what wordpress is all about? should you use it?
WordPress is no doubt the most popular and the biggest name in the Internet.
What started as typography enhancer in 2003 is now being used by almost 20 percent of the top 10 million websites!
Thanks to the initiative of the energetic and enthusiastic community of WordPress programmers and web designers, the platform has gained a powerful edge over other Content Management System or CMS.
But what really is WordPress anyway? Should you use it? Whatever your purpose in owning a website, be it pure blogging or for business use, you will find WordPress as the best there is today. Read further to learn more about WordPress.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open source platform, which means that it’s free of charge. It’s a content management system powered by MySQL and PHP. To date, WordPress is the most popular blogging system with over 60 million websites using its software.
What made WordPress unique and special is its unmatched features and user-friendliness. In fact, WordPress can be used without any coding knowledge. It can be used by any person who would like to start a website.
Here are some of the key features of WordPress
- Themes – there are thousands of themes that you can choose from. You can change the appearance of your website without changing on the content. The themes of WordPress come in various shapes and forms. It’s very important to note that these themes can further be changed or modified according to your heart’s content as long as you know coding.
Plugins – from the basic installation of themes, you can add plugins to further personalize your website. Plugins are very vital since it can help your website possess vital elements for it to succeed. For example, you can add social media plugins, which allow your website to immediately connect with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google +.
Multi-user – WordPress will allow you to manage different websites with the use of one dashboard. This means that you can run multiple blogs with just a single installation. This is a very convenient WordPress feature since it can save you time, money, and energy.
Mobile usage – with the proliferation of various mobile phones and gadgets, it is inevitable that you need to reach this audience as well. WordPress recognizes the need to go mobile and thus, most web developers of the WP community is now creating responsive themes, plugins, and other elements of a website to be compatible with various screen size and devices.
There are other features that WordPress can boast about such as the search engine friendliness, tagging, easy formatting, and others.
Difference of WordPress.org and WordPress.com
Common confusion may arise from these two websites. I, too, was confused when I discovered that aside from WordPress.com, there’s also WordPress.org. So what’s the difference? Here is a quick answer.
WordPress.org is basically the storage area where WordPress stores its software. All the features of WordPress can be found in the “org” website.
Basically, WordPress.org will help you to easily install various elements for your website. Thus, WordPress.org is like a “Do it yourself” website. There is no restriction with how you want to modify your website and you can simply add and subtract things to come up with your preference.
In short, you have full a full control of your website.
The primary disadvantage of WordPress.org is that you need a web host to use it. WordPress.org is free, but not a web host. You also need to pay for your domain name every year.
On the other hand, WordPress.com is very easy to use and you can avoid all the complex processes that are found in the WordPress.org. You don’t have to pay for any web host since WordPress.com will serve as your web host. Thus, WordPress.com is absolutely free at its core.
Furthermore, WordPress.com is certified safe to use and your files and data are really secured. You don’t have to worry about system error as well (though it’s rare) you get automatic backup offered by WordPress.com.
The Downside?
The most obvious main downside of WordPress.com is the lack of modifiability.
- You do not have the full control of your site.
- There’s a storage space limit unless you pay more.
- No FTP access.
- There’s also a limited number of plugins and themes. No custom plugins. You can only use themes from WordPress.com, which means you cannot use any other custom themes outside WordPress.
- In addition to this, your domain name will retain the wordpress.com, thus you end up having www.yourwebsitename.wordpress.com instead. Another disadvantage of the website is that you cannot freely remove ads unless you upgrade and willing to pay.
For some more information about it: read here
So, which one should YOU use?
If you’re in some serious business and would like to make money with your blog, WordPress.org is the one. If you only want to experiment and have fun or wants to have a website that is easy to setup, use WordPress.com.
Conclusion
By now, I’m sure that you’re convinced that WordPress is still the undisputed powerhouse of all CMS on the Internet. You can look at some of the top websites today that use WordPress such as Fuse Design, H-Mag, SmashingMagazine, TechCrunch, Ted Blog, and WebDesignerWall just to name a few. These websites are living testimony of how remarkable the platform really is.