The Wonder of the WordPress CMS

Why WordPress is our content management system of choice

Over a decade ago, the use of a content management system for many medium-sized websites was a rarity. Hand coding and the use of programs like Dreamweaver and (gulp!) Microsoft Frontpage, were commonplace. In 2006, weblogging started to take off, and most bloggers would have used a content management system of some description. As well as Google’s own Blogger, there was one other blogging client that stood out from the crowd: WordPress – which is standard use Dreamkatacha web design.

WordPress was launched on 27 May 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. It is an open-source CMS with a supportive community and began life as a fork of b2/Cafelog. Its present name was suggested by Christine Selleck Tremoulet. There is a wealth of themes and plugins available for free or at modest prices.

The success of WordPress is pretty meteoric. Shortly, it usurped Google’s Blogger, wiping the floor with Live Journal. Then it started eclipsing other content management systems like Joomla!, Drupal, and Typo3. Though largely associated with blogging, it has begun to hold its own as an easy to use CMS for medium-sized websites. Sites that would have been hard-coded a decade ago. February 2016 figures state that WordPress created sites account for 25.8% of all websites on the World Wide Web. Of websites built with a content management system of some description, the figure stands at 59.1%.

Dot com or dot org?

The use of .com and .org domains by WordPress may befuddle the absolute beginner at first. The .org domain refers to all the general information about the CMS, from support forums to updates. If you wish to install WordPress on your own server (or let us do it for you), you go to the .org version of the site for the latest version. At this time of writing, it is 4.6.1, which is a subset of the Pepper update. Since 03 January 2004, all its updates have taken the names of jazz musicians.

The .com version is the one associated with many users. Especially if you have your own blog. For example, a fan’s blog on watching Reading Football Club could have the domain name https://inthecolonyofbiscuitmen.wordpress.com. Unless you host the blog on your own server, a WordPress powered blog is on the subdomain of the .com website.

Why we love WordPress:

• Ease of use: the learning curve is more gradual for beginners. Compared with Drupal and Joomla!, it is lauded for its user-friendliness.
• Expandable: besides enabling you to add posts and pages within the CMS’s user interface, you can add plugins to your installation.
• Modular: there is a wealth of support for free and paid-for themes and plugins.
• Community: the WordPress Foundation has one of the most active community groups that help to improve and promote the CMS. This augurs well for any technical support issues.
• Security: due to its comprehensive community support, any bugs, glitches, and security alerts are dealt with very quickly.

Who else uses WordPress?

• The Sun and Metro newspapers’ websites;
• The Rolling Stones;
• General Motors;
• Sony;
• Boing Boing.

We could talk all night about the finer points of our adopted CMS, but this piece should be enough to pique your interest. If you have any further queries, why not give us a call on 07771 818111 or contact us on this form. We shall be happy to hear from you.

Dreamkatcha, 18 October 2016