Learn WordPress Part 1: Introduction to WordPress

Use WordPress if you need one of the following:

  • A website builder that is easy to use and beginner friendly
  • You have limited resources or a small development team for your website
  • Your website needs to be built quickly with modern features

Other Benefits of WordPress

Easy to write content, blogs, post images, etc. for your website without learning code.

Easy to publish your content to your website, requiring only the click of a button.

WordPress Offers:

  • Diverse Options: Two versions of WordPress exist
    • wordpress.com: a fully hosted, all in one, solution for WordPress blogs and small websites
    • wordpress.org: a self hosted version of the software, made for blogs and more complex sites
  • Easy to Use: WordPress can be used by anyone without requiring any coding knowledge from the user.
  • Extensibility: Easy to obtain plugins, tools, themes, and more to help you customize the website to meet your needs.
  • Strong Community: WordPress has a large and loyal community that makes it easy to find someone who can help you create a better website or solve an error.

Use WordPress as a Wysiwyg Website Builder

What is a wysiwyg?

In computing, WYSIWYG, is an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get”.
Software like WordPress acts as a wysiwyg by allowing you to edit content in a format which resembles its final website appearance. This visual interphase speeds up webpage creation and makes it user friendly.

CMS (Content Management System): a term used to describe computer software which is used to manage creating, modifying, and publishing digital content.

Free and Paid Website Plugins

WordPress is the base software to serve as a CMS for your website and content. Some features are not part of the standard WP installation and need to be added as plugins. Much like a vacuum cleaner that comes with attachments for higher cleaning versatility, WordPress Plugins act in the same way. Manny essential plugins like contact form builders, anti-spam filters, and more and free.

Perhaps one of the best benefits of WordPress Plugins is the ability to find a solution to your website needs without needing to invest the time and money into coding the solution yourself. For example, the free plugin WooCommerce will let you build an eCommerce website with all the core functionality you need.

WordPress.org for FREE and Open Source Websites

The self-hosted version offered by WordPress.org will let you run an unlimited number of blogs on the same installation of the software. You can leverage WordPress multisite to create an interface of connected blogs within the same domain to create a blog network for your business, company, or website.

Steps to Getting Started

  • Choose and purchase a unique domain name for your website
  • Choose a hosting provider for your website
  • Install WordPress on your host and launch a staging website

Domain Registration

Domains have to be unique and they are leased out rather than purchased. You register your domain every year and the cost changes depending on the domain extension, registrar, and possible discounts.

Most websites should select a .com or .net extension by default. While domain extensions may not be as specific and important as they used to be, following standard practice is still preferred by most developers, digital marketers, businesses, and industry professionals.

Popular Website Hosting Providers

Every host has unique monthly or annual based plans. Most plans have discounts or reduced pricing for new customers.

Popular Hosts Include:

What’s Next?

Learn the types of websites that you can build on WordPress

Learn the basics of WordPress techonologies

Learn how to use WordPress as an effective Content Management System