Glossary

WordPress Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the WordPress terms you meet while building and running a site, from plugins and permalinks to hooks and caching.

100 terms

#

301 Redirect: A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one.

A

Action Hook: An action hook is a point in WordPress where you can run your own function at a specific moment, using the add_action() function.
Administrator: The Administrator is the WordPress role with full control over a single site, including its settings, users, plugins and themes.
Akismet: Akismet is an anti-spam service by Automattic that checks comments and form submissions on WordPress sites and filters out spam automatically.
Author Role: The Author role lets a WordPress user write, publish and manage their own posts, but not anyone else's.

B

Backup: A WordPress backup is a saved copy of a site's files and database that you can use to restore the site if something goes wrong.
Block: A block is a single unit of content in the WordPress block editor, such as a paragraph, heading, image, button or list.
Block Editor (Gutenberg): The block editor, also called Gutenberg, is the default WordPress editor where every paragraph, image and heading is a separate block.
Block Pattern: A block pattern is a ready-made group of blocks, like a header or call-to-action section, that you insert in one click and then edit.
Block Theme: A block theme is a WordPress theme built entirely with blocks, so you can edit every template, header and footer in the Site Editor.
Brute Force Attack: A brute force attack is an attempt to break into a site by automatically guessing usernames and passwords until one works.

C

Caching: Caching is the process of storing ready-made copies of web pages or data so a site can serve them faster on the next request.
Canonical URL: A canonical URL is the preferred address of a page, marked with a tag that tells search engines which version to index.
Category: A category is a broad, hierarchical group used to sort WordPress posts by topic, such as News, Tutorials or Reviews.
CDN: A CDN, or content delivery network, is a group of servers worldwide that delivers a site's files from the location nearest each visitor.
Child Theme: A child theme is a theme that inherits the design and features of a parent theme, so you can customize it without losing changes on updates.
Classic Editor: The Classic Editor is the old TinyMCE-based WordPress editor used before 5.0, now available through the official Classic Editor plugin.
Comment Moderation: Comment moderation is the process of reviewing comments and choosing to approve, hold, mark as spam or trash them.
Content Management System (CMS): A content management system (CMS) is software that lets you create, edit and organize website content without writing code.
Contributor Role: The Contributor role lets a WordPress user write and edit their own posts but not publish them, so an Editor or Administrator must approve each one.
Custom Fields: Custom fields are extra pieces of information, saved as name and value pairs, that you can attach to a WordPress post or page.
Custom Post Type: A custom post type is a content type you add to WordPress, apart from posts and pages, to manage content like products, events or portfolios.
Customizer: The Customizer is a WordPress tool, found under Appearance, that lets you change your theme's settings while seeing a live preview of your site.

D

Dashboard: The Dashboard is the WordPress admin area where you manage your site's content, design, plugins, users and settings.
Debug Mode (WP_DEBUG): Debug mode is a WordPress setting, turned on with WP_DEBUG in wp-config.php, that displays or logs PHP errors and warnings.
DNS: DNS, or Domain Name System, is the Internet's directory that converts domain names into the IP addresses of servers.
Domain Name: A domain name is the easy-to-remember address people type into a browser to reach a website, such as wpthinker.com.

E

Editor Role: The Editor role lets a WordPress user publish and manage all posts and pages, including other people's, without access to site settings.
Excerpt: An excerpt is a short summary of a WordPress post, shown on blog listings, archives, search results and sometimes in RSS feeds.

F

Featured Image: A featured image, also called a post thumbnail, is the main image that represents a post or page across your WordPress site.
Filter Hook: A filter hook lets you take a piece of WordPress data, change it with your own function and return it before it is used or shown.
functions.php: functions.php is a theme file that adds features and custom PHP code to a WordPress site while that theme is active.

G

Gravatar: Gravatar, short for Globally Recognized Avatar, is a free service that links a profile picture to your email address.

H

Hooks: Hooks are points in the WordPress code where plugins and themes can attach their own functions to run code or change data.
.htaccess: .htaccess is a hidden configuration file used by Apache servers to control permalinks, redirects and access rules for a website.

L

Lazy Loading: Lazy loading is a technique that delays loading images and embeds until a visitor scrolls close to them, making pages load faster.

M

Maintenance Mode: Maintenance mode is a temporary state in which visitors see a short notice instead of your site while you update or fix it.
Malware: Malware is malicious code that infects a website to harm it, steal data, redirect visitors or misuse its server.
Managed WordPress Hosting: Managed WordPress hosting is a hosting service where the provider handles the technical upkeep of your WordPress site for you.
Media Library: The Media Library is the place in WordPress where all your uploaded images, videos, audio files and documents are stored.
Multisite: WordPress Multisite is a built-in feature that lets you run a network of many websites from a single WordPress installation.
Must-Use Plugin: A must-use plugin is a plugin in the wp-content/mu-plugins folder that WordPress loads automatically and that can't be deactivated.
MySQL: MySQL is a free, open-source database management system that WordPress uses to store and retrieve all of a site's content.

N

Navigation Menu: A navigation menu is a list of links, usually in the header, that helps visitors reach the main pages, posts and categories of a site.
Nonce: A nonce is a security token WordPress adds to links and forms to confirm that a request really came from the logged-in user.

O

Object Cache: Object cache is a WordPress feature that stores the results of database queries in memory so they can be reused quickly.

P

Page: A page is a static, timeless piece of content in WordPress, such as an About or Contact page, kept outside the blog listing.
Page Builder: A page builder is a WordPress plugin that lets you design pages visually by dragging and dropping elements, without writing any code.
Page Template: A page template is a layout file or design that controls how a specific WordPress page is displayed, such as full width or no sidebar.
Permalink: A permalink is the permanent URL of a WordPress post, page or archive that people use to visit, share and bookmark it.
PHP: PHP is the server-side programming language WordPress is written in. It runs on your web server and builds the pages visitors see.
phpMyAdmin: phpMyAdmin is a free web-based tool for managing MySQL and MariaDB databases, including the one that powers your WordPress site.
Pingback and Trackback: Pingbacks and trackbacks are notifications one blog sends to another when it links to it, shown as comments on the linked post.
Plugin: A plugin is a piece of software that adds new features or functions to a WordPress website without changing the core code.
Post: A post is a dated piece of content in WordPress, such as a blog article, listed in reverse chronological order on your blog.

R

Responsive Design: Responsive design is a way of building websites so that the layout automatically adjusts to fit any screen, from desktops to phones.
REST API: The REST API is a set of URLs that lets apps and websites read and update WordPress content by sending requests and receiving JSON data.
Revisions: Revisions are saved copies of a post or page that WordPress keeps each time you save, so you can compare and restore older versions.
robots.txt: robots.txt is a text file at the root of your site that tells search engine bots which parts of the site they may crawl.
RSS Feed: An RSS feed is an automatically updated file that lists a site's latest posts so readers and apps can follow new content.

S

Scheduled Post: A scheduled post is a WordPress post set to publish automatically at a future date and time that you choose.
Schema Markup: Schema markup is structured data code that describes your content to search engines and can help them show rich results.
Security Keys and Salts: Security keys and salts are secret random values in wp-config.php that WordPress uses to protect the login cookies of your users.
SEO Plugin: An SEO plugin is a WordPress plugin that helps you optimize titles, meta descriptions, sitemaps and more so search engines understand your site.
Shortcode: A shortcode is a small code in square brackets that WordPress replaces with special content, such as a gallery, a form or a video.
Sidebar: A sidebar is a vertical column beside your main content, or any theme widget area, that displays widgets like search, categories and popular posts.
Site Editor (Full Site Editing): The Site Editor is the WordPress tool for full site editing, where you design templates, headers, footers and global styles with blocks.
Site Icon (Favicon): A site icon, or favicon, is the small square image that represents your website in browser tabs, bookmarks and phone home screens.
Slug: A slug is the short, URL-friendly part of a web address that identifies a specific post, page, category or tag.
SSL Certificate: An SSL certificate is a small data file that enables HTTPS and encrypts the connection between a website and its visitors.
Staging Site: A staging site is a private copy of a live website where you can test updates, plugins and design changes safely.
Sticky Post: A sticky post is a WordPress post pinned to the top of your blog page, so it stays above newer posts until you unstick it.
Subscriber Role: The Subscriber role is the lowest WordPress role: the user can log in, read content and manage only their own profile.
Synced Pattern: A synced pattern, formerly called a reusable block, is a saved group of blocks that updates everywhere on your site when you edit it once.

T

Tag: A tag is an optional keyword you add to a WordPress post to describe its specific details and link it with similar posts.
Taxonomy: A taxonomy is a system for grouping WordPress content. Categories and tags are the two taxonomies most beginners use.
Template Hierarchy: The template hierarchy is the set of rules WordPress follows to pick the right theme template file for each page, from specific to general.
The Loop: The Loop is the PHP code WordPress themes use to go through the posts on a page and display each one's title, content and details.
Theme: A WordPress theme is a set of files that controls the design of your site, including its layout, colors, fonts, header and footer.
theme.json: theme.json is a theme configuration file that defines a site's colors, fonts, spacing, layout widths and editor options in WordPress.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a login method that asks for a second proof, such as a code from your phone, in addition to your password.

U

User Roles: User roles in WordPress are sets of permissions that decide what each logged-in user can and cannot do on your site.

W

Web Application Firewall (WAF): A web application firewall (WAF) is a filter that inspects traffic to your website and blocks malicious requests before they can do harm.
Web Hosting: Web hosting is a service that stores your website's files and database on a server so people can visit it on the Internet.
White Screen of Death: The White Screen of Death is a blank white page with no error message, usually caused by a PHP error in a plugin or theme.
Widget: A widget is a small block of content or a feature, like a search box or recent posts list, that you place in a sidebar or footer area.
WooCommerce: WooCommerce is a free, open-source eCommerce plugin that turns a WordPress site into a fully working online store.
WordPress Core: WordPress core is the base WordPress software, including wp-admin and wp-includes, that every site runs on, separate from themes and plugins.
WordPress Database: The WordPress database is where a site stores its posts, pages, comments, users and settings, usually in MySQL or MariaDB.
WordPress Migration: WordPress migration is the process of moving a WordPress site, including its files and database, to a new host, server or domain.
WordPress.com: WordPress.com is a hosted website service by Automattic that runs the WordPress software for you, with free and paid plans.
WordPress.org: WordPress.org is the official home of the free, open-source WordPress software that you install on your own web hosting.
wp-admin: wp-admin is the WordPress admin area where you manage content and settings, and also the core folder that powers it.
WP-CLI: WP-CLI is the official command-line tool for WordPress that lets you manage plugins, themes, users and updates by typing commands.
wp-config.php: wp-config.php is the core configuration file that connects WordPress to its database and holds important site-wide settings.
wp-content: wp-content is the WordPress folder that stores everything you add to a site, including themes, plugins and uploaded media files.
WP-Cron: WP-Cron is the built-in WordPress system that runs scheduled tasks, such as publishing posts and checking for updates, when someone visits the site.
WP_Query: WP_Query is a PHP class in WordPress that fetches posts from the database based on conditions like post type, category or number of posts.

X

XML Sitemap: An XML sitemap is a file that lists the important URLs of your website, so search engines can find and crawl them easily.
XML-RPC: XML-RPC is an older WordPress feature, handled by the xmlrpc.php file, that lets outside apps publish and manage content on your site remotely.