WordPress is the most popular content management system for creating websites. The open-source program has been continuously developed since 2003 – by the community. The source code is open to the public, so developers worldwide can contribute their ideas. Internet users benefit immensely from it. If you want to set up a blog, e-shop or homepage without programming knowledge, you can choose the best and fastest WordPress themes and create countless plug-ins.
The design of your site is given an individual character, and the best functionality is ensured.
We explain the basics for hosting and installing WordPress and look at the advantages and disadvantages of free and premium themes. Finally, we will shed light on useful plug-ins.
WordPress.com or your own hosting
The most confusing thing for many is that WordPress is offered on two different websites: WordPress.org and WordPress.com. We explain the differences:
- WordPress.org: The CMS (Content Management System) can be downloaded here free of charge by anyone. The site only offers the software – the user has to host the created website himself.
- WordPress.com: Here, you can create your own website. In addition, WordPress.com offers hosting of the website and the domain. That is, an individual “www address”. This version is chargeable.
There are also countless webspace providers for hosting and the domain where you can install WordPress as a package.
Install WordPress
Once you have selected a suitable web host and successfully created your own domain, you can install WordPress via the host’s service. Otherwise, the installation has to be done manually. To do this, visit the wordpress.org site, log in there and click on the “Download WordPress” button. However, one should note that specific requirements for the server are necessary for this.
Install the WordPress theme
It is slowly starting to be fun: the design templates – so-called templates or themes – can be downloaded to create an individual design. That is relatively easy:
- Log into WordPress
- Navigate in the main bar (dashboard) to “Design” and then to “Themes.”
- In the “Themes” tab, click on “Add.”
- Here, you can choose between popular themes. The simpler themes are free. But there are also paid premium themes. We’ll highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the two theme options in the next section.
Free vs. Premium Theme
There are pros and cons for both options when it comes to themes.
Free themes:
- No mandatory costs
- Assured quality through quality control at WordPress
- High usability
- Limited functionality and flexibility
- No customer service
Premium themes:
- High flexibility and functionality
- Individual design options
- Responsive web design (mobile phone, tablet, desktop)
- Customer service and regular updates
- Multifunction themes are sometimes cluttered. Consequence: The website runs slowly
- costs
Install plugins
With the selection of the theme, the foundation of the page is laid. So-called plug-ins are available for expansion. But be careful: less is more. Because every plug-in takes up storage space and slows down the page, you should only install useful plug-ins.
Useful plug-ins
These plugins have proven useful:
- Yoast SEO: helps the site to get higher rankings in the search engine
- WP Rocket: can significantly improve the loading time of the website
- WordFence: Security plug-in that protects the site from external attacks
Create pages
After creating the themes and plug-ins, you can now fill the page with life. You can reach the editor via the “Create” item. You can insert page titles, content and media files here. As with known text programs, you can edit the content in different fonts, highlight it in bold and italics, or change the text color. A special tool is the “Read more” function. If the text block for the start page is too long, only the beginning is displayed. The entire text only opens when you click on “Continue reading”.
Conclusion
WordPress offers a variety of options for creating a website. By choosing the right host, theme and selected plug-in, you can create your own homepage for the blog or online shop individually and relatively easily.
