Beginners guide – Understanding WordPress and its structure

What is WordPress exactly?

When it was founded in 2003, WordPress was a simple platform for creating self-hosted blogs. In the years since, it has developed into something much more powerful. It is sometimes described as a content management system (CMS) and sometimes a website builder. In reality, it shares both functions.

Before going any further, it is worth clarifying a common misunderstanding. When professional website developers talk about building a WordPress site, they mean downloading core files containing the WordPress source code from www.wordpress.org

WordPress also provides a limited blog hosting and web builder service on www.wordpress.com which is something completely different.

The WordPress core files are ‘open source’ which means they are free of copyright and TradeMark restrictions, having been released on a general public licence. In layman’s terms, anyone can download and modify them for free. But where do the WordPress core files go? This next section explains where WordPress fits in your website architecture to help you with understanding wordpress.

Where WordPress sits in your website’s structure

Like all websites, a WordPress site requires a hosting environment. In other words, the files need to be stored on a computer called a web server. Unless you are self-hosting your website, this will have been set up by your web developer as part fo the website build process. 

Although WordPress core files can be uploaded to a web host in a standard way (through FTP to those with some experience of web hosting), those hosts running the cPanel platform (and several others) can install WordPress in seconds via their dashboard.

How to download WordPress?

Downloading WordPress is a fairly straightforward process:

1. Visit the official WordPress website at wordpress.org.
2. Click on the “Get WordPress” button, which will take you to the download page.
3. On the download page, you’ll see a button labeled “Download WordPress.” Click on it to start the download.
4. Depending on your browser settings, the WordPress installation package (a ZIP file) will either begin downloading automatically or prompt you to choose a location to save the file.
5. Once the download is complete, locate the ZIP file on your computer and extract its contents to a folder of your choice.
6. After extracting the files, you’ll have the WordPress installation package ready for use. You can now proceed with installing WordPress on your web hosting server or local development environment.

Which hosting is best for WordPress?

Determining the “best” WordPress hosting depends on your specific needs, budget, and technical requirements. Before choosing a hosting provider, useful comparisons will be speed, uptime %, security features, scalability, customer support quality, and pricing plans.

We would, of course, recommend that you consider the environmental impact too, with an option to elect servers that run on renewable energy like our eco web hosting.

Asking which hosting is best is a bit like asking the car salesman what car is best, you need something with wheels, but depending on where you are at in your journey will depend on whether you need a 7 seater or a sports car.

To start with you may be making a choice on price. So here are some affordable popular hosting providers known for their WordPress compatibility, performance, and customer support include:

1. Bluehost: Recommended by WordPress.org, Bluehost offers easy WordPress installation, reliable performance, and 24/7 support.
2. SiteGround: Known for its excellent customer service and WordPress-specific features like auto-updates, caching, and staging environments.
3. WP Engine: Specializes in managed WordPress hosting with optimised performance, security, and automatic backups.

What is managed WordPress?

Managed WordPress hosting is a service provided by web hosting companies like us that takes care of all technical aspects of running a WordPress website, including server setup, performance optimization, security, backups, updates, and troubleshooting.

With managed WordPress hosting, users can focus on creating content and managing their websites, while the hosting provider handles the day-to-day maintenance and support tasks, ensuring a reliable and hassle-free WordPress experience.

Firstly, it provides peace of mind by offloading technical tasks such as server maintenance, security monitoring, and regular backups to the hosting provider, reducing the risk of downtime, data loss, and security breaches.

Additionally, managed hosting services typically include performance optimization features like caching, CDN integration, and scalable infrastructure, resulting in faster loading times and improved user experience.

Moreover, managed hosting providers often offer expert support from WordPress specialists who can assist with troubleshooting issues, optimizing website performance, and providing guidance on best practices.

Overall, managed WordPress hosting allows website owners to focus on their core business activities while enjoying a reliable, secure, and high-performance hosting environment tailored specifically for WordPress websites.

Once the files are in place, the power of WordPress can be unleashed.

One of the main advantages with this website builder is how the pages are dynamically created rather than having to be built individually. This is largely down to the code in which much of WordPress is written in: PHP.

PHP and dynamic page creation

PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor and was created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf, don’t worry understanding WordPress doesn’t mean learning to write code, but understanding the structure can be useful.

Websites were traditionally made of HTML files, consider these like a poster online, static content. As different frameworks and languages evolved websites were able to become interactive for their users. 

If your WordPress website can be thought of as a library, PHP functions as the librarian, scurrying between the WordPress files and database and the web server to deliver your pages and posts to the end user. 

We have run bespoke PHP Training Courses in the past, so please make sure you stay in touch if this is something you might be interested in learning more about.

MySQL – how the magic happens

Another important part of the WordPress system is MySQL, a database management system based on SQL, another coding language. This one is effectively a database where PHP can store the customisations you have selected.

The easiest way to envisage this is an e-commerce site, every order has lots of data that needs to be stored and accessible by the customer and the company. If you imagine a website that takes thousands of orders every day, that’s a big spreadsheet! 

And its not just that dat, much of the content and structure of a WordPress website is stored in tables. The information is then extracted when needed using automated SQL queries.

While most website owners won’t need to know the details of understanding WordPress to the nth degree, those with access to their web host dashboard (e.g. cPanel) can use the PHPMyAdmin function to edit their database information directly.

The complexity of these languages mean that editing a WordPress is not generally recommended for the novice, but it can get you out of a pickle if something is broken when accessed by a professional.

How then did WordPress become the most usable Content Management System and the most used on the planet?

Understanding the WordPress dashboard

The WordPress dashboard is the hub through which website owners or admin staff can control their websites with zero coding knowledge. It is accessed via a web portal and gives you the ability to add content, organize menus, adjust settings and find and install themes and plugins (more on these in the next section).

Since the dashboard covers both admin and content management functions it can look a bit daunting at first sight. However, once you have learnt the fundamentals (e.g. by attending a WordPress Training Course), you will soon find that it is actually dead simple to use and a key component to understanding WordPress.

WordPress is regularly updated with help from a huge community of enthusiastic developers. In 2019, WordPress controversially replaced its familiar word processing style editor with the new ‘Gutenberg’ block-based content editor. This has made adding and editing content even more intuitive for content creators.

Themes and plugins are pieces of software that empower you to fully customise your WordPress website.

What is a WordPress theme?

A WordPress theme is a collection of files (such as HTML, PHP, CSS, and JavaScript) that determine the visual design and layout of a WordPress website. Essentially, it’s like a template that controls the overall appearance and functionality of your site, including elements like the header, footer, sidebar, fonts, colors, and page layouts.

WordPress themes often allow users to change the look and feel of their websites without altering the underlying content or structure. Themes can be free or premium, and they are often customizable through theme options or additional customization options within the WordPress dashboard.

A note of warning with themes, there is a lot of variety between them, some will store content so that if you switch you fundamentally have to rebuild the site.

Some are very basic but will be lightweight and quick to load, others provide plenty of options for customisation and although you will only choose one of the 100 choices, the code still exisists for all of them making the site very heavy and sluggish.

Others may be heavily styled for a specific purpose or offer functionality which may make them harder to tweak. So treat your themes a lightweight skin, and rely on plugins to handle functionality. 

What is a WordPress plugin?

A WordPress plugin is a piece of software that adds specific features or functionality to a WordPress website. Plugins extend the core functionality of WordPress by allowing users to easily integrate new features, customise existing ones, or enhance site performance without needing to write code from scratch.

Plugins are also very varied. Some provide a single function (e.g. contact form, image gallery, social media buttons, etc.) while others deliver a host of features and can transform how your website works. The Woocommerce plugin is a perfect example of the latter as this converts WordPress into an ecommerce site and contains additional plugins to help you customise your store. In fact, if you were to define Woocommerce as a CMS in its own right, with over 3% market share it would be WordPress’s biggest competitor!

Users can install and activate plugins directly from the WordPress plugin repository or by uploading them manually.

So that gives you plenty to go on with the technical setup of a WordPress website. Next, it is worth thinking about the architecture of content on your website and how to find your way around the dashboard to put your content in the right place.

Why learn WordPress?

Learning WordPress is valuable for individuals and businesses because it provides a user-friendly platform to create and manage websites efficiently, regardless of coding experience. With its versatility, cost-effectiveness, and extensive community support, mastering WordPress enables users to build a professional digital presence.

When any business owner starts to get interested in marketing their business, as the focal point of customer conversion, how their website works becomes a real priority.

To understand the dominance that WordPress has in the CMS market you only have to compare its market share with that of its nearest rival Shopify. At the time of writing WordPress has more than 63% share of that market while Shopify comes in at under 5%. Wix and Squarespace? Around 2.5% each.

We are WordPress specialists, primarily because from a user perspective it’s really easy to use, and there’s lots of 3rd party functionality you can affordably plug into it.

Getting set up

Most people interested in understanding WordPress will fall into one of two camps:

• Those who don’t have a WordPress website and are looking to build one or have one built for them.
• Those who do have a WordPress website (perhaps through Vu) and want to get more hands-on with it.

If you are in the first camp, you can actually download WordPress from wordpress.org for free and create a test website on your home computer. 

However, you won’t be able to go live without a domain and some hosting, and that can get a bit technical – let us know if you need any help.

If you already have a WordPress website, you will need your log-in credentials. In most cases, you can access the log-in screen by simply typing /wp-admin after your website address. Speak to your web developer if you don’t have those details.

Finding your way around the WordPress dashboard

Whatever route you take in your WordPress learning, base camp will always be your WordPress dashboard. And this looks basically the same for every WordPress website, the more plugins, the more options you will find here. 

Once you’ve become familiar with this layout, you can apply your knowledge to other WordPress sites (and even become the local ‘go to’ WordPress guru!)

When logging in to a WordPress site from a desktop or laptop computer, you will arrive at a dashboard featuring several options along the top and down the left-hand side of the page. 

In the top left-hand corner, you will find a house icon and the name of your website. Hover the cursor over this and you should see a ‘Visit Site’ link. Click this and you should arrive at your website’s home page.

The icon in the top left-hand corner will now have changed to a dial. Hovering over this will bring up a bunch of options with ‘Dashboard’ at the top. Click on this and you are back where you started.

Once you’re familiar with cycling from website to dashboard view, take a look at the first few items down the left-hand side of your dashboard as these will be the most important in the early stages of learning.

To summarise:

• Updates. Here is where you can update themes, plug-ins and WordPress itself. This is usually a simple one-click process but is very important for keeping your website secure.
• Posts. If you run a blog or news section on your website (or your website is set up as a blog), here is where you add new posts/news items. By default, new posts will appear above older ones on your website.
• Media. Your WordPress website includes its own media library where you can upload images, videos and documents. It is good practice to load resources into your media library before adding them to pages and posts.
• Pages. Here is where you can edit, add and delete your web pages. You will also need to become familiar with creating and editing menus (under the ‘Appearance’ section).
• Appearance. Once you’ve got used to the basics, there are various features you will want to explore in this part of the system. These include applying themes and customisations to control the appearance of the website; setting up navigation through menus and designing sidebars and custom layouts using widgets.
• Plugins. These can add powerful features to your WordPress website and even transform how your site works.

Getting a good understanding of these WordPress sections will make all the difference to your marketing competence.

Learning WordPress for free

As already mentioned, there are oodles of videos, courses, articles and other resources out there which can support your basic education. If you are struggling to understand WordPress, well-known WordPress guru Syed Balkhi has even created a free resource, especially for beginners.

We do recommend making sure that you only use resources from 2019 onwards. That’s because in late 2018, WordPress replaced its classic word processor-style content editor with the block-based Gutenberg editor. Older resources may confuse the beginner.

With that caveat you should soon gain enough knowledge and experience to feel confident in running a simple business website. 

Although free courses and resources are great (you can’t beat that price!), going solo can be slow to implement and time-consuming, so get in touch if you would like some training.

What is WordPress SEO?

WordPress SEO (or Search Engine Optimisation) is the practice of optimising your WordPress website to improve your visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). This involves adding content and implementing various strategies to make your WordPress site appealing to search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

WordPress SEO encompasses factors such as keyword research, on-page optimisation (e.g., optimising titles, meta descriptions, and content), technical optimization (e.g., site speed, mobile-friendliness, and structured data markup), link building, and user experience improvements.

The benefit of focusing on WordPress SEO, website owners can attract more organic traffic, increase their site’s visibility, and ultimately get more customers to achieve your business goals.

To get started with a new site I wouldn’t worry too much about spending time here, this is a time-consuming distraction to launching something, and until your website has been around for a while it will struggle to outrank any others anyway.

Focus on some local SEO, like Optimising your Google My Business profile.

How to design a website using WordPress?

Designing a website using WordPress involves several key steps:

1. Choose a Domain and Hosting: Select a domain name for your website and choose a reliable web hosting provider that supports WordPress installations.
2. Install WordPress: Most web hosting providers offer one-click installation options for WordPress. Follow the instructions provided by your hosting provider to install WordPress on your domain.
3. Select a Theme: Choose a WordPress theme that aligns with your website’s purpose, branding, and functionality requirements. You can browse and install themes directly from the WordPress theme repository or purchase premium themes from third-party providers.
4. Customize Your Theme: Customize your chosen theme to reflect your brand identity and design preferences. This may involve adjusting colors, fonts, layout options, and adding your logo or custom graphics. Many themes come with built-in customization options, while others may require additional customization using CSS or theme customization plugins.
5. Create and Organize Content: Use the WordPress dashboard to create and organize your website’s content. This includes pages, posts, images, videos, and other media. Organize your content into categories or tags to make it easier for visitors to navigate your site.
6. Install Plugins: Extend the functionality of your website by installing WordPress plugins. Plugins can add features such as contact forms, social media integration, SEO optimization, e-commerce capabilities, and more. Choose plugins that align with your website’s goals and requirements.
7. Optimize for SEO: Optimize your website for search engines by using SEO-friendly URLs, adding meta tags and descriptions, optimizing images, and creating high-quality, keyword-rich content. Consider installing an SEO plugin to streamline the optimization process.
8. Test and Launch: Before launching your website, thoroughly test its functionality, responsiveness, and performance across different devices and browsers. Make any necessary adjustments or fixes based on testing feedback. Once you’re satisfied with the results, launch your website for the world to see.

Hopefully, now you feel a little more armed with your understanding of WordPress, this article pretty much has you covered on the roadmap for building your WordPress website. If you need guidance from WordPress specialists then just get in touch.