WordPress is a very popular open-source content management system that helps you easily create and manage websites. Before using WordPress, we need to understand some basic concepts and terminology to better comprehend and utilize WordPress.
What is a Content Management System?
A Content Management System (CMS) is a software application used to create, edit, publish, and manage digital content. It helps users easily create and manage various types of websites such as websites, blogs, forums, and e-commerce platforms.
A content management system typically includes a backend admin interface through which users can manage and maintain the website. The backend admin interface usually includes various management functions for Posts, Pages, Categories, Tags, Users, Plugins, Themes, etc. Users can use these functions to create and manage the website's content, layout, features, and more.
The advantages of a content management system include:
Easy to Use: Content management systems typically have a simple and user-friendly interface and operation method, allowing even users without programming experience to easily create and manage websites.
Scalability: Content management systems typically support extensions through plugins and themes, allowing users to add different plugins and themes as needed to achieve more features and capabilities.
Multi-user support: Content management systems typically support multiple users, allowing for the assignment of different permissions and roles to facilitate collaboration and management among multiple people.
SEO-friendly: Content management systems typically have good SEO optimization features that can help websites achieve better search engine rankings.
In summary, a content management system is a very convenient and practical tool that can help users easily create and manage websites, realizing their website dreams.
Posts
Posts are the most basic content type in WordPress, used to publish various types of content such as news, blogs, and tutorials. Each post has a title and body, and can include multimedia content like images, videos, and audio.
The News and Blog sections commonly seen on corporate websites are all managed through posts. For example,Naibabiji's blogAll the content linked below uses the post functionality.
Pages
Pages are another common content type, typically used to create static pages such as Home, About Us, Contact Us, and Service Introduction. The difference between pages and posts is that pages usually do not include metadata like timestamps and categories.
Categories
Categories are used to classify posts, helping readers better browse and find related articles. For example, you can create a „News“ category and group all news-related posts under it. When building corporate websites, posts are often divided into „Company News“ and „Industry News.“ Categories help manage posts more effectively, similar to grouping your WeChat contacts.
Tags
Tags are another way to classify posts, typically used for more detailed categorization. For example, under the „News“ category, you can create tags like „Sports“ and „Entertainment“ to group related posts under the corresponding tags.
Products
By default, WordPress does not include product functionality. We can use third-party plugins, typically WooCommerce, to create and manage products. If you have a small number of products, you can also directly use pages to create product pages. However, if you have many products, it is recommended to use WooCommerce for management. (WooCommerce is not only for selling goods; B2B websites can also use it.)
Breadcrumb Navigation
Breadcrumb navigation is a navigation method used to display the current page's position within the website structure. It is usually located at the top or bottom of the page and helps readers better understand the current page's location and the website structure.
Not every theme includes breadcrumb navigation. Naibabiji usesAstra Theme, which supports breadcrumb navigation by default. If your theme does not support it, you can considerinstalling a separate breadcrumb plugin to display it.。
Sidebar
The sidebar is an area located on the side of a website page, typically used to display recent posts, categories, tags, advertisements, etc. The sidebar can be customized as needed by adding or removing different widgets.
Not every theme supports a sidebar, and not every theme's sidebar is on the right. Some themes have the sidebar on the left, while others have sidebars on both sides.
Widgets
Widgets are plugins used to add different content to areas like the sidebar and footer. For example, the content in the screenshot boxes above is added through widgets. Not every theme supports widgets.
Plugins
Plugins are tools used to extend WordPress functionality, helping you achieve more features and capabilities. For example, you can install an SEO plugin to optimize your website's search engine ranking, or install WooCommerce to enable product sales or management.
Note: Only one plugin with the same functionality is needed. Installing too many plugins can severely impact website speed.
Themes
Themes are templates used to control a website's appearance and layout. WordPress offers many free and paid themes. You can choose a theme suitable for your website and customize its settings.
Some themes come with many designer-prebuilt templates that you can import with one click and then modify. You can also design your website from scratch using page builder plugins.
Of course, there are also themes written purely in code by programmers. However, such themes are not very friendly to beginners without programmer support, as they cannot be DIY designed.
Users
Users are individuals who manage the WordPress website, each with their own username and password. WordPress supports multiple users and allows for the assignment of different permissions and roles.
Page Builder
A WordPress page builder plugin is a tool used to create and edit website pages. It helps users easily create and edit website pages without writing code. Page builder plugins typically have a visual interface, allowing users to create and edit pages through drag-and-drop and placement.
Currently, common page builders include:Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi Builder, WPBakery Page Builder, and Gutenberg, among others.
Among these, Elementor has the largest user base and is the most convenient to use. The Gutenberg editor is now the default in WordPress and may surpass Elementor in the future, but it is not yet mature enough.
The above are the basic concepts and terms of WordPress. Understanding these concepts and terms can help you better comprehend and use WordPress.
