Introduction to WordPress - CMS

WordPress is an open-source Content Management System for websites. It is based on PHP and MySQL. So, what is an open-source application? To begin with, an application developed by a community or public collaboration is considered an open-source application. Apart from that, the source code for the application is freely available so that users can inspect and alter the code as per their requirements.

Those, who would want to build websites but unable to do so for lack of technical know-how. For them, WordPress is a perfect solution. WordPress, at present, holds a considerable market share when it comes to building websites. Though it is not the only solution. There are numerous other options available as well like Drupal, Magento etc.

WordPress was first released on May 27, 2003 under the GPLv2+ licence. There are two versions available to its users. Depending on requirements, users can opt for either Self Hosted or Fully Managed versions. Self Hosted version can be downloaded as a software from the website – https://wordpress.org. Or, we can utilize fully managed version through the website https://wordpress.com.

WordPress holds considerable market share and that is one of the reason for its resource-richness. It is far ahead when compared with its peers. There are numerous plugins, themes that make our life easy. It has got a plugin for every functionality a regular website publisher can think of. But, that also comes with a warning. Not all themes or plugins get updated regularly. So, always choose the ones which are actively maintained or we may have to face security issues later. Overall, its resource-richness has helped its users.

Summarizing the available versions –

A. Fully Managed version:

This version is available through https://wordpress.com. On the website, you can host your website either for free with limited functionality or for a fee. Personal, Premium and Business – are three paid subscription plans available. Choose one as per your requirements. We don’t have to worry about updates with this version. This will be taken care of by the CMS itself. Apart from that, the changes that you could make to the CMS would be limited and more or less it would depend on your subscription plan.

B. Self Hosted Version:

You have to download the application software from the website https://wordpress.org. The advantage of using a self hosted version is that you can customize this version as much as you want. But, setting up the self hosted version may take sometime when compared with its counterpart on https://wordpress.com. Especially, if you are not that tech-savvy.

In conclusion, both the versions are available to its users. Choose one as per your requirements.

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