WordPress was nothing but a company started in 2003 with little code to improve the typography of everyday writing. But, this definition is not suitable for the world’s largest CMS (Content management system). Today, WordPress is one of the largest self-hosted blogging tools in the world. Since then, the company has grown as a giant and supports more than 50% of the whole internet. This is a huge number. WordPress made this glory from the WordPress website called wordpress.org.
This is a content management system, that can be installed on your web host if you have one. Now you got a basic idea for the question, what is WordPress. Now we can look into more details of the highly customizable CMS.
Self-Hosted WordPress
Self Hosted WordPress is a version of WordPress that you can host on your own web hosting server. You will be in complete control of the code off your website. And you can make almost any changes that you wish to it. If you choose to go with the self-hosted version of WordPress, you will have to purchase your own domain name and hosting services in order to host the WordPress platform. That means it will cost you some amount. But in return, you will be able to build a professional website without any limitations.
Hosted WordPress
Hosted WordPress or wordpress.com is a platform provided by the creators of WordPress in order to help users make their own websites without spending a penny. Of course, you will be limited in a lot of areas, such as the inability to install additional plugins, you won’t be given a custom domain name, performance limitations, etc. But most of the interface and other features are similar to the self-hosted version. If you are just getting started, the hosted WordPress version is the best way to get familiar with WordPress features and functionalities.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
WordPress.com is something different from WordPress.org. While wordpress.com is the hosted version of WordPress, wordpress.org is the self-hosted one.
If you want to learn what WordPress is, the best option is to choose the .com version, which provides free website creation, a limited number of themes, and customization options. But it is absolutely free of cost. You can create a free website on wordpress.com with some limited features.
The website will be created as the subdomain of the wordpress.com. For example, if you chose the name of your website as ‘WPThinker‘, the real address of your website will be wpthinker.wordpress.com. Anytime in the feature when you decide to make the website a serious one, you can upgrade from the free WordPress hosting to the self-hosted version to enjoy its full features.
Don’t like the limitations, you can always go for the self-hosted version of WordPress where you get full access to your website. But, you must have a Domain name and a web hosting account, which might cost some money. The WordPress software will be integrated into the web hosting account alongside with your domain name and thus creates a CMS with all the features to make your website completely as you decide. Thousands of themes and plugins available on the WordPress repository will power the website.
Advantages of Hosted WordPress
- Can be easily set up and quickly launch the website
- No maintenance or server management needed
- Automatic backups and security updates free of cost
- User-friendly interface and pre-designed templates (limited)
- Suitable for beginners or non-technical users without prior knowledge
- Integration with the WordPress.com community and its features
- Hassle-free hosting without any manual interventions required
- Built-in features for a basic website, such as contact forms
- Accessibility from any device using the website or separate apps
- Seamless upgrades and improvements without manual actions
Advantages of Self-Hosted WordPress
- You will get complete control and ownership of your WordPress website
- Ability to completely customize and modify your site
- A vast library of plugins and themes for extended functionality
- Extremely scalable to handle high-traffic volumes
- Seamless integration with third-party services and tools
- Can monetize your website with various methods
- Advanced SEO optimization and customization features using plugins
- Ability to choose your own hosting provider and server configuration
- No restrictions on the number of websites you can create
- Freedom to fully manage and secure your website according to your needs
Why WordPress
Why WordPress?… there are so many other popular CMS like Drupal and Joomla. Then why choose WordPress? Read the following paragraphs to get the answer. The simple answer would be, that WordPress CMS is something different and unique from the ordinary CMS and does more than a basic content management system.
WordPress login is the door to the WordPress playground. It uses a Username Password format to allow entrance, with numerical questions to verify humanity and reduce spam attempts. As spamming and hacking increase day by day, this login process can ensure the protection of the WordPress backend slightly. Once you clear that, you will reach a simple and elegant WordPress dashboard.
The WordPress design is the most elegant among the CMS siblings, and the dashboard with some built-in useful tools also contributes towards its likeness. Even beginners know how to use WordPress because of its simplicity and extremely useful interface. WordPress developers are always paying attention to keeping the versions updated. They are updating it frequently with all bug fixes and even introducing some new features in every new update.
WordPress blogs are very common on the internet because it has the ability to compete with other popular blogging platforms like Blogger, Weebly, Wix, etc. with its extremely useful features. While all others are limited with some built-in themes and mostly concentrated on coding languages like HTML and CSS, WordPress accepted a user-friendly approach for providing the easiest way of designing a website. You are in complete control of how your website can look and feel.
Conclusion
Now you got the complete answer to your question, what is WordPress and its features. Overall, it is the best platform for creating and managing a website in the easiest way. Moreover, free website creation is also a part of it, which is greatly helpful to newbies. You must give it a try to WordPress because it is worth it.
FAQs
If you are a beginner, we would recommend going with the hosted version of WordPress. it doesn’t cost you any money, provides almost all functionalities as the self-hosted version, and decently powerful.
No. You will not be able to use a custom theme or plugin with the hosted WordPress. You will only be able to use the themes available in the WordPress repository. Also, you will not be able to upload or use any custom plugins.
The migration process from the hosted WordPress to the self-hosted WordPress will be pretty easy because both of them are essentially running on the same software.
