Guide to WordPress

If you have ever looked into building a website, you have almost certainly come across WordPress. It powers a significant portion of the web, and you can create websites of almost any kind with it, from personal blogs to large commercial sites, a job it has done for over two decades. But what actually makes it worth choosing, and what do you need to know before you get started?

This WordPress guide covers the basics: what WordPress is, how it works, and the key concepts you will meet when building websites with it. Treat it as a short WordPress tutorial before you commit to the platform.

What WordPress is

WordPress is a content management system (CMS), and an open source CMS at that. This versatile CMS has grown into the most popular CMS on the web because it gives you a way to create content, then edit and publish it on a website without writing code from scratch. The WordPress software powers dynamic websites through a user friendly interface, so content creation does not require web development skills. You log in to a dashboard, write your content, and publish it. The CMS handles the underlying structure.

There are two versions worth knowing about. WordPress.com is a hosted service where your site lives on WordPress’s own infrastructure. The main difference is where your site lives. WordPress.org is the self hosted version, where you download the software and run it on your own hosting account. Most people who want control over their site, including the ability to install plugins and custom themes, use the self-hosted version. That is what this post focuses on.

What you can build with WordPress

Because the software is so flexible, people use it to create websites of almost every kind. It started as blogging software, but today it runs dynamic websites that reach well beyond a simple blog.

Blogs and content sites: the original use case, where each new WordPress post appears on your home page in date order.
Business and brochure sites: a set of static pages such as a home page, services and contact details.
Online stores: add WooCommerce and your own website becomes a full shop.
Membership and learning sites: plugins gate content behind logins for your WordPress users.

Whatever you are building, the same WordPress software sits underneath, so the skills you learn developing sites of one type carry straight over to the next.

How WordPress is structured

A WordPress site is built on WordPress core plus a few components you manage from the WordPress dashboard. Understanding what each one does will help you make sense of that dashboard when you first log in.

Themes: A WordPress theme controls how your WordPress website looks. It defines the layout, typography, colours and overall visual style. You can switch themes without losing your content. A free theme from the directory suits most sites, while a premium theme or a modern block theme adds advanced features and extensive customization through the WordPress Customizer or the Site Editor.
Plugins: Plugins add functionality to your site. There are WordPress plugins for contact forms, search engine optimization (SEO), caching, e-commerce, security and much more. The WordPress plugin directory contains a vast library of tens of thousands of free options, with premium alternatives available from third-party developers.
Posts and pages: Each WordPress post is a time-stamped entry typically used for blog content. Pages hold static content, such as your home page, About or other static pages. Content creation in both relies on WordPress blocks, and you publish posts or static pages from the same editor, though WordPress organises and displays them differently.
The block editor: WordPress uses a block-based editor called Gutenberg. Each piece of content, whether a paragraph, image, heading or button, is its own block. You can rearrange blocks, adjust their settings and build layouts without touching any code.
The database: WordPress stores all your content, settings and user data in a MySQL database. Your hosting account manages this in the background. You rarely need to interact with it directly, but it is worth knowing it exists, particularly when it comes to backups.

Installing WordPress

Most hosting providers offer a one-click WordPress installer through their control panel. With cPanel hosting, you can use Softaculous to get a WordPress site running in a few minutes. Our knowledgebase has a full walkthrough if you want step-by-step instructions: how to install WordPress.

Once installed, you access your site’s admin area at yourdomain.com/wp-admin. From there you can manage everything: content, appearance, plugins, the Tools section, settings, and multiple users. WordPress lets you manage users with different roles, so editors and authors can work alongside your own admin account.

Getting started with your first WordPress site

Once WordPress is installed, a handful of steps take you from an empty install to a working new website.

Choose a theme. Browse the WordPress directory and pick a new theme, or upload one you bought.
Add the plugins you need. The plugin directory’s vast library covers contact forms, SEO and security.
Create your pages. Build your home page and a new page for each section, then write a post and click publish.
Add and edit images. Upload media, edit images to the right size, and drop them in as blocks on each web page.
Set up the basics. Configure your site title, permalinks and a search engine optimization plugin so search engines can index you.

If you want a safe place to experiment first, set up a staging site or a local development environment so you can test changes before they go live.

Keeping your site secure and up to date

WordPress releases regular updates to the core software, and themes and plugins have their own update cycles too. Running the latest versions is one of the most important things you can do for your site’s security. Outdated plugins are a common entry point for attackers, since known security issues in older versions are publicly documented. Occasionally a new version brings compatibility issues between a theme and a plugin, which is why testing updates on a staging site first pays off.

You can read more about how plugins affect site security in our WordPress security guide. For sites that have already been affected, the knowledgebase guide on removing malware from WordPress covers the recovery process.

Backups are the other side of this. WordPress does not back up your site automatically by default, so you need a plugin or a hosting-level backup solution to cover you. Our guide to WordPress backups explains your options for scheduling regular site backups.

Performance basics

A freshly installed WordPress site is reasonably fast, but performance can degrade as you add plugins, images and content. Caching is the most effective way to address this. A caching plugin stores a static version of your pages so WordPress does not have to rebuild them from the database on every visit.

Image optimisation also makes a significant difference. Large, uncompressed images are one of the most common causes of slow page loads. Our post on optimising your images covers the practical steps. For a broader look at caching options, the post on boosting WordPress speed with caching is worth reading alongside it.

Common questions come up again and again from people weighing WordPress up, and the answers below cover the ones that matter most before you start.

Is WordPress free?

The WordPress.org software is free and open source. You pay for hosting and a domain, plus any premium theme or plugins you choose, but there is no licence fee for WordPress core itself.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. The block editor and themes let you build a web page visually, so no coding knowledge is required to launch a site. Coding skills only become useful if you want custom design or functionality beyond what existing plugins offer.

Is WordPress good for SEO?

Yes. WordPress produces clean, crawlable pages, and SEO plugins add the controls search engines reward. It is one reason so many content sites are built on it.

Wrapping up

WordPress is a capable platform that rewards a bit of time spent understanding how it works. The learning curve is gentle, and the time you spend to learn WordPress pays off quickly. Once you are familiar with themes, plugins and the editor, you have a solid foundation for building almost any kind of site. The reasons people love WordPress are easy to see: new features arrive with every release, and there are a few ways to extend almost any element of your site with a few clicks. Plenty of free video tutorials cover the next steps, and because the self-hosted software is a free version, you can keep building websites without licence costs, whether you are a beginner or an experienced web developer.

If you are looking for hosting built around WordPress, our WordPress hosting plans are worth a look.

If you have questions about getting set up, the team at Unlimited Web Hosting is happy to help.