Growing exponentially since it was released in 2003, WordPress is an extremely powerful (and free) blog publishing and content management system (CMS) program developed by Matt Mullenweg.
While it was initially designed to power blogs, WordPress has grown and advanced over the years to be able to function as a fully-fledged website publishing platform. Since the program/service is free to use, it has developed a massive user and developer base that continues to fuel the growth of its features and services.
The 2 Elements That Make WordPress So Awesome & Easy
In addition to being extremely easy to use (even the newest beginners can use it in a short amount of time), WordPress has two components that make enhancing and creating a site or blog very easy and pain-free. The great part about these two features of WordPress is that they reduce or eliminate the need for an average person to know how to program or develop websites.
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Plugins
WordPress describes them as “tools to extend the functionality of WordPress.. Plugins offer custom functions and features so that each user can tailor their site to their specific needs.” Plugins are installed either by FTP or through the admin area of WordPress itself.
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Themes
Every WordPress site or blog comes installed with a standard “theme.” A WordPress “theme” is a design or layout that is intended to make your site look a certain way. In applications outside of WordPress (other website software) themes would be referred to as “templates” “skins” “designs” or anything that would be used to describe the look and layout of a site or blog.
Themes are uploaded just like plugins – either by FTP or through the admin area of WordPress.
