For many users, WordPress is the most useful content management system around. There are many reasons for this, but it comes down to the simple fact that it is incredibly simple to use yet supports some of the most advanced features. Many web hosts make WordPress incredibly easy to setup. For example, with HostGator you only need to click one button within your cPanel, to install WordPress on your server.
Setup Time
Many people care about the amount of time they spend on projects. If a project is going to require a lot of time, it may be deemed not worth it. It is almost never the case with WordPress. As stated above, most web hosts make it incredibly easy to install WordPress. After a copy of WordPress is installed, the only steps required is that you set up your user account and the pertinent information of your website. This includes the name of the website, website tagline and the basic details that relate to your website. There are additional setup steps (that aren’t required), but it all takes place in a very structured and user friendly web interface.
Look and Feel
When picking a content management system there are two sides of the look and feel that you need to consider. The first, is the most important. What is the look and feel that your customers will experience when they are visiting your website? With WordPress, your website can be made to look the way you want it to. There are thousands, if not millions of themes that tailor towards almost any kind of website from a blog to a professional portfolio to an e-commerce online store. You name it and there is probably a theme available out there for it. Not to mention, there are a lot of developers out there that can modify or design themes specifically for your website at a nominal fee.
The second type of look and feel that you need to consider is the content management side. How are your administrators or writers going to interact with the internals of the website? WordPress really simplifies this with an amazing interface for the average user. When you log into WordPress you are greeted with a persistent menu that is on the left side. That menu offers all of the options that a user’s privileges are set to. For example Posts and Pages are options can be found in the menu.
Users are people and very few people like things the same way, which is why WordPress has built-in features that allow users to change how they view their interface. Some of these settings include changing how the proofreading looks, changing colors, changing how the time and date are displayed and much more.
Add-ons
No content management system would be complete without the ability to add features that your website may need. WordPress is not built to be proprietary and many developers produce add-ons that are meant to help all kinds of users of WordPress. WordPress calls theses add-ons “plugins”. Thousands of these plugins are featured and accessible via a database within the WordPress interface itself. That means that you don’t need to leave your WordPress installation to find a plugin you may want! Check out the WordPress Plugin Directory to find thousands of plugins.
Before you install a plugin, each plugin page features all of the relatable information, so you can decide if it is right plugin for your application and use. The plugin pages include compatibility notes, descriptions, user reviews, and sometimes even screenshots of the plugin in use. The most important part is that installing a plugin is rarely easier than it is with WordPress. A user simply clicks on the plugin they want to install and clicks “Install Now”. Once the plugin is installed it isn’t immediately activated so you still have time to decide if it is really what you want to use. To activate an installed plugin you select “Installed Plugins” from the Plugins menu on the left side of the screen. You locate the plugin you wish to turn on and click “Activate” below its name.
Posting New Content
Posting new content couldn’t be easier. Posting a new page or a new post is almost exactly the same. You go to the “Add New” option in the respective section (posts or pages) and you are greeted with an almost identical What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor. This editor allows you to produce your content in the exact format that it will appear on the page or post front-end. This is incredibly helpful for users who don’t know how to code.
Summary
WordPress is an amazing content management system that many users swear by. It is designed for everyone. The most basic to the most advanced user can manipulate WordPress with little to no difficulty. Why would you use any other content management system when a simple yet high powered system currently exists?
