The Best CMS – WordPress

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) for website designer, bloggers and webmasters.  Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little released the first edition of WordPress in 2003 to a good reception.  Since the first release, WordPress has been downloaded worldwide tens of millions of times.  WordPress is based on PHP code and MySQL , one of the most used source codes today.  WordPress is popular among developers, programmers and even bloggers.  WordPress popularity is related to the ease of use as well as an abundance of widgets, plug-in apps and templates.  WordPress styles and designs can be customized by those with a range of technical abilities from limited to expert, so long as users have imagination and a desire to create.  WordPress won a variety of awards in 2007 and 2009 – 2011 for best open source software.

WordPress’ popularity centers on ease of use, consumer familiarity and it’s extensive customizability.  WordPress works well with search engines and allows easy tagging of posts and webpage content.  With WordPress, users can install new webpage themes and use the themes interchangeably.  The themes allow users to vary the way WordPress pages appear and alters the functions of the page without changing the website content or basic structure.  Also, WordPress is highly customizable with the help of nearly 30,000 plug-ins available; user can adjust and tweak websites to suit their needs.  The use of plug-ins allows users to extend WordPress far beyond the original program.  The release of WordPress 3.0 and the Multi-User format allowed for the development of potential communities of bloggers on a single site.  That is, multiple bloggers can blog to a single site governed by a single administrator on a single controlling dashboard. WordPress functions with a limited set of features for many mobile devices like phones with the Android format and mobile Apple operating systems.

The latest release of WordPress, version 3.9, is now available in Beta for download.  WordPress 3.9 is chock full of new widgets and themes, it illustrates the reason WordPress remains so popular.  The new features improve image editing as well as improving audio and video play and editing with the addition of links for accessibility.  The new WordPress incorporates HTML5, sure to be popular with programmers.  The new release of WordPress promises to improve mobile device interface and accessibility.  Unfortunately, the wide use of WordPress has made it a target for attacks over the years.  With each new release, patches are created and the WordPress community is encouraged to report vulnerabilities.

To learn about WordPress there several popular and inexpensive sources including, “WordPress To Go – How To Build A WordPress Website On Your Own Domain, From Scratch, Even If You Are A Complete Beginner” (2012) by Sarah McHarry.  The WordPress.org website offers up to date information as well as interactive and downloadable resources.  There are WordPress mailing list newsletters,  forums  and even WordPress Camp.  The first WordPress camp was held in 2006 and continues, the camps continue today and are conference dedicated solely to all things WordPress.

 

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