Learn the basics of WordPress, including the difference between WP.com and WP.org, an introduction to plugins and themes, and more.

1. WordPress Basics
An Introduction to WordPress

2. What is WordPress?
WordPress is an Open Source blogging platform and
content management system (CMS).
• Founded in 2003
• As of 2013, nearly 19% of websites run on
WordPress – over 69 million WordPress
websites worldwide.
• Notable users include Best Buy, ESPN, The Wall
Street Journal, the country of Sweden, and Justin
Bieber.
Source: http://visual.ly/wordpress-statistics-and-numbers-2013

3. Benefits of WordPress
• Free
• User-Friendly
• Accessible
• Large Community
• Extendable

4. WordPress.com
Pros
• Instant set-up
• Automatically publish to
Social Networks
• Spam Monitoring
• Public or Private Blogs
• Follow blogs, have
followers
• Hosted by Automattic
Cons
• Limited Storage
• No custom plugins or
themes.
• Limited
features/functionality.
• Ads
• Subdomain
• Additional “Premium”
Features; between $13 -
$130 per add-on.

5. Wordpress.org
(AKA “Self-Hosted Wordpress”)
Pros
• Full Control
• Full Customization
• Unlimited Plugins &
Themes
– E-Commerce, Event
Management, Newsletters,
etc.
• No Ads
• JetPack
Cons
• Maintenance
• Hosting Costs
• Support
• Spam
• Security

6. Which Should You Use?
WP.COM
• Just for basic blogging.
• For simple websites with
static content.
• When customization isn’t
that important.
• When you don’t have the
time (or resources) to
manage a website.
WP.ORG
• When extra features, such
as galleries, custom post
types, or even e-commerce.
• When you want more
control over your website
and files.
• When you want full
branding and customization.
• When you want to monetize
your blog.

7. Setting Up
Standard WP Practices & Extras

8. Standard WP Practices
• Pages:
– Static content.
– Always-available
information.
• Posts:
– News, updates.
– Short bits of information.
For example: “About Me”
would be a page. “My Top
10 Favorite Foods” would
probably be a post.
• Categories:
– Broad groups of posts.
– Posts of the same general
topic.
• Tags:
– Specific topics.
For example: A blog about
pizza would be in the
Category “Food” and be
Tagged “Pizza”.

9. Themes & Plugins
Themes
• Control how your site
looks.
• Can have multiple page
layouts, or templates.
• Have designated areas
for widgets, content, and
navigation.
• Can usually be changed
without altering content.
Plugins
• Add additional features to
WP.
• Edit or increase
functionality of existing
features.
• Add new widgets.
• Examples:
– WooCommerce
– Jetpack
– BuddyPress,
– Google Analytics
– Facebook for WP

10. Choosing Plugins & Themes
• Compatibility: whether or not it will work with your version of
WordPress
• Last Updated: Recently updated plugins and themes are less likely to
break or be incompatible.
• Downloads: Popular plugins and themes are usually well-tested, more
likely to have support, and less likely to have bugs.
• Features: If you’re looking at a theme, take a look at the included
features.
• FAQ & Support: If you’re not sure about anything, take a look at the
FAQ or Support forum. That way you can take a look at any questions
or other issues other users may be having.