Why WordPress?

In the current era of the Internet there are many different types of websites and many ways to create them. From simple HTML websites (which can be difficult to build and update) to content management systems (CMS) that, once set up, give you an easier way to manage your content.

Within the CMS category there are also many different types; fully hosted environments, open source platforms, bespoke systems and more.

We have chosen to focus on the platform which we believe offers the most choice and customisability and is a platform that is open source, which means ‘free to use and freely available’.

A platform that runs over 27 million websites around the world – and according to http://trends.builtwith.com/cms is already so dominant that the trend is to migrate to it from other platforms.




The platform is WordPress.

Open Source: This means ‘free to download and install’ meaning you can install it on the server of your choice
Easy to Migrate: You can move your website should you need to
Widely Used: As mentioned, there are over 75 million WordPress websites worldwide
Extendible: There are thousands of themes that can be installed and customised to give you a unique website and there are over 50,000 plugins giving you the ability to add functionality to your website – Customisable forms, ecommerce, password protection for directories, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and so on.

Many major brands, bands and businesses use WordPress.

It may surprise you to see the large companies, celebrities, bands and so on that use the WordPress platform.

Companies such as:

  • Vogue
  • Rolling Stone Magazine
  • Alanis Morissette
  • Angry Birds
  • The Walt Disney Company
  • Microsoft News Center
  • New York Post …

Check out the WordPress showcase here:

http://WordPress.org/showcase

 

There are two different ways to get started with WordPress, a fully hosted version (WordPress.com) and a self-hosted version (WordPress.org).

The fully hosted version of WordPress at WordPress.com is free to set up and use but is mainly for blogging and has limitations regarding themes and plugins (e.g. you can’t install plugins yourself at WordPress.com) and you also do not get any email accounts.

The self-hosted version of WordPress, available for download at WordPress.org, is the version that you download and install on a server – you are responsible for hosting, managing backups and maintenance BUT it gives you all the flexibility you need.

Installation by the one-click method takes less than 5 minutes.

This course is based on the self-hosted version of WordPress available at WordPress.org.