All you need to know about WordPress: A Beginner's guide.
Beginners guide to WordPress
WordPress is a word you often come across when you are in the world of online business or someone who is looking for a start to earn using the internet or to building your online portfolio
This is the beginner’s guide to WordPress.
So to put it simply, it’s the most simple and popular tool to build your website. And it’s free!
In technical terms: WordPress is an open-source content management system licensed under GPLv2, (which means after you download it, you can change it to suit your needs, such as: building your website or your very own online shop for starters). Isn’t it great!
To avoid confusion please note that there is WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
WordPress.org is what we’re talking about mostly in this article. It is usually referred to as “self hosted”. You can install this software to your web host to create a website that is truly your own.
WordPress.com is a paid, for profit service “powered” by WordPress.org. It does not have wide applications unlike the self hosted WordPress.org.
You can use WordPress for:
Business Website, eCommerce store, Membership sites, Forums, Blogs, Portfolios, Resumes, Social networks and anything else you can think of.
Think of it as a one shop stop for your digital presence.
It is fairly easy to do it on your own if you are willing to learn the basics which is always easier if you are enthusiastic about your business or building an audience for your blog using your website.
You don’t need to hire a professional, which is another bonus! Wordpress is simple to use and very accessible.
So for the stats, 40% of all the websites in the world are run by WordPress & it’s been here since 2003.
You do need just a couple of other things to take things online such as a hosting service and domain name.
What is web hosting?
Web hosting is an online service that allows the website owner to publish their website files on to the internet. Though by theory, one can host the server for their website from their own computer, it is not advisable. For this purpose there are web hosting services. WordPress recommends the following three on their official website- Bluehost, Dreamhost & Site ground.
What is a domain name?
Domain name is a set of text that leads and links to an IP address that client software uses to look for a website. Simply put, it is what you enter in the search bar to visit a website. For example the domain name for Wikipedia is Wikipedia.org
I will create a new article fully devoted to these topics in the future.
So after a lot of research, here are my reasons why you should WordPress:
It is easy to install:
You don’t have to be a technical genius to install WordPress, with just a few clicks you’re good to go. Nowadays web hosting services offer to preinstall WordPress and a variety of tools to help you through the installation process.
It is free and open source:
WordPress is completely free and open source. It must be noted that you do need to pay for web hosting according to your service providers but the fee is not overwhelming and a huge range is available so you can choose what suits your needs best.
It is flexible:
WordPress is so popular due to the wide range of websites you can create for yourself. You can change your website as you change your business. You can add plugins for your website at any time such as for adding social media just use the BuddyPress plugin and for forum use: bbPress plugin. You are never limited by anything in WordPress.
It is easy to find help for WordPress:
As WordPress is so famous there is no lack of help on the internet if you happen to face an issue. There are numerous YouTube videos, facebook posts and blog services for your help.
It is Extensible:
Thanks to the extensive library of themes and plugins you can modify your website as per your needs. From minor changes such as adding contact info to major changes such as converting your website to an online shop, the possibilities are endless.
So that was the beginners guide to WordPress. Hope that helped!
