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Why is WordPress so Popular?

You may not know it, but chances are good that you visit websites every day
that are built upon the WordPress CMS (Content Management System) platform.
From CNN and Martha Stewart to Playstation and People Magazine, some of the
world's top brands use WordPress to power their websites. So what exactly is
WordPress, and what makes it so popular?

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a free, open source, content management system built using PHP
and SQL web programming languages. It is an easy-to-use and customizable
program that runs purely in your web browser used to help you build, update,
and maintain a website. It manages all of the difficult things like HTML,
JavaScript, and CSS so you can focus on building clean, great-looking
websites without needing to know how to code a single thing.

WordPress can be downloaded for free from http://www.wordpress.org; and can
be installed on nearly every modern web server. In fact, most web hosting
companies now offer WordPress installations for free, so you don't even have
to bother setting it up yourself. Once WordPress is installed, it sets up
your website with a basic theme, or template. If you don't like the default,
you can choose from literally thousands of free and paid template options to
give your website an extra touch of personality, and you can easily change
the color scheme to set it apart from other sites.

Designed for Blogs, Powerful Enough for Any Website

Though WordPress was originally designed to be an easy way to manage blogs,
it is now so customizable and has so many plug-ins available that it can be
used to power nearly any website. Plug-ins add new functionality to the
website, such as social networking buttons, review rating systems, photo
albums, and even e-commerce shopping carts. Like templates, thousands of
free and paid plug-ins are available to help you improve the design and
functionality of your website.

Other Features

Using a wide variety of back-end tools, it is easy to set up, configure,
create, and manage your webpage or blog. WordPress offers a robust WYSIWYG
(What You See is What You Get, pronounced "wizzywig") editor for new posts.
Creating new blog posts doesn't require any knowledge of HTML because it
uses a word processor-like interface to help you bold, italicize, link, and
otherwise mark up your text for presentation.

WordPress also offers tools for inserting images, video, and audio into your
posts, so you can easily share pictures, movies, music and podcasts. Each of
these elements is customizable and the software seamlessly handles uploading
and archiving all of your media.

After writing text and inserting media, users are given further options to
tag and categorize posts, making it simple for others to find related topics
throughout the site. Furthermore, users can preview posts before they are
published, so you can catch any errors before your readers see them. And, if
that weren't enough, a post scheduling feature lets you choose exactly when
you want your articles to hit prime time-publish now or set them up to post
later while you're on vacation.

WordPress is easy to install, simple to set up, and a breeze to use. With
its host of built-in and add-on features that make both blogging and website
management a snap, it's easy to see why WordPress is so popular. If you've
been thinking of setting up a blog or website of your own, why not give it a
try?

my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that can
be done today."

Regards Gerald Crawford

Stellenbosch South Africa
Cell: +27-0720390184 (mobile)
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws

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