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Hello, I’m MaAnna with BlogAid and in this short video, I’ll introduce you to Wordpress
and how it works, plus different types of themes and why you might want to choose one
type over another.
WordPress is a robust yet flexible Content Management System, or CMS, and has become
the most popular website platform for bloggers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
WordPress Comes in Two Flavors
WordPress.com is owned by Automattic, which offers both hosting and the WordPress.com
version of the software for free. However, both have limitations and restrictions. For
example, the hosting space is limited and you can only use their approved themes and
plugins. You can pay to expand or remove some of these limitations, but not all. However,
you can have your own domain, if you wish, like www.mysite.com.
Automattic also develops several other free programs and apps you may be familiar with
such as Akismet, PollDaddy, VaultPress, and Gravatar.
WordPress.org is open-source software meaning that multiple developers contribute to it,
including Automattic. And, open-source coding makes it easy for others to write apps for
it, including plugins.
The WordPress.org software is free to download and use, but you’ll need to pay for your
own hosting and domain name. This is also called self-hosted Wordpress. BlogAid tips
cover WordPress.org and that is the software referenced in the rest of this video.
How Does WordPress Work?
WordPress is a framework. Think of it like the bare bones frame of a house. All of the
site content is held in a database. This includes the blog posts, the pages, and the images
on those posts and pages, as well as any comments left on them.
When WordPress is upgraded or modified, it only modifies the framework software, not
the content.
Themes
The theme of a site is like the skin, or façade over the WordPress framework. Themes come
in three general levels, including free, and what I call level 1 premium, and level 2 premium.
You can change themes as often as you like and it won’t disturb the content of the
site that is held in the database. Think of it as remodeling the look of the outside of
the house, while the basic framework remains the same.
However, if you currently use a two-column theme and switch to a one-column theme, or
vice versa, WordPress may have a hard time trying to figure out where to place the previous
data and may knock it out all together.
Free Themes
Most free themes simply fit over the WordPress framework and offer no additional features.
Some offer a few extra features, like a few options to customize the look of the theme.
Free themes are generally unsupported, meaning that if you have a problem with them, you’re
on your own. And, if WordPress makes an update that breaks the theme, it generally will not
be fixed and you’ll have to change themes. That’s something to consider for branding
continuity.
Another thing to be mindful of is that some themes are free because they come with code
placed cleverly in them so hackers can use your hosting for their own purposes. They
have no intention of harming your site and you may never know that your site is being
used for purposes other than your own.
Be sure to use only free themes vetted by WordPress or another trusted source.
Level 1 Premium Themes
The first level of premium themes usually fits directly onto the WordPress framework,
but offers several extra features, which may include, interfaces to customize the theme
yourself, extra widget areas, a jQuery slider, and more.
These themes usually come with some sort of support and may offer upgrades to stay compatible
with WordPress upgrades, but that’s not a given. And, some of these theme developers
can be hired to customize the theme to be unique to your site.
Level 1 premium themes are usually modest in price and the range is usually between
$25 - $60 dollars. Such themes can be found on sites like Theme Forest.
Level 2 Premium Themes
The second level of premium themes usually has its own, expanded framework in addition
to the standard WordPress framework. It offers many special features, which can include extensive
interfaces to customize the theme, expanded SEO features and more.
These are known as parent frameworks and can be customized to suit. Or, you can purchase
one of their child themes that already has a layout close to what you need and requires
minimum customization. These child themes only work on their parent framework and cannot
be used as a skin directly over the standard WordPress framework.
The theme developers carry full support for the theme including free upgrades and usually
offer a community forum for asking questions. Plus, there are many site designers who are
fluent in the code of these themes and can easily customize them for you.
Level 2 premium themes are the most expensive, but offer the most options and support. Such
theme developers include StudioPress and Thesis.
Training Counts
WordPress is a robust system and can seem overwhelming to new users. Even if you figure
out how to make blog posts and pages, it takes training to learn how to really harness the
power of WordPress and make your site candy to both readers and search engines.
BlogAid specializes in helping non-geeks and creative folks become confident, successful
site owners by offering one-on-one WordPress training classes where I go more in-depth
and show you how to use all of the features of WordPress based on your unique needs.
Visit BlogAid.net where you’ll find more WordPress video tutorials, site and theme
reviews, ebooks, articles and other free downloads.