Creating a website is much more simple and economical that a few years ago, and this has been possible thanks to the content managers, being WordPress one of the most popular platforms among beginners and experts. In this article, learn what this system for managing web content consists of and discover its main features.
What is WordPress?
WordPress it's a content management system, focused on the creation of any type of web page and launched on May 27, 2003, by the American programmer Matt Mullenweg and the English web developer Mike Little. content managers -in English: content manager system (CMS)—consist of web programs or applications that allow the creation of a work environment for the creating, managing and publishing content on a website by administrators, editors and other users.
Main features of WordPress
According to recent reports, 25% of all the web pages in the world have been created with WordPress, and if we consider only those built using a content management system (CMS), the percentage rises to 60%. Over time, WordPress has become the most used and best valued platform, especially for its flexibility and simplicity in the construction, use and management of web content; in addition to facilitating search engine positioning —in English: search engine optimization (SEO)—, adapting web formats to different mobile devices and constantly updating designs. In its early years, it achieved great popularity in the creation of personal diaries or blogs, and then became one of the main tools for creating e-commerce websites.
Besides, WordPress it's a software open source -in English: open source software (OSS)—which simplifies its installation and database customization. In other words, it consists of a source code designed in a decentralized and collaborative way, allowing users to use, modify and redistribute the software as appropriate. Being developed by communities, it presents several advantages such as the production of more efficient programs, with fewer errors and adapted to the specific needs of each user. Besides, WordPress has a system of plugins which allows you to extend its capabilities and functions, thus achieving a content management system (CMS) more flexible.
Currently, exist two versions of WordPress:
- The Simple version of WordPress —available in wordpress.com—, with a free domain and specialized web hosting service, which only requires the creation of a username and password to start editing a web page.
- The full version of WordPress —available in wordpress.org—, aimed at people who already have web hosting, which allows the platform code to be modified according to the needs of each user.
With WordPress can be created blogs, corporate websites, online stores, support forums, digital newspapers or magazines, reservation centers, information directories, among many other types of websites. In fact, the possibilities are almost endless given the extensive catalog of themes and templates. Finally, One of the most attractive features of WordPress is that it is free, In addition to being automatically updated and being a software international, allows you to create web pages in any language.
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