When considering the best Content Management System (CMS), make sure you don’t confuse WordPress.com, the blog hosting platform with WordPress.org which is a CMS for bloggers, eCommerce site owners, and much more.
WordPress is quite popular among other website builders. And there’s no denying to it, since WordPress provides so many features to help you build a website. WordPress.org is a self-hosted CMS, but it requires you to purchase a domain and web hosting if you are looking forward to creating a website.
This CMS allows you to create different types of websites some of it are:
- Membership site
- eCommerce store
- Small business website
- Blog
- Marketplace
- Job boards
and there are 19 different types of websites you can create with WordPress.
Using WordPress is no rocket science, but as a beginner, you will take some time to learn it all.
Pros of using WordPress:
Limitless Plugins
WordPress repository has a total of 55000+ plugins, which allows a website owner to enhance the features of a website. You can install and download as many plugins as you want. The range of plugins has everything from payment plugins to translation plugins.
Control Over Hosting
You have the power to expand the hosting capabilities of your website since WordPress.org does not provide hosting like WordPress.com. By having hosting control you can ensure site security and speed when your website traffic or activity increases.
Customization
With so many options for themes, plugins, and code editing, you can simply customize your WordPress website the way you want to.
Note: WordPress is quite popular among other website builders. And there’s no denying to it since WordPress provides so many features to help you build a website. WordPress.org is a self-hosted CMS, but it requires you to purchase a domain and web hosting if you are looking forward to creating a website. To learn more about different website builders and see how WordPress compares to them, make sure to check out the latest Website Builder Comparison.
How to Use WordPress
Using WordPress requires some sort of understanding and technical expertise. The main panel looks somewhat shown below:
You can easily insert the content in the content-entry box, which is shown above. This is quite similar to a data entry software where you have empty spaces to put in your content.
There also are 2 types of editors available in the top right corner; visual and text editor. A text editor allows you to edit the code which includes HTML and CSS of the page however the visual-only lets you play around with the front end more similar to MS Word.
Adding images, paragraphs, video is as simple as a drag and drop builder. You will simply need to place your content and the pre-installed theme will decide how and where will that type of content display in the live mode.
How to Install a Plugin in WordPress
In order to enhance the functionality of your website, you can simply install plugins in WordPress. There are thousands of paid and free plugins available in the WordPress repository. Installing a plugin is pretty simple.
For plugins, you can actually find and select the plugin you want to use directly from your WordPress control panel, which you can see below:
The same applies to a WordPress theme. However, there are two methods with which you can install your preferred theme.
- Install through FTP
- Install through WordPress theme upload function
As a beginner it will be easier for you to install your theme using the later method that is, uploading theme in the upload function.
WordPress is a great website builder for whoever is accustomed to basic HTML and CSS and wants to control their website’s features.
