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WordPress - what it is. Guide and description of the panel

WordPress - what it is. Guide and description of the panel

WordPress - what it is. Guide and description of the panel

In this post we will introduce this popular CMS system. We will answer the questions What is Wordpress and briefly introduce the advantages of the system and give a step-by-step introduction to the panel (cockpit) of the system.

Table of Contents :

  1. What is Wordpress
  2. Advantages of Wordpress system
  3. What kind of sites can be created on wordpress
  4. Own template or bought?
  5. Wordpress guide - description of the panel (cockpit). See how to get started
  6. System architecture (wordpress template files)
  7. How to take care of wordpress?

What is Wordpress

Definitions to help you understand the Wordpress CMS ecosystem:

CMS system

This abbreviation should be understood as Content Management System. It is a software that gives you the ability to edit, create content through a visual editor (similar to Word).

Theme (template)

A theme allows the administrator to change the appearance of the site and its functions without interfering with the code. A theme is a set of files (php, css) that create the template (structure and appearance) of the site. By changing the theme, the administrator uploads (installs) a different set of php template and css styles responsible for its appearance. A theme is otherwise a visual representation, i.e. what you see when you launch the site.

You can find many free themes in the wordpress directory. There are also premium themes and sites where you can buy them. See how to create a Wordpress site.

Plugins, Wordpress extensions

Plugins are small applications otherwise extensions that add new functionality to your wordpress. It's more or less like installing an app on your phone. Nowadays there are plugins for practically everything e.g:

  • you want to be able to scroll the page from the bottom to the top using the footer 'up' button there is a plugin for that,
  • you need a pull-out bar with a cookie policy,
  • Or maybe you want to add Facebook reviews or a photo gallery,
  • with slimming down the weight of the photos and optimizing them is also not a problem,
  • SEO plug-ins, automatic backups, or security are also very popular,
  • plugin to install the form (plugins for plugins ;) )
  • WP Super Cache plugin
  • best wordpress plugins

Don't have time to search what is Wordpress? Do you need a customized website?

See our customized solutions and wordpress webportals development. If you want to learn how to navigate and run your site efficiently use wordpress training or our subscription service for businesses: wordpress administration.

Wordpress - what is it?

Wordpress CMS is the most powerful open source (free) platform available. Wordpress originated as a blogging platform. From this actually began its career. It gained popularity among users due to its simple and intuitive use of the so-called admin cockpit.

Written in PHP language using MySQL database under GNU license available free of charge.

Over time, it has been adopted to build sites and management for websites, portals and online stores (ecommerce).

41% of websites are just running on Wordpress

From blog to portals and ecommerce included.

See also : Elementor typical problems with performance

A database of more than 55,000 plug-ins (plug-ins)

Wordpress is also a powerful database of extensions and plug-ins that allow any personalization from a blog platform to an online store or a platform with registration capabilities.

Community around wordpress and dedicated platforms WordPress.org and WordPress.com

The success the system has achieved is worldwide. A large community of fans and developers has built up around Wordpress, and they contribute to the continuous development of the platform making it the most modern content management system currently used to implement an administrative system for websites.

Your wordpress is running slowly?

See how to improve speed by optimizing the database and optimizing images accordingly

Wordpress optimization basics for greenies.

In case your Wordpress is slow, it is worth considering a change of server. See what Wordpress hosting is and whether it's worth suggesting just by its name.

Want to run Wordpress on the root domain - see how to move Wordpress from the directory to the root address of the domain.

Advantages of wordpress

wady i zalety systemu cms wordpress
Learn about the pros and cons of the popular CMS Wordpress

Wordpress management system has a number of advantages worth mentioning:

  1. It's free - download installation from running any theme from the wordpress database is free
  2. Intuitiveness and simplicity of the admin panel - to make changes to the content, add photos you do not need to know html,css,
  3. Availability of free extensions (plugins) - from the main base of wordpress https://pl.wordpress.org you can download a whole range of free plugins and themes (graphic templates) that are free to use,
  4. Community - starting from wordpress forums to local and internet geeks on facebook you will very easily get help for both basic and problem specific questions
  5. The theme solutions are responsive (adapted to mobile screens),
  6. Adapted to the search engine - it is optimized for Google search after a few technical cosmetic adjustments it becomes very SEO friendly

Wordpress optimization

Among the basic tasks that need to be done before launching a website on wordpress is to optimize it technically and SEO-wise. Read how wordpress optimization improves conversions.

See also articles on optimization :

- How to optimize images for wordpress

- how to slim down and how to optimize a wordpress database

What kind of sites can be created on wordpress

In fact, there are no restrictions here. The biggest advantage is that there is no rigid framework that imposes anything on us. Wordpress can be interfaced with any design and idea of a creative graphic designer. There are no top-down solutions that prevent you from coding the most fancy functionalities. This is because wordpress integrates into any frontend code (html,css), rather than editing already rigidly prepared html constructions, the modification of which means long hours of work on top-down code. See examples of wordpress sites that inspire with style and implementation.

Custom frontend code (html, css) implemented into wordpress?

The implementation here is unproblematic. However, if one wanted to give examples of:

Company, business websites

You need a company website with offers, services and in several languages. Wordpress is an excellent option. See :

Online stores (ecommerce)

With woocommerce solution, we can freely configure sales mechanisms and launch online sales with online payments like tpay.com / przelewy24 / https://furgonetka.pl / payU or others.

Weblog on Wordpress

A natural environment for the system. Want to build a community around your company ? Nothing more simple. Wordpress is equipped with just such functionality in the basic version. Countless possibilities for tagging, setting up categories and sharing content is what this CMS provides. See how to set up a blog on Wordpress

Portfolio, designer website

Animated showreel, integration with youtube, vimeo or custom players for videos played from the server is also not a problem. A minimal design type site with animations and smooth scrolling works is not a challenge.

E-learning, training websites

With woocommerce support, you can easily organize the CMS to allow you to browse courses, trainings by filters, categories or tags.

Dedicated websites for industries

You have an amazing idea for a website ? Nothing difficult a matter of properly done frontend coding. Wordpress integration is not a problem.

  • websites for developers
  • websites for lawyers
  • websites for hotels

See How to make positioned wordpress pages?

Online store on Wordpress

With the Woocommerce module you will create your own online store, which can be implemented according to any design and layout. In addition, Woocommerce integration with Baselinker will give you the ability to integrate any sales platform with your store in one place.

Custom wordpress template or bought?

Ready-made or purchased wordpress template is mainly a budget solution. We do not know if the project will sell to us, we want to try our hand with a service or a specific offer then such a solution can make sense. See the best free wordpress themes.

The plus side of buying a pre-made wordpress template is :

  1. Low budget entry into the Wordpress ecosystem and online presence.
  2. We can see what we are buying (only the packaging, as we don't know how the theme is coded and how it is edited)
  3. Ability to install and launch the site yourself in 1 day

Minuses of the purchased template :

  1. Lack of technical support,
  2. Ignorance can lead to consequences opposite to those assumed (e.g. lack of correct indexation of the site in Google)
  3. Overloading the code and Wordpress itself with more scripts and plugins than is actually needed, resulting in longer loading times and poorer site performance,
  4. Editing can sometimes be unintuitive and can cause problems,
  5. No license for the plugins that the template uses (usually they are without a license which exceeds the cost of buying the template)
  6. The possibility of the entire site 'dumping' after upgrading Wordpress to the next version,
  7. Image ( template available for everyone to purchase). High probability that the template will be used by other companies,
  8. Heavy or impossible to expand due to the use of rigid solutions,

Wordpress system tutorial

opis kokpitu wordpress krok po kroku
Wordpress dashboard description. Step by step discussion of the cockpit.

That is, how to get started with Wordpress

The wordpress system in a few simple steps. It has gained many followers mainly due to the clear interface of the administration panel and simple editing of content (visual editor, drop&down menu). In recent versions, it received a refreshed / modernized design, in addition, it provides preparation of a site optimized for Google search engine (SEO). See the easiest cms on the market.

Wordpress login panel

The address of the login panel to the wordpress system is : www.domena.pl/wp-login.php where, after entering the login and password, we log in to the so-called wordpress cockpit.

Cockpit wordpress

The admin panel a.k.a. the cockpit is divided into two parts : a vertical side menu where you will find all the necessary functions of the panel and the content specific to the selected item from the side menu.

kokpit panelu wordpress
Wordpress panel after login. Welcome screen

Vertical side menu

This is primarily a fast and efficient navigation within the panel - the menu bar is in place while scrolling the entire window, and for smaller monitors reduced to the view of the icons themselves. Here you will find items responsible for :

Entries - here you can find the main content of the site, by clicking on the item 'all entries' (no. 1) you go to the list view of all entries (no. 2). Entries are assigned to the appropriate categories (next to the name of the entry you can see the name of the category - no. 3 ) such as news, offer, about the company, contact.

Categories are retrieved by the corresponding menu item, e.g. the news menu item retrieves entries from the news category, the offer menu item retrieves entries from the offer category, etc....

By clicking on the name of a given entry / after hovering (No. 4) over the name we get the possibility of editing it, which is enriched by a visual graphic editor. We can add an entry while already on the list of entries (no. 4) or from the context menu after hovering over the entry (no. 5)

lista wpisow w systemie cms wordpress
list of entries in wordpress cms

Media in wordpress

Gallery management where after entering you get a list of thumbnails currently uploaded to the system which you can use to add to an entry, widget, to a banner on the page (metaslider item in the side menu). To add photos, graphics to the system you just need to drag photos from disk to the thumbnail area (a blue appla with the word 'add' will appear) or click the 'add new' button. The above operations of adding and previewing the entire media folder can be done directly from the entry editing position - by clicking the 'media' button.

media galeria zdjeci systemu cms wordpress
media library in wordpress

metoda dodawania plikow do wordpress
Intuitive addition of images to the system. Drag&Drop from the desktop

Pages - independent types of subpages due to which, for example, single subpages are built (static home page).

Manage widgets - for a customized template, here you will find additional functionality such as a widget with a submenu, newsletter, search engine, additional text fields, footer, etc... just click on the name to expand a particular widget.

widgety i wtyczki w wordpress
widgets in wordpress

edycja widgetow w edytorze wizualnym
editing individual widgets

Plugin management in wordpress cms

With the help of plugins, we extend the basic functionality of wordpress, here is a list of useful plugins currently used by the site, as a rule, the basic ones that are installed include :

  • Plugin to improve the optimization of the entire site seo yoast,
  • A plug-in to improve the content editor,
  • The plug-in responsible for the slider on the home page (metaslider),
  • A plug-in for multilingualism support,
  • plugin to back up all of wordpress, etc....

At a later stage of the site's use, we can expand our wordpress by ourselves, for example, to install a plug-in (button 'add a new plug-in') responsible for the ability to share the post on facebook, g+, twitter, email, wordpress will suggest the best ones - it will display them as the first on the list, while before installing we can see additional information, check the details such as the last update of the plug-in, whether it meets our expectations, the number of downloads, etc...

See how simply it can work ContacForm7 form creation plugin

wtyczki i pluginy dla wordpressa
selecting Plug-ins from the side menu, we go through the list of installed (but not necessarily enabled)

In addition, pre-installed plugins for the template that put their own link / item in the menu, such as metaslider, seo yoast plugin etc....

gdzie znalezc zainstalowane wtyczki w wordpressie
Where to find the installed plugins? In the left side panel

Wordpress settings. Meta title and description tags

Site title and description - appearing in the browser bar and as a title in Google search results, email address, date, time.

ustawienia w wordpress tytulu i opisu oraz adresu url
By selecting Settings from the left menu you will enter the main settings for your wordpress

Which cms system for a website?

From our knowledge and information from clients, we can confidently say that wordpress cms is the easiest system currently on the market. It gives you an intuitive admin panel for editing with wyswig elements and very easy content management. Also a plus is the clear control panel and SEO editing for each page and entry after installing the appropriate plugins such as seo yoast.

System architecture

That is, how wordpress is built. File structure and breakdown and how wordpress works (technically for developers)

Wordpress is a php (template) file system, and the layout is based on a controller passing URI requests to a single PHP file that analyzes the identifier and associates the landing page.

In order to be able to start even basic editing of the system's code, one must first be familiar with its structure.

Theme catalog

Each theme has its own directory located in the wp-content/themes folder. The directory name should be simple, no spaces, no Polish letters.



Wordpress template file breakdown

Master files

index.php - the base file, which is the main file.

style.css - style file containing basic data about the theme, author, license, web address.

functions.php - handles all the functionality of our wordpress

The most common wordpress template files

header.php - the file responsible for displaying the page header. Here are placed meta tags, js scripts, css.

home.php - homepage template,

category.php - template, which is responsible for displaying categories that is, for example, a list of blog entries,

single.php - file responsible for the display of a single entry, you can by giving the appropriate extended name appropriately adjust the structure to each category separately

page.php - template responsible for displaying a sub-page, just like with single.php you can create completely new sub-pages for a particular functionality or structure

archive.php - displays a list of threads from a given month (similar logic as for categorry.php)

tag.php - just like category.php

footer.php - displays the bottom part of the page laboriously called the footer,

sidebar.php - responsible for displaying a side panel, e.g.: additional widgets on a blog or subpage

How to take care of wordpress?

First of all, any system on which a website is made should be regularly optimized and updated. Just like a computer that needs to be updated and cleaned, your Wordpress will need to be updated and taken care of. As you use the site and expand it, you may find that your preferences and use of existing features will change.

Periodic updates and auditing of the backend

It is then worthwhile to periodically order an audit of the wordpress backend or check the performance of the cockpit and wordpress itself. But above all, it's worthwhile to use wordpress backups, as this will protect you from unforeseen expenses or missing your site.


Comments from our blog visitors regarding Wordpress cms system:

I myself use WordPress to run this blog http://brandpro.pl/, it's a very cool tool that even laymen can handle.

IZA

Thank you for preparing our sites in WordPress: http://www.turpol.com and http://www.turpol-travel.com - a panel that is indeed friendly and convenient to use

KRZYSZTOF

A good tutorial when it comes to WordPress basics. Not least, it probably has the most intuitive menu for content management of all CMS.

WIWI.PL

I run my own blog also using wordpress and according to me there is no better option. Very good entry, will definitely help beginners

DAWID

Nice wordpress tutorial. Congratulations.

NETTERIA.NET

Great tutorial for beginner WordPress bloggers. May there be more of these.

PRODESIGNER

A good tutorial that makes it easy for newbies to learn about WP and its basic editing in the admin panel. A point for the screenshots that make it easy to learn about

WIKTOR

WordPress is a CMS that is the easiest, simplest, and most new user-friendly content management system. Mastering its principles - even by trial and error - takes literally a few moments, and its biggest plus is undoubtedly the very wide support of the community using it on a daily basis. The tutorial posted by the author of the post makes it even easier to master the basics - so thanks a lot for preparing such a substantive article 🙂

ADHUT

Very substantive article! In my opinion, it is one of the best and, above all, the easiest CMS for creating websites. As you can see, even a novice can get acquainted with WP in a quick way, and the above screenshots will help him all the more to do so

RADEKMALINOWSKI.PL

Quite an old entry but interesting and interesting. Wupek for everyone!

WOJCIECH HADAŁA

Very good guide, it would be good to have an update as to version 5.0?

CANDYWEB.PL

What do you think about Gutenberg? How does this editor work for you? I'll honestly admit that when using WordPress, I've gotten used to making changes via Page Bakery 😉 Its only problem is that it's quite resource intensive....

WONDER ADS

We have a site also on WordPress, well optimized with cool content, it does a really good job of SEO!

POZYCJONUSZ

Should one have some additional antivirus plugin for WordPress or is native protection enough?

RADEK

WordPress without a doubt is for everyone. I think that about 4-6 hours is enough to cope with the operation. However, we are talking here about people who have some knack for operating such software. It is known that a person who has problems with setting up an account on FB will need much more time to master the basic functions of WordPress.

EUROGETWORK

Our site is also created on WordPress. In my opinion, it is the best system for creating all kinds of sites. In addition, we have optimized the site well, supplemented with a fair amount of valuable content and this translates into its positions in Google, which are steadily increasing

TOMASZ

WordPress is now probably the simplest, most intuitive system to put up and manage a site. The dashboard shouldn't cause anyone any major problems, the only thing that may initially cause a bit of confusion are the plugins, which, as you write: put their own link - but I don't understand why once they do it in the Plugins tab, once in the Tools tab, and another time in the main one at all 🙂 But if you don't have hundreds of plugins you can easily figure it out. Greetings

KONRAD / NAMING

WordPress is, in my opinion, the most intuitive CMS available on the web. It is definitely worth developing in this direction, as WP will always be very popular.

DAMTOX

A nice introduction for those getting started with CMS WordPress.

SEMPIRE

I would ask a post about securing wordpress from hackers.

MARIAN

A very useful post about perhaps the simplest and most flexible CMS currently available. With countless plugins you can run a blog, but also a small store or a medical appointment registration site.

Like @Marian I would love to read a post about wordpress security

ZABAWKI ROZWOJOWE

I have had a WP-based site for a long time. I have always been bothered by the question of what is better for SEO - a website or an entry. What are the advantages and disadvantages of one and the other option ?

DAMIANO

I will agree with the previous speakers that WordPress is a very easy as well as intuitive CMS that is easy to learn. Even a beginner who has no previous experience with the functioning of this admin panel can learn how to use it in just one day.

IDEO FORCE

And how can you protect yourself from unwanted people trying to log in?

ODKURZACZ

I think there is nothing easier and faster to use than wordpres 🙂 .

well I am also looking forward to the post about safety features, I didn't include it before, but now it will come in handy 😉 .

MONIKA

and can the logo be edited in WP? i saw a scaling option once, will it scale well or is it better to use a professional program? (I ask because I don't have such probelm, I would have to outsource it to someone).

MARCIN

Great and very informative post! Of course, WordPress has even more great plugins that improve site functionality and loading speed. WordPress is, in my opinion, the best solution for listing sites, less suitable, however, for online stores with huge assortment.

ADAM