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General
One of the principle advantages of WordPress is that you are in control. Unlike remote-hosted scripts such as Blogger and LiveJournal, you host WordPress on your own server. Installation is very simple, as is the configuration. Unlike other software programs, there are not a million files to chmod nor are there dozens of templates to edit just to get your site set up and looking the way you want.
Also, Blog pages in WordPress are generated on the fly whenever a page is requested, so you do not have multiple archive pages clogging up your web space. Waiting for pages to rebuild is a thing of the past because template changes are made in scant seconds.
WordPress is built following W3C standards for XHTML and CSS, ensuring that your site is more easily rendered across standards-compliant browsers. Other browsers are supported with a few hacks; it’s a reality of the web that hacks are necessary.
Aggregator support is built-in with a number of standard RSS configurations already done for you, as well as Atom. Following standards makes your WordPress site easier to manage, increases its longevity for future Internet technology adoption, and helps give your site the widest audience possible.
The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post.
When WordPress documentation says “This tag must be within The Loop”, such as for specific Template Tag or plugins, the tag will be repeated for each post. For example, The Loop displays the following information by default for each post:
You can display other information about each post using the appropriate Template Tags or (for advanced users) by accessing the variable, which is set with the current post’s information while The Loop is running.
The WordPress Codex has a Glossary where you can find definitions of many of the key phrases associated with WordPress.
Introduction
No. You should be able to use WordPress through the user interface, without ever having to touch PHP.
The only time you would modify your WordPress website with PHP would be when integrating some of the plugins. There are a small number of plugins that still require manual edits to your files. In most cases, clear instructions are usually given within a text file with the plugin.
Other than that, you would not be changing any of the PHP files.
WordPress was primarily inspired by Noah Grey‘s Greymatter open-source web log and journal software. It is related to b2, sort of a second cousin twice removed. You can use WordPress to post your own stories, ideas, rants, reviews, links, and pictures of your toothless Uncle Ernie at the wedding reception, if you choose. In addition, you can customize the look and feel of your site. Numerous themes are available and may be modified in many different ways. Through the use of WordPress Themes, you can quickly change the look and style of your site. You can also extend WordPress’ functionality through the use of Plugins. Plugins let you create the website or blog that suits your needs. As you can see, its functionality exceeds or at least is similar to what is available in most blogging tools today.
WordPress is open source web software that you can install on your web server to create your website, blog, community or network. WordPress started out as a tool for blogging, but has evolved into a full-fledged Content Management System (CMS), capable of powering websites, networks and communities.