WordPress is an open source content management solution often used as a blog publishing application.
Like many other CMS it is powered by PHP and MySQL, and being part of the open source community it is constantly being developed and updated by hundreds of developers working on it all over the world.
WordPress is completely customizable; although it is very current, its roots and development actually goes back to 2001.
Earlier versions were susceptible to hacking, but it is now one of the most secure CMS platforms on the Internet.
Blog In the beginning, WordPress was developed as a blogging platform, but it has evolved to become a full content management system with thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes available to extend the original functionality.
The range of options available has made it one of the largest self-hosted blogging tools in the world; WordPress can be found in use on millions of sites around the world and seen by tens of millions of people every day.
Hosting WordPress can be deployed using various methods on a hosting environment; in fact, many shared web hosting services provided automatic WordPress installation through the user control panel using utilities such as Fantastico.
Professional web developers have also taken WordPress to heart because it is such an easy content management system to customise; many site owners do not want the burden of installing and creating a website, and so turn to a developer to do the job for them.
Developers often charge more for this than for other hosting products, despite the code being available for free.
Open source The WordPress source code and all the plugins in the official directory are offered under a GPL or compatible license and therefore free of charge.
Many individuals believe that the open source movement is the best thing to have happened to the internet in years, but many big corporations see it as a serious threat to their business.
Although the threat is real, there are still many companies that don't realize that Open Source software is compatible with commercial activities and continue to spend thousands of dollars in developing commercial content management solutions.
Community One of the reasons that WordPress is so popular must be the large community that has grown up to support it.
This community has an amazing number of followers, and most new converts find it more than adequate for their support needs.
The latest development to have come from WordPress is the multi-user version, or MU, that now makes it possible for those with a website to host their own blogging community in addition to being able to control and moderate all the blogs from a single dashboard.
Installation One of the best known features of WordPress is its simple installation process.
This is very easy and takes only a few minutes to complete.
WordPress can also be installed via a third party "Turnkey" appliance which does not require any manual setup.
The rich plugin architecture allows users and developers to extend the functionality of the website beyond the standard features included in the base install.
Content Management Solution WordPress is the most popular CMS in use today and is used by over 12% of the 1,000,000 biggest websites.
A significant number of companies still regard Joomla as the best open source CMS, but WordPress is definitely more user-friendly than Joomla and most of the other content management solutions available today.
Conclusion WordPress has roots that go back to 2001, but is without doubt the number one user-installed web application today, and its growth shows no signs of slowing down.
It is one of the most secure CMS platforms available, and is well known for its ease of installation.
WordPress is indeed here to stay.
Like many other CMS it is powered by PHP and MySQL, and being part of the open source community it is constantly being developed and updated by hundreds of developers working on it all over the world.
WordPress is completely customizable; although it is very current, its roots and development actually goes back to 2001.
Earlier versions were susceptible to hacking, but it is now one of the most secure CMS platforms on the Internet.
Blog In the beginning, WordPress was developed as a blogging platform, but it has evolved to become a full content management system with thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes available to extend the original functionality.
The range of options available has made it one of the largest self-hosted blogging tools in the world; WordPress can be found in use on millions of sites around the world and seen by tens of millions of people every day.
Hosting WordPress can be deployed using various methods on a hosting environment; in fact, many shared web hosting services provided automatic WordPress installation through the user control panel using utilities such as Fantastico.
Professional web developers have also taken WordPress to heart because it is such an easy content management system to customise; many site owners do not want the burden of installing and creating a website, and so turn to a developer to do the job for them.
Developers often charge more for this than for other hosting products, despite the code being available for free.
Open source The WordPress source code and all the plugins in the official directory are offered under a GPL or compatible license and therefore free of charge.
Many individuals believe that the open source movement is the best thing to have happened to the internet in years, but many big corporations see it as a serious threat to their business.
Although the threat is real, there are still many companies that don't realize that Open Source software is compatible with commercial activities and continue to spend thousands of dollars in developing commercial content management solutions.
Community One of the reasons that WordPress is so popular must be the large community that has grown up to support it.
This community has an amazing number of followers, and most new converts find it more than adequate for their support needs.
The latest development to have come from WordPress is the multi-user version, or MU, that now makes it possible for those with a website to host their own blogging community in addition to being able to control and moderate all the blogs from a single dashboard.
Installation One of the best known features of WordPress is its simple installation process.
This is very easy and takes only a few minutes to complete.
WordPress can also be installed via a third party "Turnkey" appliance which does not require any manual setup.
The rich plugin architecture allows users and developers to extend the functionality of the website beyond the standard features included in the base install.
Content Management Solution WordPress is the most popular CMS in use today and is used by over 12% of the 1,000,000 biggest websites.
A significant number of companies still regard Joomla as the best open source CMS, but WordPress is definitely more user-friendly than Joomla and most of the other content management solutions available today.
Conclusion WordPress has roots that go back to 2001, but is without doubt the number one user-installed web application today, and its growth shows no signs of slowing down.
It is one of the most secure CMS platforms available, and is well known for its ease of installation.
WordPress is indeed here to stay.
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