WordPress: What Is It? Explicated for Novices

Fundamentally, WordPress is the easiest and most widely used platform for building your own website or blog. Actually, more than 42.7% of all websites on the Internet are powered by WordPress. Yes, WordPress is probably used by more than one in four of the websites you visit.

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Technically speaking, WordPress is an open-source content management system available under the GPLv2, which permits anybody to use or alter the program for free. In essence, a content management system is a tool that simplifies the management of crucial website elements, such as content, for users without the need to be proficient in programming languages.

In the end, WordPress enables anybody to create a website, even those without programming experience.

What Types of Websites Is WordPress Capable Of Building?

WordPress was mostly used as a platform for creating blogs instead of more conventional websites many years ago. However, it hasn’t been the case in a while. These days, you may use WordPress to construct any kind of website because of updates to the core code and the vast ecosystem of plugins and themes.

For instance, WordPress powers the majority of blogs and commercial websites and is also the most widely used platform for building eCommerce stores! WordPress allows you to create:

websites for businesses

online retailers

Blogs

Portfolios

Resumés

Forums

Social media

membership websites

…well, whatever else you can think of.

What Distinguishes WordPress.org From WordPress.com?

The main distinction between WordPress.org and WordPress.com has been discussed extensively, but here’s the quick summary:

Installing WordPress.org, also known as self-hosted WordPress, on your own web server allows you to construct a completely unique website using the free and open-source WordPress software.

The WordPress.org software powers WordPress.com, a for-profit, subscription service. Although it’s easy to use, you give up a lot of the self-hosted WordPress’s versatility.

When most people refer to “WordPress,” they usually mean the self-hosted version that may be found at WordPress.org. The best choice is nearly always self-hosted WordPress.org if you wish to own your website completely.

Who Is The Creator Of WordPress And How Long Has It Existed?

WordPress started out as an offspring of a prior project named b2/cafelog and was developed as a stand-alone project back in 2003.

Because WordPress is open-source software, a large community of contributors currently contribute to its development. However, if we were to go back to WordPress’ inception, Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little worked together to create the platform in its first form.

Matt Mullenweg has essentially taken on the role of WordPress’ face ever since. In addition, he founded Automattic, the business that runs the for-profit WordPress.com website.

Between its inception as a blog platform in 2003 and the present, WordPress has had a lengthy history.

Suffice it to say, though, that WordPress has advanced and grown into the most widely used platform for creating websites of any kind because of its contributors and large community.

WordPress Users?

Big companies, small enterprises, and everyone in between utilize WordPress! To start with, we utilize WordPress! Thus, WordPress is the platform behind the website you are currently viewing. Numerous additional renowned organizations also using WordPress. Here are a few of our top instances:

Whitehouse.gov

WordPress powers the official Whitehouse.gov website:

Microsoft

Microsoft’s official blog is powered by WordPress. Additionally, blogs for certain products like Windows and Skype are powered by WordPress:

Rolling Stones

WordPress is so popular that even renowned bands enjoy it! WordPress powers the Rolling Stones website in its entirety.

Why Should You Make Use of WordPress?

Alright, so more than 42.7% of all websites on the Internet—including well-known organizations like Microsoft and the White House—use WordPress.

What about you, though? What makes using WordPress recommended?

There are several reasons to utilize WordPress when creating a website, regardless of the kind of site you intend to build. These are a few of the largest ones:

Open Source and Free Software

The fact that WordPress is free and open-source software is one of its main advantages. As opposed to alternatives like Squarespace, you won’t ever have to pay to utilize the WordPress software; you will only ever need to pay a little amount for hosting.

In addition, a plethora of open-source plugins and themes are available to customize the appearance and functionality of your website. In relation to…