Tag: Wordpress

What is WordPress?

September 25th, 2023
Reading Time: 4 minutes
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that allows users to create, manage, and customize websites and blogs. It provides a user-friendly interface and a wide range of themes and plugins to enhance functionality and design. WordPress is known for its flexibility, scalability, and community support, making it a top choice for individuals, businesses, and organizations of all sizes to create and manage their online presence.

WordPress is generally considered to be an easy-to-use content management system. It provides a user-friendly interface that allows users to create, edit, and publish content without requiring any coding knowledge. The dashboard is intuitive and includes helpful features such as a visual editor, media library, and plugin management. Additionally, WordPress has a large and supportive community that provides documentation, tutorials, and forums to assist users in navigating and maximizing the platform’s capabilities.

WordPress is not only for developers. While developers can certainly leverage the flexibility and extendability of WordPress by customizing themes and plugins, it is designed to be user-friendly for individuals with no coding experience as well. The user interface of WordPress is intuitive and allows users to create, manage, and publish content easily. The availability of a wide range of pre-built themes and plugins also enables users to customize their websites without any coding knowledge. However, having some development skills can provide more options and possibilities for advanced customization. Overall, WordPress caters to a diverse range of users, from beginners to developers.

WordPress itself is actually free to use. It is an open-source software that can be downloaded and installed on your own web hosting server. However, there are costs involved in creating and maintaining a WordPress website.

The main expenses associated with WordPress are web hosting and domain registration. Web hosting is the service that allows your website to be accessible on the internet, and it usually comes with a monthly or annual fee. The cost of web hosting can vary depending on the hosting provider and the specific plan you choose. Domain registration is the process of securing a unique web address for your website, and it also comes with a yearly fee.

Apart from the basic expenses, there might be additional costs if you choose to purchase premium themes or plugins to enhance your website’s design and functionality. However, there are also many free themes and plugins available in the WordPress community that can serve your purposes.

Overall, the cost of WordPress can vary depending on your specific needs and preferences. It is possible to create and maintain a WordPress website on a budget, but it is also possible to invest in premium services and features for a more customized experience.

WordPress offers a range of hosting plans designed to accommodate different needs and budgets. Here are some of the available plans:
1. Free WordPress.com: This plan is ideal for personal bloggers or those who want to explore WordPress without any upfront costs. It includes a WordPress.com subdomain (e.g., yourwebsite.wordpress.com), basic themes, and a limited set of features.
2. Personal Plan: This plan is suitable for individual bloggers and small website owners. It includes a custom domain name, email and live chat support, basic customization options, and removal of WordPress.com ads. The Personal Plan is affordable and provides more flexibility compared to the free plan.
3. Premium Plan: The Premium Plan is designed for freelancers and business owners who require more advanced features. It includes all the features of the Personal Plan, along with advanced customization options, advanced design tools, access to premium themes, and integration with Google Analytics.
4. Business Plan: The Business Plan is tailored for small to medium-sized businesses that need a professional online presence. It includes all the features of the Premium Plan, as well as access to premium themes, unlimited storage, SEO tools, and the ability to install third-party plugins.
5. eCommerce Plan: If you want to set up an online store, the eCommerce Plan is the right choice for you. It includes all the features of the Business Plan, along with additional features specifically designed for online selling, such as support for WooCommerce and integration with payment gateways.
6. VIP Hosting: WordPress also offers VIP Hosting, which is a fully managed hosting solution for large and high-traffic websites. It provides enterprise-level features, dedicated support, and scalability to handle significant amounts of traffic.
Please note that the availability of these plans may vary depending on your location and the specific hosting provider you choose. It’s recommended to visit the WordPress website or consult with a trusted hosting provider for the most up-to-date information on available plans.

Getting started with WordPress is relatively easy and straightforward. Here are the steps you can follow:
1. Set up a hosting account: Choose a web hosting provider that meets your needs. Look for reliable and affordable options. Some popular hosting providers include Bluehost, SiteGround, and GoDaddy.
2. Register a domain: Select and register a unique domain name for your website. A domain name is your website’s address on the internet (e.g., http://www.yourwebsite.com). Many hosting providers offer domain registration services as well.
3. Install WordPress: Most hosting providers offer a one-click WordPress installation option. Log in to your hosting account, navigate to the control panel, and look for the WordPress installation option. Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
4. Configure your website: After the installation is complete, you can access your WordPress dashboard. This is where you’ll manage and customize your website. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the dashboard and its features.
5. Choose a theme: WordPress offers a wide range of free and premium themes that determine the design and layout of your website. Go to the “Appearance” section in your dashboard and explore the available themes. Install and activate the one that suits your website’s purpose and style.
6. Customize your website: Once you’ve selected a theme, you can start customizing your website’s appearance and layout. Use the WordPress Customizer to modify colors, fonts, menus, and other visual aspects. Many themes also offer additional customization options specific to their design.
7. Add content: Start creating and adding content to your website. You can create pages for static content like About, Contact, and Services, and write posts for your blog. Use the WordPress editor to format and publish your content.
8. Expand functionality with plugins: WordPress plugins allow you to add more features and functionality to your website. From the dashboard, go to the “Plugins” section and explore the available options. Popular plugins include Yoast SEO for search engine optimization, WooCommerce for e-commerce functionality, and Contact Form 7 for creating contact forms.
9. Optimize your website: Make sure your website is fast, secure, and optimized for search engines. This includes optimizing images, installing a caching plugin, setting up website backups, and implementing a solid security plugin.
10. Promote your website: Once your website is up and running, it’s time to promote it. Share your content on social media, engage with your audience, and consider implementing search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results.
Remember, WordPress offers a vast amount of documentation, tutorials, and support forums to help you along the way. Don’t hesitate to explore these resources whenever you have questions or need assistance. Good luck with your WordPress journey!
5 reasons to choose WordPress as your content management tool

May 12th, 2021
Reading Time: 3 minutes

As an Engineer I installed WordPress many times, facing issues such as performance and security. When you host WordPress on your own, security is a headache because it’s a super known tool with lots of exploits so you receive strange HTTP requests all the time, trying to take advantage of some vulnerability.

To delegate is something you learn over time and to host the things you build is maybe the first thing you should think to delegate.

WordPress.com offers the possibility to host your instance and depending on your business you have different plans that give you more or less flexibility. I will describe 5 reasons that I consider when I need to implement a CMS (Content Management System) solution.

1 – Popularity

One of the first questions many people (including myself) asks is “who is using it?” And the answer is a lot of people! That means that many sites you visit on a daily basis use WordPress

If you google “WordPress market share” you will get different numbers such as 30%, 40%. I don’t know exactly but at least 1% means a lot of sites.

And why is so used? Well, continue reading…

2 – Flexibility
- Host by your own: you can download a zip file, upload to your host, edit a config file and that’s it.
- Host in wordpress.com
- Free and paid themes: you can change how your site looks like with just one click. And the most important: most of the themes are mobile-friendly.
- Total control when you host it since you have access to the source code
- Plugins. There are literally one plugin for everything you need and most of them are free or at least a free entry-level.
- Monetize. Paid or self-hosted you can install ads to monetize your site. In my case my plan allows me to add ads with more or less flexibility.
3 – SEO

You may write awesome content but will be kind of hidden if searching bots can’t read your site properly. The good news is most of the themes are SEO friendly so you won’t have to worry about that.

Anyway, standards and the way Google scans your site changes over time so it’s a good practice to be updated once a year what are the new tags / best practices to be implemented.

4 – Free and paid plans

You can have your WordPress site just for free. Just create an account at wordpress.com and start writing your content. Paid plans allow you, among other things:
- Monetize
- Your site under your own domain: example.com
- Install more advanced plugins
- Edit layouts by adding pre-built widgets
5 – Awesome editor

To write content is a pleasure, the Gutenberg editor is awesome!

You don’t need to touch HTML to make your magic like in old times.

See more about Gutenberg editor at https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/

Photo by Fikret tozak on Unsplash
P2: the collaboration tool from WordPress

May 11th, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Today I received this email from WordPress. A new tool to facilitate remote teams collaboration

“Fewer emails. More progress.” it’s a good argument to test it.

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As communication moves increasingly online, staying organized can be a challenge. The way we work at WordPress.com is unique. We are a global team of more than 1,200 employees across multiple time zones — without a central office.

Our secret to collaboration and communication for the past 10+ years? A tool called P2.

P2 gives groups a place to share regular updates and collaborate on any project. Whether you’re looking to connect with a newly remote work team, your homeschooling group, or long-distance friends and family, P2 can help you stay in sync. Keep it private to your team, or open it up to an entire community.

With P2, you can finally stop spending so much time digging through your inbox. Simply open P2 on your computer or in the WordPress mobile app to post updates, check in on conversations, track projects, and more — all without reading or writing a single email. As TechCrunch describes it, “It’s a clean and focused product that would work particularly well in that spot between company-wide emails and announcements getting lost in Slack.”

P2 is free to use, ad-free, and easy to set up. Create your P2 in just a few clicks. You can then customize your site, publish your first post, and invite the rest of your team.

Need more tips on getting started? Curious about what you can build? Ask our experts on their own P2.

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More info at https://wordpress.com/p2/