Whether you’re planning to set up a website or you’re considering an offer to write for a website, you’ve probably come across the term WordPress.
This content management system (CMS) is the most popular tool on the internet. But what does that actually mean? What is WordPress, how much does it cost, and how does it work? Here’s everything you need to know about WordPress and what you can use it for.
What Is WordPress?
WordPress is a content management system, a means to publish articles and media to a website.
The total number of WordPress users isn’t know. However, as of March 2021, over 40.5 percent of the top 10 million websites are running WordPress.
Launched in 2003, WordPress was forked from a different CMS, b2/cafelog. Original developers Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little released WordPress with a GPLv2 license. This means that WordPress is free and open source.
There are two basic elements to WordPress: the front end (what you see when you visit a website) and the back end. All content that you see on a website has been uploaded to a web server. WordPress facilitates this, providing an intuitive user interface for publishing words, images, and other media to the web.
It’s as simple as writing a Facebook post, or sharing your employment availability on LinkedIn. So long as you own a URL and have suitable web hosting, you can install WordPress as your CMS.
What Do You Use WordPress For?
Traditionally aimed at bloggers, these days you can manage all types of website with WordPress.
By default, WordPress includes posts and pages. Posts are intended for regular blog posts; pages are more useful as constant content, informational, rather than topical. While a website you might write in HTML and upload to a server would be referred to as “static,” WordPress relies on a database to store and serve content. This is referred to as “dynamic.”
However, this just scratches the surface. WordPress gives you the option to extend the functionality with a massive collection of plugins. These are produced by the WordPress Foundation, Matt Mullenweg’s Automattic, and third-party developers.
While some plugins will add formatting options or help you to improve website performance, others can enhance or change how the WordPress site is used:
- If you wanted to set up an online store, you could install an ecommerce plugin like WooCommerce
- Podcasters might use a podcast management plugin like Simple Podcast Press
- Want to establish an online community? The bbPress forum software plugin is a good option
- Create a members-only website or zone on your blog with premium plugins like MemberPress
So, a vanilla WordPress installation will let you setup and run a basic website in around 30 minutes. With plugins, however, you can completely change the way the site operates.
Who Owns WordPress?
As noted, WordPress is open-source software under a GPLv2 license. The WordPress Foundation is the name of the company that oversees development of WordPress.
The license is important, as it allows:
- The use of WordPress in any way you like, without restriction
- Customization, addition, and removal of any portion of the code without restriction
- Repackaging, rebranding, selling, and redistribution of WordPress without restriction other than being released under the same GPL license.
This means that anyone can repackage WordPress and sell it under a different name. Most web hosts bundle a WordPress installer into the package that you sign up to, for example. Other hosts offer dedicated WordPress managed hosting.
Because WordPress is open source, there are other versions. These are known as forks (just as WordPress was a fork of other software). For example, ClassicPress is a community-driven fork of WordPress that retains the TinyMCE editor. Later versions of WordPress have replaced the traditional editor with a block-based system called “Gutenberg” but uninstalling or disabling this feature has proved popular.
According to ClassicPress, 25 percent or so of WordPress users are still running versions of the software from before the introduction of Gutenberg. That’s a potential security issue for their websites, one that ClassicPress can solve by offering an up-to-date CMS with the traditional editor.
How Much Does It Cost to Use WordPress?
It is important to note the distinction between WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
- WordPress.org hosts the downloadable version of WordPress. This can be installed to a web server hosted locally or online and is free to use, although a web host will charge a monthly subscription. Running your own WordPress installation lets you use any theme you like, install any compatible plugins, and use your own URL.
- WordPress.com is a hosting service owned by Automattic. It offers a free WordPress website that is preinstalled and ready to use. However, unless you pay for the service you cannot use it with your own URL. Furthermore, you’re limited to approved themes and plugins.
So: you can use WordPress for free, but for full functionality, you’ll need to arrange your own hosting.
How Does WordPress Work?
Regardless of whether you’re using a self-hosted WordPress solution, the hosted WordPress.com option, or you’ve installed it on a server in your home or office, WordPress works in the same way.
Written in PHP and connected to a MySQL or MariaDB database, WordPress serves pages and media to a website front end. Written content and references to media uploaded to your server are stored in the database. User information is also stored there for managing permissions and article access.
For example, my retro gaming site, www.gamingretro.co.uk, is hosted on WordPress. The front end looks like this:
The WordPress back-end (where posts are written, plugins managed, and themes selected), meanwhile, looks like this:
Behind the scenes, functions and theme layout are coded in PHP:
Several CSS files determine the visual style of the theme:
Finally, the database stores the information required to deliver page content to the site’s visitors.
It’s Easy to Start a Website With WordPress
As you can see, WordPress is the de facto choice for online publishing. You can host it on a computer, a local server, or a web server. WordPress is capable of publishing blogs or static websites; it’s free to use, or you can pay for hosting. Plenty of alternatives exist, there are “forks” of the WordPress code, and most websites that you visit use WordPress.
As mentioned, WordPress is also incredibly customizable. You can extend its base features by installing plugins and change the way it looks by installing new WordPress themes.
About The Author
