site

A hosting provider stores your website’s files and makes them available for visitors to view when they type in your URL. It serves as the foundation of your site when it comes to security, site speed, and more. So it’s important to choose the right one!

Here are some important qualities of a good host:

• Offers excellent support. You’ll want to be able to get help whenever you need it. Look for a provider with 24/7 support in whatever method you prefer — live chat, phone, email, etc.
• Includes security features. You’ll want to pick a host with features like malware scanning, SSL certificates, and a server-side firewall. 
• Sets you up for growth. Choose a host that allows you to easily scale and switch to a plan with more resources as you grow. 
• Supports WordPress. Many providers include one-click WordPress installation, settings specific to the platform, and even premium plugins in your plan at no additional cost. 
• Includes any specialty features you need. If they’re important to you, choose a host with features like staging functionality, automated migrations, or workflow tools. Not every site will need these types of advanced features, however.

If you’re looking for the easiest, fastest way to start, with a host that’s 100% dedicated to WordPress, consider giving WordPress.com a try. It takes file and server maintenance completely off your plate and simplifies all of your site management. There are several plans available, but we highly recommend choosing a premium plan that allows you to install and utilize plugins.

We’ve also put together a list of recommended hosts that cover a wide range of budgets and features.

2. Install WordPress

Next, you’ll need to install WordPress on your host’s server. Most providers include one-click WordPress installation, which simplifies and speeds up the process. Check out their documentation for detailed instructions.

Or, if you do need or want to install WordPress manually, you can follow these instructions.

Note: If you’re using WordPress.com, it’s pre-installed, so you can skip to the next step.

The WordPress dashboard is the area where you’ll manage every aspect of your site, from pages and posts to comments, products, and settings. You can log in to your WordPress site by going to yoururl.com/wp-admin and using the credentials you created when installing WordPress. 

Check out our guide to the WordPress admin dashboard for detailed instructions on navigating every aspect.

3. Choose a theme

A theme sets the general design of your site as a whole, though you can customize details like colors, fonts, and more. Some themes act as pre-designed templates, enabling you to simply switch out elements and run with a ready-to-go site. Others are more like frameworks, allowing room for tons of customization. You’ll want to choose one that fits your experience and knowledge level. 

Here are some other considerations:

• Level of support. Most free themes include forum-based support, while premium themes often offer ticket-based support for a certain period of time. You’ll also want to choose a theme with excellent documentation to walk you through setup.
• Demos and templates available. If you want to use a ready-made design or layout, make sure that your theme has great demos that you can implement in a few clicks.
• Ease of use. What’s your technological and WordPress experience? Ensure that you can implement and make the most of your theme based on your capabilities.
• Customer reviews. What do others say about the theme? What problems have they encountered and how helpful has support been?
• Integration with other tools. Looking to use specific tools like WooCommerce? Make sure that your theme integrates seamlessly.
• Regular updates. The developer should release new versions regularly to keep up with WordPress and plugin updates. This is important for both security and functionality. 
• Quality and speed. Is the code quality high? How quickly does the theme load? You can always run the theme demo pages through a page speed test like GTmetrix to get a general idea.

You can add your theme by going to Appearance → Themes in the WordPress dashboard. There, you can either choose the one you’ve selected from the WordPress theme library or upload your own. 

Note: We highly recommend using a child theme, which enables you to make changes to your theme files without losing them when you update in the future. Many themes come with one included, but you can also create a child theme yourself.

4. Create your pages and posts

Now it’s time to build the pages and posts that will make up your website content. Your exact pages will vary based on your business, audience, and specific needs, but may include Home, About, Contact, FAQs, and more.

To build a page, go to Pages → Add New in your WordPress dashboard. Add a title to the page. Then, you can get started with the block editor.

In the top left, you’ll see a blue plus icon. Click this to open up a full list of available blocks. You can either scroll through to find the one you want, or use the search bar if you have something specific in mind.

Click your chosen block to add it to your page. You can also drag and drop it anywhere you’d like in relation to other content. Then you can manage the settings for that specific block. These will vary, of course, but let’s use an Image block as an example.

You’ll see a placeholder for an image after initially adding the block. There are three options that you can use to add an image: Upload, Select Image, and Insert from URL. Once you add the picture you want to use, more settings will appear.

You can use the toolbar on top of the image block to apply filters, choose the alignment, add text on top, and more. Or, use the settings panel on the right-hand side of the page to configure settings for things like alt text and image size. 

Again, these will vary based on the block that you’re using.

Want to implement more of a ready-made design? Try clicking the plus icon again and selecting Patterns. This will open up the pattern library, with fully-configured layouts for things like pricing tables and FAQs. Just add one to a page, switch out the content, and you’re good to go!

For more information about using the block editor, read this guide from WordPress.com.

5. Build a navigation menu

A navigation menu is a key component of any website. It provides an easy way for visitors to move through your site and helps guide their journey. For example, you might include an attractive button that directs people to your email capture or sales page.

While your primary menu typically lives at the top of your site, in the header, there are other options, such as the sidebar, if you want to go with something a bit different. But no matter what location you choose, you’ll want to think through the organization of your menu items. Packing too many links in can be overwhelming to site visitors. If you have a lot of content, you can break your primary navigation menu down into categorized submenus, or even create a highly-visual mega menu. 

To build your navigation menu, go to Appearance → Menus in the WordPress dashboard. Add a name for your menu, then use the checkboxes on the left to add pages, posts, categories, and more. You can then drag and drop each item wherever you’d like, indenting them to create submenus as necessary.

Finally, select a display location for your menu at the bottom of the page — typically “primary menu” — and click the blue Save button. Your menu will now appear on your website!

6. Install a security plugin

Now that the design of your site is ready, it’s time to start thinking about functionality like security and speed. Security is critical, whether you’re running a personal blog or an eCommerce store. It prevents you from losing the hard work you’ve put into your website and protects both you and your visitors’ data from hackers.

While WordPress is a secure platform, there are still some steps you need to take to lock down your site. Here are a few best WordPress security practices:

• Always use strong passwords. Choose credentials that are hard to guess, with a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols.
• Protect against brute force attacks. These occur when hackers use bots to try and guess your login credentials. They can guess hundreds of combinations per second! Set up a tool that stops them in their tracks.
• Regularly scan for malware. If your site is ever hacked, it’s important to know right away so you can fix the problem and prevent further havoc. But it’s impossible to manually check for malware 24/7. A good malware scanning tool can take care of this automatically and alert you if something is found.
• Update your software often. Make sure that WordPress, themes, and plugins are always updated to their latest version to keep hackers from taking advantage of any vulnerabilities.
• Turn on downtime monitoring. If your site goes down, this could be an indication of a hack. Downtime monitoring helps you know when this happens right away so you can get things back up and running.
• Consider two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication adds an extra step to your login page, requiring you to enter a one-time-use code that’s sent to your phone. This is extremely effective because it’s unlikely that a hacker would have your login credentials and your phone in their hand.
• Set up automatic, off-site backups. Backups protect you if something goes wrong because they allow you to quickly return your site to its state before the problem occurred. The best WordPress backups are taken automatically and in real-time, saving each and every change as it happens. They’re also stored off-site, separately from your host’s server just in case that server was compromised, too.
• Use an SSL certificate. An SSL certificate protects information transmitted through your website, like credit card details, addresses, and names. There’s no reason not to add this to your site — you can get an SSL certificate for free!

Jetpack is a WordPress security plugin that checks off almost all of the items in the list above, in one fell swoop! From brute force attack protection and malware scanning to real-time backups and more, you can trust that your site is locked down. And it’s all easy to use for beginners and developers alike. For example, backing up your WordPress site takes just a few clicks, and restoring a backup is even faster!

See all of the available features of Jetpack Security.

7. Install a speed optimization plugin

If you want your site visitors to have a top-notch experience, speed should be something you invest time into. The faster your website loads, the more likely it is that people will stick around and take the actions that you want them to take — sign up for an email list, make a purchase, call your company, etc.

The best place to start with site speed is by choosing a high-quality host and a well-coded theme, as we already discussed here. Then, install a speed optimization plugin like Jetpack Boost. 

When you install the plugin, it will analyze your site performance so you get an idea of where you stand. Then, by just toggling on a few settings, you can optimize CSS loading, defer non-essential JavaScript, and turn on lazy loading images. If you’re not sure what this means, that’s okay — you don’t have to! Jetpack Boost takes on all the heavy lifting, so you don’t have to be a developer to ensure your site loads quickly.

(But if you’re curious, that’s okay, too! Read our post about core web vitals for more information.)

You can find additional speed optimization tools with the core Jetpack plugin as well. For example, its content delivery network (CDN) displays your website from high-speed servers around the world, so it’s always shown from the location closest to each individual visitor. It also automatically resizes your images for mobile devices to improve speed when it counts the most.

8. Install a spam protection plugin 

Comments are a powerful way to drive engagement on your site and build a community around your brand. But, unfortunately, when you enable comments in WordPress, you open yourself up to spam — responses that are unrelated, unwanted, and sometimes even malicious. These can impede the discussion, make you look unprofessional, and, in the worst case scenario, cause your visitors to fall prey to hackers’ schemes.

But you shouldn’t have to spend time weeding through comment after comment to determine if it’s spam. Instead, let a WordPress spam plugin like Akismet take care of it for you. 

It can automatically get rid of the worst spam comments on your site so you never even have to see them. It also integrates seamlessly with popular WordPress tools to protect not just your comment section, but also your contact forms. Ultimately, this saves you a lot of time and protects both your site visitors and reputation.

9. Add and configure any extra features

One of the best things about WordPress is the ability to add any functionality you’d like with the help of hundreds of available plugins. The WordPress repository is full of free options, offering everything from extra blocks and contact forms to integrations with your favorite marketing tools. Plus, these are all vetted by Automattic, so you can trust that they’re high-quality and safe.

There are also excellent developers in the WordPress community that sell premium plugins on their own websites or on third-party plugin marketplaces. Take the time to look into the ones that you choose to add, however, to ensure that they’re from a good source. Reviews can be one of the easiest ways to tell a plugin’s legitimacy and quality. Learn more about choosing the best WordPress plugins.

10. Launch your site!

Now that your site looks exactly the way you want, loads quickly, and is secure, it’s time to launch! Give yourself a pat on the back — you’ve put a lot of work in and now you can reap the benefits. 

Frequently asked questions about WordPress

Still have questions? We’ve taken some time to answer some frequently asked questions about WordPress below.

When was WordPress created?

WordPress was created in 2003 by Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg, who built a new personal publishing platform on top of b2/cafelog, which had been discontinued. Its open-source nature created an entire community of supporters, and it eventually turned into the revolutionary CMS that it is today, powering more than 43% of the web. It’s grown to become much more than a blogging tool as well, with everything from eCommerce stores and membership sites to forums and enterprise-level companies building their sites with the software.

Is WordPress free? 

Yes, the core WordPress software is 100% free. And, since it’s licensed under the GNU General Public License, it’s also completely free to use however you’d like, including modifying and customizing it.  

There are a number of WordPress plugins from Automattic that are free as well. These include WooCommerce, Akismet (free for personal use), and Jetpack (free for some plans). 

Is WordPress secure?

Yes, WordPress is a secure content management system. It was built with security in mind and is updated regularly to fix any bugs or vulnerabilities. 

That being said, any website or piece of software can be hacked, no matter how secure it is. You’ll want to take some additional security measures to protect your content and visitor information. A great place to start is with a robust WordPress security plugin like Jetpack, which implements valuable strategies like downtime monitoring, malware scanning, two-factor authentication, brute force attack protection, and real-time backups. 

You should also take other basic security steps, like using secure passwords and providing login access just to trusted people who absolutely need it.

Does WordPress offer accessibility features?

When it comes to the web, accessibility means making your website usable for every single visitor, including those with physical and mental impairments. WordPress is dedicated to this practice, requiring all new and updated WordPress code to conform to specific accessibility standards. There is also a category of themes available from the theme repository that have been reviewed and marked as “accessible ready.”

You can use plugins to add accessibility features to your website, allowing site visitors to resize fonts, toggle grayscale mode, turn on high contrast, and more.

Where can I download WordPress?

WordPress is available for download directly from the WordPress.org website. Many hosting providers also include one-click WordPress installation, so there’s no need for you to manually download or install the software.

What’s the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?

If you’re new to WordPress, you might be trying to decide between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Let’s take a look at the differences.

With WordPress.org, you pick a hosting provider and install the WordPress software on your server. You have complete freedom to do whatever you’d like with your site, though there is a bit more technical know-how required. 

With WordPress.com, everything is taken care of for you. It includes a hosting plan that’s specifically optimized for the WordPress software, and it comes with everything pre-installed. All you have to do is sign up for an account and you can start building! Each plan has limits, however, so while a lot of the technical aspects of managing a site are taken care of for you, there’s also a certain loss of flexibility and freedom.

If you don’t want to worry about the technical aspects of a site and want to just jump in quickly, you may want to choose WordPress.com. If you want to be more involved in site management and building, and have more freedom and flexibility, then WordPress.org is the route to take.

What is a WordPress theme?

A WordPress theme is a set of files that dictate the look and feel of your site. They can be very specific, acting as a template with content you can simply switch out, or more flexible, like a framework that you can build anything on top of.

There’s an entire library of free and premium themes that are vetted by WordPress. You can filter these based on features, like number of columns and subject matter. There are also themes that you can download from third-party marketplaces and developers. When choosing one of these, check the source, read reviews, and ensure that it’s updated regularly.

What is a WordPress plugin?

A WordPress plugin is an add-on that you can install to create additional functionality on your website. Unlike a theme, its focus is on functionality, not design.

You can find a plugin for just about anything — create an online store, market your business, add blocks or block patterns to the WordPress Editor, build contact forms, connect to third-party software, and more. 

There are thousands of free options available in the WordPress plugin repository, along with support forums for each one. You can also find some great premium options in locations like the WooCommerce marketplace, and third-party websites. But, like with themes, take the time to examine each one for security and quality. Learn more about how to choose the best WordPress plugins.

What is a WordPress page builder?

A WordPress page builder is a plugin or theme tool that enables you to build a website without using any code. They speed up the page creation process, typically allowing users to drag and drop elements to design virtually any layout. 

However, thanks to the WordPress block editor, you can create pages and posts without code and without a page builder. Drag any element into place — like paragraphs, headings, images, videos, and columns — and configure settings to get the exact look you want. 

And if you’re using a block theme, with full site editing, you can even apply this same principle to other parts of your site, like headers and footers.

What is a WordPress widget?

In WordPress, widget areas are special reusable areas that contain blocks — the footer and sidebar, for example. You can add blocks to these areas by going to Appearance → Widgets in your WordPress dashboard. 

These can come in handy in a variety of ways. If you have an online store, you might want to add filters, a search bar, and a list of product categories to the sidebar of your Shop page. If you run a service-based business, you might include links to important pages, an email capture, and your company hours in your footer.

Note, however, that if you’re using a theme that supports full site editing, you’ll need to edit these areas by going to Appearance → Editor instead.

What are the most important plugins to have?

The plugins that you choose will vary based on the specific needs of your site, along with the type of website that you run — online store, blog, service-based business, portfolio, etc. However, there are a few types of plugins that nearly every WordPress site will need:

• A backup and security plugin 
• A spam prevention plugin 
• A contact form plugin
• An SEO plugin
• A site speed plugin

For more information, read our posts about choosing the right WordPress plugins, as well as a selection of the best must-have plugins to install on your WordPress site.

Can WordPress be used for blogging?

Yes, absolutely! WordPress was designed from the start as a blogging platform. And, while it offers so much more, blogging is still at its heart.

WordPress makes it easy to create a blog around any topic that you’d like, add blog posts with text, images, videos, and more, accept and reply to comments, get your posts in front of your audience — the list goes on and on! Any blog functionality you need, you can create with WordPress.

So it’s no surprise that popular sites like the TED blog, WilWheaton.net, the Martha Stewart blog, and TechCrunch all use WordPress as their blogging platform of choice.

Can WordPress be used for a business website?

Of course! WordPress can be used to create absolutely any kind of site you’d like. You can use the platform to showcase your work in a portfolio, write about your services, and create a client portal. Or if you want to sell products or services online, you can use WooCommerce to build an online store, complete with checkout functionality, shipping tools, and more. 

Looking to manage all of your prospects and clients? Jetpack CRM even turns your WordPress dashboard into a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that will help you grow your business.

Want some examples? The WooCommerce Showcase is chock full of beautiful online stores powered by WordPress. You’ll also find lots of other businesses using the platform, including Gracenote, The Clorox Company, and the Bedford Hotel.  

Is WordPress enterprise-friendly?

Yes, WordPress powers lots of enterprise-level sites and there are no limits on what you can create. You can use it to scale as large as you like, with no restrictions on number of pageviews, products, etc. It also has features that make running an enterprise website simple, like team management capabilities, mobile-friendly and accessible design, and multilingual plugins.

WordPress VIP is also an exclusive option specifically for enterprise businesses. It’s built on a super powerful server foundation, and includes special tools that help you maximize content effectiveness, create a compelling digital experience for all team members, explore in-depth analytics, and build a hyper-agile commerce system. And all of that comes with enterprise-level scalability, reliability, speed, and security. 

See some examples of enterprise WordPress sites, including The New York Post, Venture Beat, and USA TODAY Sports Media.

Why is WordPress considered the most popular CMS?

WordPress is currently used by 43% of all websites online and by 64.3% of websites using a content management system. This, of course, makes it by far the most popular CMS. 

This isn’t shocking. WordPress is a completely free but incredibly powerful tool that enables absolutely anyone to create a beautiful, effective website. It’s easy to use, endlessly flexible and scalable, SEO-friendly, and constantly improving and innovating. 

What are good tutorials on how to use WordPress?

WordPress.org and WordPress.com provide lots of tutorials with instructions for nearly anything you’d like to achieve with WordPress. If you’re building an online store, the WooCommerce blog offers everything you need to know to build and grow your eCommerce site. And there’s also a wealth of information on the Jetpack blog, including posts like:

• How to Log in to a WordPress Site
• WordPress Admin Dashboard: Become an Expert in 15 Minutes
• How to Create, Add, & Edit a Navigation Menu in WordPress
• WordPress Security Guide: 11 Best Practices to Secure Your Site
• How to Back Up a WordPress Site (Manually & Automatically)

Build your dream with WordPress

Now that you know how to use WordPress, it’s time to create! You have all the tools in hand to build anything you can dream up, whether you want to start a blog, open an online store, or launch a service-based business. 

If you get stuck, don’t worry! There’s a whole team of Happiness Engineers ready to help. You can find answers to any of your questions in the WordPress documentation and support forums. 

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