This is a guide for designing and maintaining beautiful websites using WordPress.
WordPress
WordPress is a free software tool that can design and maintain beautiful websites. It was created by and for the online community. You are free to use WordPress to develop your websites. There is no license fee to use it. [More: Learn How to Use WordPress]
Sample WordPress Web Sites
To see what WordPress can do, here are some websites that were developed with WordPress:
Tasty Kitchen – A cooking website where people can share recipes Katy Perry – Official website CBS New York – Official website for channel CBS New York
HTML
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is a markup language that is used to describe web pages. All web designers should have a good understanding of HTML. WordPress allows you to supply custom HTML when designing web pages. [More: HTML Introduction]
PHP
PHP is a popular scripting language that is used for web development. Its statements can be embedded into HTML. PHP allows you to create dynamic web pages. PHP is a requirement of WordPress. You can download and use PHP free of charge. [More: PHP: A simple tutorial – Manual]
MySQL
MySQL is the most popular open source database in the world. Like PHP, MySQL is free to download and use. Check the MySQL open source license for applicable restrictions. MySQL is also a requirement of WordPress. [More: MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual :: 3 Tutorial]
Apache
WordPress works well with the Apache web server. Apache allows you to run your WordPress web sites right from your machine. This makes it easy to develop and test your web sites. Apache is free to use. [More: Downloading the Apache HTTP Server]
Web Host
Running your WordPress website from your home machine is great for development. But when you are ready to publish your website, you will need to find a web host. There are thousands of web hosts that fully support WordPress web sites. These hosts will work with you to publish your web site to the world.
Getting Started
Designing a website is no small task. It takes research, time and patience. The end product is a beautiful, dynamic, full-featured web site that you can be proud of. WordPress gives you the power to create impressive web sites. There is plenty of documentation on the WordPress website that describes how to download, install, use and run WordPress. It will take time to learn WordPress and all of its components but the investment will be well worth it. With time, you will be able to create practically any website your mind can dream up.
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Sources:
WordPress.org
PHP
MySQL
Apache – HTTP Server Project