An Introduction to WordPress Websites
The World Wide Web (www), also known as the internet, is a collection of websites that tell us stories, teach us things, or sell us things. Someone built those websites, and there are almost as many ways to build a website as there are websites.
One way to build a website is with a tool called WordPress. It began in 2003 as a simple publishing platform for stories (i.e., it was a blogging tool). It gained popularity and evolved into a powerful platform to build almost any kind of website. It has its own ecosystem, and shows no signs of losing relevance. But it's still a top-notch blogging tool.
I started using it in 2005, and now I make my living with it, managing eight sites for an insurance company (along with other duties as assigned). I'm pretty handy with it and, over the years, helped quite a few people start their own sites. I've gotten pretty good at explaining it.
If you're curious about the internet, websites, or blogging, you may be interested WordPress. This is my introduction to it.
What Can You Do With WordPress?
WordPress can be used to build websites that share stories, teach, build a community or sell stuff. Large businesses use it as their public face on the internet, small businesses use it to run their entire business, governments large and small use it to serve their citizens. That's a lot of stuff for one tool. So how does it do it?
WordPress has a flexible architecture and a plugin framework, allowing it to be customized for almost any purpose. Some of those customizations cost money, but a remarkably large number of them are free. (Often, you get the custom software for free, but then pay for support.)
But it still serves it's original mission, blogging, with no fuss or additions needed. Within minutes of installing WordPress, you can have your blog live on the internet. If Creed from The Office realized how easily he could have started his own blog (Creed Thoughts!) the world might be a very different place right now (who needs QAnon when you've got Creed out there?).
You can build a simple website with pages of static content, add a blog (recurring articles) as needed, and upload PDFs of things you'd like to share.
What are WordPress's Alternatives?
WordPress websites range from the simple to the complex, so you have two classes of alternatives: simple and complex.
Simple Website Platform Alternatives
At the simple end of things, there is:
- Wix
- Weebly
- SquareSpace
- WordPress.com
The first three are hosted solutions, meaning you don't have to worry about too much except picking out a domain name (optional), paying for the service, and get busy typing. With them, you can build a simple site of static pages. They also have limited features to sell products.
You can also do that with WordPress, using a hosted solution that takes away a lot of the hassle of arranging hosting and installing the software.
There are dozens of hosted solutions for WordPress, many of them catering to specific niches.
Complex Website Alternatives
Complexity with websites typically involves integrations with other business systems, automated content display, or security. WordPress can be customized to do almost anything, but there are alternatives:
- Joomla
- Drupal
- Django
- Liferay
That list could go on for hundreds of entries. These are chosen when custom programming is needed to accomplish tight integrations with others systems.
This is a WordPress introduction, so I'll not dig any deeper.
How Do I Get Started With WordPress?
Getting started with WordPress is not very different from getting started with any website platform: first, you must think about the content you want to share. Are you an author or artist hoping to build a website to showcase your creative talents? Are you starting a niche blog about something, such as the livability of various American cities? Are you a resort proprietor trying to allow visitors to book a vacation online?
You need to write down what it is you hope to accomplish, what you have to say, and how you want to say it. This is referred to a content strategy, and there are guides (on the internet, of course) and professionals available for hire who will guide you through the process.
A big part of the content strategy is imagery. If you are interested in sharing pictures you've taken, great. That can really add to the snap and sizzle of a website. If not, there are a couple of places on the internet to get images free and licensed to use on your own website. (Pexels.com is the current popular destination.)
Next, think about how much time and money you have available for this project. It's not unlike building a patio in your garden: if you have cash but no time, you can pay someone to do it for you; if you only have time but no money, you can scrounge materials and do the heavy lifting yourself.
How to Learn about WordPress
There are articles, books and courses that will teach you how to build a website with WordPress, all of them a google search away.
As you look for lessons or professional help, shop according to your needs, and take your time about the decision. The worst thing to do is rush into the project, wasting time or money, and having nothing to show for it.
Where WordPress Websites Come From
It'd be cool if websites were delivered, fully formed, by a stork, a few days after we decide we want one. Alas, it's not so simple.
So where do WordPress websites come from?
Websites have a lifecycle not unlike our own. They are conceived in the twinkle of an eye, maybe when we see someone else's website and think, "Gosh that looks like fun."
Full of enthusiasm, we tell people we're ready to get online. "It's going to be big," you think. "This is just what the internet needs."
Then begins the hard work of figuring out what it is we want to accomplish, how to do it, and actually leaning into the picks and shovels to get it done. There may be failures and missteps. It may not turn out just as we hoped.
But literally millions of people have already built websites. There's no good reason you shouldn't be able to figure it out. With a bit of planning, you may even enjoy it.
Just like with starting a family, WordPress is just one way to do it.
Along with doing computer stuff, I write suspense novels and comedies. I’d like to give you one of my books for free because I’m confident you’ll buy others in the future. Sign up here for that book.