todaywordpress

WORDPRESSFORABSOLUTEBEGINNERSByKyleM.
BrownBy1WORDPRESSFORABSOLUTEBEGINNERSCopyright2014byKyleM.
Brown–www.
kylembrown.
comEditor,LorettaParker-Brown–www.
potpourri101.
comAllrightsreserved.
Nopartofthisworkmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,orbyanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthecopyrightownerandthepublisher.
Inotherwords,justaskmeorgivemecreditintheformofalinkbacktotheoriginalbookandyoucanreusethisanywaythatyoulike.
Thanks.
2WhatisWordPress1WhatcanyoudowithWordPressHowmuchdoesWordPresscost23HowdoyouuseWordPress5Summary6HowdoyougetWordPress4Appendices3WHATISWORDPRESSWordPressisafreeopensource,webbased,softwareapplication.
Opensourcemeansthatsomeentitycreateditandgivesyouandanyoneelsepermissiontouseitaslongasthesourcecodeissharedandremainsopenforotherstouse.
Webbased,meansthatyoudonotinstallitonyourdesktoporlaptopcomputer.
Forexample,youwouldnotinstallWordPressinthesamewaythatyouwouldinstallMicrosoftExcel.
4Instead,WordPressisinstalledoncomputersknownasservers,atremotelocationsthatyoucannotsee,andrunsinthecloud,alsoknownastheInternet.
WordPresswasoriginallydevelopedtobeaplatformforauthorstowriteweblogsalsoknownasblogging.
However,inrecentyears,WordPresshasmorphedintoaverypopularCMSalsoknownasacontentmanagementsystem.
Acontentmanagementsystemisbasicallyasoftwareapplicationwithaspecializedinterfacethatmakesiteasyfornon-technicalpeopletomanageatechnicalsoftwareapplication.
Thisisaccomplishedbyprovidingeasytousemethodssuchasclickingand5draggingbuttonsandobjectstoachievegoalsthatwouldotherwiserequirewritingcodeorprogramming.
IthasbeenreportedthatWordPressisusedbymorethan*15%ofthewebsitesontheInternettoday.
ThesitesthatuseWordPressrangefromthehobbyist,tomajorpublications,CorporationsandeventheFederalGovernment.
AfewwebsitesthatarepoweredbyWordPressarewww.
washingtonpost.
com,www.
sonymusic.
com,www.
data.
gov.
6WHATCANYOUDOWITHWORDPRESSYoucandoanythingwithWordPress.
Wellmaybenotquiteanything.
Abetteranswerwouldbethatyoucoulddoalot.
Infact,anythingthatyoucoulddoonaregularwebsite,canbedoneusingWordPressinsomewayshapeorform.
Afterall,WordPressismadeupofthesameprogrammingthatmakesotherwebsitesontheInternetwork.
7HerearethreepopularusesofWordPressasfollows:1.
Blogging-definedbyWikipediaas,adiscussionorinformationalsitepublishedontheWorldWideWebandconsistingofdiscreteentries("posts")typicallydisplayedinreversechronological.
2.
Website–AsetofpagesthatarelinkedtogetherandhostedontheInternetforthepurposeofprovidingandsharinginformationandmediaorconductingcommerce.
3.
SoftwareApplication–Aseriesoffunctionsandmethodsputtogetherusingaspecificsyntaxtoprovideaspecificoutcomewhichisgenerallysolvingaproblemofsometype.
8HOWMUCHDOESWORDPRESSCOSTWordPressisafreeopensource,webbased,softwareapplication.
Withthatsaid,therearenumerousproductsandservicesavailableforWordPressthatarenotfree.
Oneofthoseproductsisatheme,whichcontrolsthelook,feelandlayoutofyourWordPresssiteandisnotrequired,butcanenhanceyoursite'sappearance.
Forexample,youmaywantathemethatmakesyourWordPresssitelayoutsimilartoamagazine.
9Anotherofthoseproductsthatmaycostyoumoneyisplugins,whichcontrolspecificfunctionalityofyourWordPresssite.
Forexample,thepluginmakesitverysimpleforyoutosetupcontactpagesonyourWordPresssite.
WordPressservicesaregrowingthesedays.
TherearewebhostthatspecializeinhostingWordPresssitestoserviceprovidersthatwillperformthesetup,installationandongoingmaintenanceofyourWordPresssiteforyou.
10WHERECANYOUGETWORDPRESSTherearetwoanswerstothisquestionandthatisbecausetherearetwoversions.
First,youneedtoaskyourselfwhichversionisrightforyou.
WordPresscomesintwodifferentbasiccoreversions.
1.
Thereistheself-hostedversionofWordPressthatyoucandownloadandinstallatawebhostofyourchoice.
Todownload,visitwww.
WordPress.
organdclickthe"download"buttononthispage.
2.
Thereisthehostedversion,whichishostedby"Automattic,Inc,"thecompanythatdistributesWordPress,andthatisavailableat11www.
WordPress.
com.
Thesignuppagecanbefoundherehttps://signup.
wordpress.
com/signup/Theprimarydifferencesarethattheself-hostedversionrequiresthatyouprovideyourownwebhostandyoumustperformtheinstallationyourself.
Althoughtherearemanywebhostthatofferone-clickinstallations,youarestillthepersonresponsibleforinstalling,settingupandconfiguringWordPress.
Oneofthebenefitstousingtheself-hostedversionisthatitisalotmoreflexiblethanthehostedversion.
Thinkoftheself-hostedversionasacarthatyouownandthehostedversionasarental.
Theybothgetyouwhereyouwanttogobutyouhavefarmorecontroloveroneofthemthantheother.
1213HOWDOYOUUSEWORDPRESSIincludedthisquestionbecauseeveryonewantstoknowtheanswertoitwhentheyaregettingstartedwithWordPress.
Thereisnosingleanswertothisquestion.
YoucouldreadthewealthofinformationthatGooglehastoofferonthesubjectbysearchingtheterm"HowtouseWordPress.
"Youcouldgothetrialanderrorrouteifyouareahands-onlearner.
OryoucouldbuyabookorpaytoattendaclassorhavesomeoneteachyouhowtouseWordPress.
Alloftheseoptionsworkanddependuponyourpreferences,learningstyle,etc.
14However,myrecommendationisthatyoufirstidentifyanobjectivethatyouwouldliketoaccomplishandthenstartlookingfortheanswer.
Thismethodisgoingtobefarmoreeffectivethantryingtoconsumealloftheinformationthatisavailableonthetopic.
Inaddition,itismuchmoreefficientbecauseyouaretryingtosolveaspecificproblemorrathertryingtolearnhowtouseaspecificfeature.
Andyouwillbemuchbetterabletofocusonlearningone,orasetoflessons,versushundredsofotherfixes,ofhundredsofotherthings,thatyouwanttolearnaboutWordPressatsomepoint;butnotrightaway.
15SUMMARYWordPressisfree,easytouse,andtrustedbyfortune500companies.
Youcanblogandbuildwebsitesorsoftwareapplicationswithit.
YoucangetWordPressateitherthe.
comor.
orgwebsitedependingonyourneeds.
Whetheryouareaconsultant,freelancer,businessownerorwriter,WordPressisatoolthatyoushouldawareofandbeusingtoday.
Itsgrowthisbuildingmomentumandtheglobalcommunityarounditcontinuestogrow.
16APPENDICESSOURCESMorethan15%ofthewebsitesontheInternettodayrunonWordPress-http://venturebeat.
com/2013/07/27/19-percent-of-the-web-runs-on-wordpress/17ResourcesWordPressconsultspracticallyplacespecialistsnexttoyou,toholdyourhandthroughouttheprocessandhelpyouwiththemes,plugins,installation,hosting,maintenanceandyourquestions–Inquireatwww.
Mayvik.
comWebHostingforWordPress-http://wordpress.
org/hosting/PluginsforWordPress-http://wordpress.
org/plugins/ThemesforWordPress-http://wordpress.
org/themes/TutorialsforWordPress-http://www.
wpbeginner.
com/category/wp-tutorials/