What Is WordPress?

In nontechnical terms, WordPress is “open source software you can use to create a beautiful website, blog, or app.”¹ By being open source, it is free to use, modify, and distribute the software according to the GNU General Public License (GPL).² According to the GNU website, the GNU Public License “is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of work”. the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a program – to make sure it remains free software for all its users.³ At the time of this book’s writing, the current version is GPL v3. Compared to proprietary software such as Microsoft Office whose source code is closed and only available to the original creators to modify, open source software empowers users to freely make changes to the source code anytime and share them with anyone. If a feature is missing or needs to be added, users who are technically astute can add it by modifying the source code.

WordPress is a content management system. A content management system (CMS) is a software application that provides the capabilities for creating, organizing, editing, and publishing content to the Web.⁴ Instead of requiring multiple software applications, only one application is required. According to WordPress.org, WordPress is used by 30 percent of the websites and blogs on the Web, ranging from hobbyist to mainstream online news sites.

Not only is it robust enough to work for a solopreneur, but it is also scalable enough to handle the needs of an enterprise organization.

Prior to WordPress, when a business wanted a website created, it either used a web designer within its company or hired a web designer consultant. Due to the lack of technical expertise in-house, most small businesses were either forced to hire an external consultant or freelancer or find a volunteer looking to gain some website design experience to create one. While already working with limited resources and budgets compared to bigger businesses, creating a small business website could quickly become an expensive undertaking depending on the website features. Once the website is launched, it will need to be maintained and modified, which is an additional expense. A simple informational website can quickly become expensive. How can WordPress help?

WordPress Popularity

Googling the phrase “creating a blog,” WordPress appears in many of the search results displayed on the first page of the search-engine results page. With all the open source and proprietary content management systems available, why is WordPress so popular? Since its release in 2003, WordPress has continually added new features to help entrepreneurs, small- and medium-sized businesses, universities, and others successfully achieve their website goals. Here are just a few reasons why WordPress’s popularity continues to grow.

Intuitive User Interface

As mentioned previously, WordPress empowers average users with little to no web design or technical expertise to create beautiful websites and blogs. It is almost like having your own web designer in a box. With its very intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard, pages and posts can be easily created (Figure 3-1).

Easy Setup and Maintenance

With its easy-to-use interface, a blog, website, or online store can be set up quickly. For creating online stores, the more information prepared ahead of time, the quicker a store can be up and running. Need to add more products or services? No problem! WordPress allows multiple user logins to be created with various permission levels that can be used, too. It can also be manually updated to the latest version (Figure 3-2) or set to update automatically.

Themes

What are WordPress themes? In simple terms, a theme is the outward appearance of your website that your target audience sees. It also helps make a good first impression. In other words, a template is a predefined file where you can insert images and other necessary web content into designated placeholders. WordPress.org’s Codex defines a theme this way:

• A collection of files that work together to produce a graphical interface with an underlying unifying design for a weblog. These files are called template files. A Theme modifies the way the site is displayed, without modifying the underlying software.

Once installed, WordPress contains several free themes available to use (Figure 3-3). Not sure how a theme will look on your website, blog, or online store? You can preview a theme before activating it. However, there is one caveat concerning using the standard WordPress themes to keep in mind: someone else might use the same theme, which will not make your website unique. Once you know this and are fine with it, use it! You can still change the colors and other theme parts to customize it. Still concerned? Don’t fret! You can find other free WordPress themes at WordPress.org/themes to customize, purchase themes from third-party providers, or create your own. The beauty of WordPress is that you are never stuck with a theme. You can change your website’s theme as often as you like. It’s up to you. In Chapter 5, we will explore themes in more detail, especially e-commerce themes.

Plugins

Ask any WordPress user or developer, and he or she will tell you that plugins are the heart and soul of WordPress; but what are they? Plugins are ways to extend and add to the functionality that already exists in WordPress (Figure 3-4).⁶ In other words, you don’t have to re-create the wheel because more than likely someone has already created what you want to do. For instance, if you want to add e-commerce to your website, you can add the WooCommerce plugin through the WordPress Dashboard. All you need to do is configure its settings. How simple is that?

WordPress empowers users to add needed functionality to their websites at their convenience.. Not sure where to find plugins? Many free plugins are available at wordpress.org/plugins. As of the writing of this book, there are 54,860 plugins available from wordpress.org. This number will continue to increase. You’ll become more familiar with installing the WooCommerce plugin and others when we start installing WooCommerce in Chapter 5.

Where to Get WordPress

WordPress is available for download to install on your own web server or local computer from the official WordPress website, www.wordpress.org/download (Figure 3-5). It is a good idea to review the recommended WordPress requirements before downloading and installing it. Although PHP version 7.2 or greater and MySQL version 5.6 or greater or MariaDB version 10.0 or greater are recommended, WordPress can be installed on older environments. The WordPress.org website offers this advice about using “legacy environments.”

If you are in a legacy environment where you only have older PHP or MySQL versions, WordPress also works with PHP 5.2.4+ and MySQL 5.0+, but these versions have reached official End of Life and as such may expose your site to security vulnerabilities.⁷

If using a web hosting provider, WordPress is already preinstalled on their web servers and ready to install with a single click using auto installer scripts such as Softaculous or Fantastico. The auto installer script varies by web hosting providers. WordPress is known for its “Famous 5-Minute Installation” that is documented on the WordPress Codex.⁸ If a development environment needs to be set up where certain features can be tested before implementing them on a live website, this version can be used for that.

Many people choose the free option because once the account is created, they can immediately start blogging or creating a website. There is no better example of the saying, “Everything that is free isn’t good and everything that is good is not free” than this for many reasons. First, your domain name will contain wordpress.com (i.e., yourwebsite123.wordpress.com) and will not allow a unique domain name until upgraded to one of the other options. Depending on your needs, this could be problematic because your target audience probably won’t remember a long domain name. For creating an online store, it would be best to purchase your own unique domain name from a domain registrar service such as Network Solutions, Namecheap, or through a web hosting provider who sometimes offers free domain names when signing up for web hosting. Another benefit of having a custom domain name is it presents a professional image and brand for a business and a website. First impressions are a lasting impression, and this is crucial for an online store.

With the WordPress.com free account, many features such as plugins, themes, and source code modification are limited, so you won’t experience the full power of WordPress until you upgrade to another account. Plugins cannot be installed. You will also be subjected to ads and limited storage. If you are uncertain as to which account you should use, you can always choose the Compare Plans option (Figure 3-6) to review the differences.

WordPress Requirements

The only other thing that you will need is a computer or mobile device to log in to the WordPress administration panel to work on your website or blog.

Installing WordPress on a Web Host

Once you purchase web hosting, the web host will provide login credentials to access the cPanel. The cPanel allows remote access to install software on the web host’s web server via a one-click auto script installer. Some of the popular auto script installers are MOJO Marketplace, Fantastico, Softaculous, and Quickinstall. These installation instructions are based on the Bluehost web host who uses MOJO Marketplace.

Once in the cPanel, click on Install WordPress in the Website Section (Figure 3-7).

Select the domain name from the domain drop-down menu along with the installation directory (Figure 3-8).

On the Administration Screen, change the Site Name, Admin user name, Admin email, and password (Figure 3-9). For added security, do not use Admin as the Admin user name. Hackers know that most WordPress users might use this username, which makes it easier to hack a site. Instead choose another Admin name that is more difficult for hackers to guess. Likewise, for the password, do not use Password because it is easy to guess as well. It is a good practice to choose a password that is 8–10 alphanumeric characters with a combination of upper and lowercase letters and special characters. Make sure that all checkboxes are checked. Click the Next button.

A progress bar in the top right of the screen shows the percentage completion of the installation. Once the WordPress installation is complete, a confirmation will be displayed (Figure 3-10). A link is also provided to view login information. The next step would be to select a theme. Since the website will be an e-commerce site using WooCommerce, the Storefront theme will be selected in Chapter 5.

Post-Installation Setup

Now that WordPress has been successfully installed, some items need to be addressed to help clean up the installation and secure it. In its current installation state, WordPress is using system-generated defaults except for the provided administration information. Before launching a site, the following items should be addressed.

Delete sample posts, pages, images, and comments. Items created during the installation that will not be used consume disk space. If their visibility is set to Public along with a Published Status, they will appear on a website. It is a good practice to delete any sample posts, pages, images, and comments that do not belong to a project. For example, WordPress creates a Sample page during installation that should be deleted. To see all pages, click Pages ➤ All Pages (Figure 3-11). Once all pages that need to be deleted have been identified, click the checkbox beside their title and select Move To Trash from the Bulk Actions drop-down. Click the Apply button.

Delete Unused Plugins and Themes. WordPress installs default plugins such as Hello Dolly, which displays the song lyrics to the song “Hello Dolly.” It does not serve a purpose and will not be used. Likewise, themes such as Twenty Seventeen, Twenty Fifteen, and Twenty Sixteen are installed to help customize a project. Once a theme is activated, it is a good practice to delete the unused themes because they can slow down the performance of a site as well as consume space.

Settings. In the WordPress Dashboard, there are settings that need to be reviewed for correctness. Here are some settings to review on the various tabs.

General Tab. The General Tab contains general information pertaining to the WordPress project. The Tagline should be changed from “Just another WordPress site” to a short, descriptive statement about the company. To make sure that unauthorized users cannot obtain membership to a website, it is a good practice to make sure the anyone can register checkbox is unchecked and the new user default role is Subscriber. Likewise, it is good to set the Time Zone along with the Start of the Week.

Permalinks Tab. Permalinks are how WordPress structures its URL’s. All pages, posts, categories, tags, and other items have URLs that are used to access them. By default, WordPress uses the plain option for permalinks (i.e., www.yoursitename.com/?p=123 ), which is not easy to remember or search-engine friendly. It is a good practice to make sure that a permalink structure contains keywords or phrases to help people locate the resource in search engines such as Google or Bing. Most WordPress users choose Post Name as their permalink structure. It is recommended that this is done either for a new WordPress project or when a project does not have much content that is ranked within search engines.

Privacy Tab. Every website needs a privacy policy that visitors can review concerning how their information will be used. WordPress allows website owners to select an existing page for their privacy policy or create a new page.

Summary

WordPress provides scalability and flexibility for any size business wanting to establish a web presence. With its ease of installation and use, it helps make creating a blog, website, or online store less intimidating and cost effective. In the next chapter, WooCommerce and its e-commerce features will be explored to show how to create an online store.