How does WordPress work?

WordPress started out as a blogging platform, but quickly grew and expanded to become a world-leading content management system (CMS). Developers have created a huge variety of themes, plugins and addons that allow users to create bespoke websites, even if they are relatively unskilled in the world of web design.

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One of the most popular online platforms

According to Forbes – which uses WordPress for its own website – the platform has been used to create over 74 million websites, representing more than a quarter of all the websites around the world. You don’t need to know how it works to be able to use it, but it helps to know some basic principles.

The main categories in WordPress

The platform uses four categories of content: Posts, Comments, Users and Terms, which all have their own functions:

Posts, attachments and pages are all types of CPT, or Custom Post Type, which allow you to organise and edit your site with the minimum amount of fuss, and makes it easy to structure your website exactly as you wish. Every CPT offers a variety of options, which you can modify according to your particular needs.

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Comments are more basic. They are attached to posts, and there’s usually little need to change any of the data requirements.

Users can be defined with different permissions, allowing assigned individuals to alter, add or remove posts, according to their role. Some of the assigned roles include Editor, Contributor, Author and Administrator.

Terms can be hierarchical or non-hierarchical, and allow administrators to sort posts into categories, making the website easier to navigate. Taxonomies can be customised to sort Custom Post Types, giving your website a better structure, before being further sorted into terms.

If all of this seems too much to take in, there’s no need to worry, as there are plenty of web design companies who specialise in creating custom WordPress websites for all types of clients, from the smallest concern through to large corporate sites. Some design teams, such as https://happy2host.com/, who specialise in WordPress web design in London, also offer a hosting service, allowing clients to take advantage of a complete package that can be adapted to suit their needs.

You don’t need to understand how WordPress works to build a website, but the more knowledge you do possess, the better your website will function.