WordPress

In addition to easy handling, free access contributes to the popularity of the system. The functions contained can be expanded with numerous plug-ins and adapted to the user. Blog marketing can also be successfully operated via WordPress.

Functionality

The creation of a blog in WordPress is based on the modular principle. The dashboard in the admin area is used for editing websites. It includes ready-made function buttons for designing a WordPress blog. The content is also managed here. Articles you have written yourself can be assigned to freely definable categories and keywords, making it easier to find them again. When an article references statements in another article, a trackback is inserted, which automatically notifies the author of the other article. When publishing an article, the administrator is free to decide whether or not to allow comments from blog visitors. Comments and unwanted links can also be removed later if necessary.

Development of WordPress

An infographic from elegantthemes.com provides interesting information about the development of WordPress

• 69% of users use WordPress alone as a CMS
• 46 million downloads in 2013 (equivalent to 126,000 downloads per day)
• 6,758 new plugins in 2013
• 336 new themes in 2013

Theme

WordPress stores content such as text and comments independently of the associated design. This means that changes can be made to the design without changing the content. Numerous free and chargeable design templates (WordPress templates) are offered, giving the content an individual character. However, these so-called “WordPress themes ” can also be modified or created manually. WordPress uses its own program for this. PHP programming knowledge is therefore not required.

Plugins

Like the WordPress blog system itself, most of the associated plug-ins are also provided free of charge. There are two variants for expanding the range of functions with plug-ins, with the first being particularly suitable for inexperienced users.

A ZIP file is uploaded in the administration area via the “Plug-In” tab. The new function is unpacked and then set up automatically and does not require any further settings on the user interface.

If this method does not lead to the desired success, you can also carry out the installation yourself. To do this, the file with the plug-in is first unpacked manually and then uploaded. The use of suitable FTP software is recommended for setting access rights. After activating the plug-in using the corresponding button, the function should now be available. Numerous SEO plug-ins such as Yoast are also offered for WordPress.

Advantages

• Cost savings in the IT area, because both the creation and maintenance of a website are particularly expensive.
• The content already appears in the index of the search engines while the text is being created. In this way, the blog system contributes to search engine optimization.
• The software enjoys a huge user community. Numerous forums offer help with problems. This help is usually quick and the proposed solutions are quite qualified.
• Positioning and design of posts can take place flexibly in terms of time, since the content is automatically and chronologically archived after creation. The publication is either manual or time-controlled.

Alternatives to WordPress

Aside from WordPress, there are a variety of other content management systems that can be said to be alternatives. Important competitors of WordPress are Drupal and Joomla, which also take up a large part of the market with 9 and 10%. Other notable alternatives include:

• Text pattern
• Contao CMS
• TYPE 3
• Web to date
• PmWiki
• LifeType
• Serendipity
• XAMPP