Wordpress

WordPress is a free, open source web software started in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. It's currently being used on over 372 million websites. WordPress sites are all published using the PHP programming language which allows you to create dynamic pages without any knowledge of HTML.

Since Gutenberg invented the first printing press in 1440, technology has been advancing fast. In the 1700's James Watt created a device allowing steam to be applied to water, which led to the first steam-powered engines, and in 1885 Nikola Tesla invented an induction motor that used polyphase currents.

This invention had a profound effect on daily life as we know it today. Innovation is at the heart of today's society. WordPress is just one example of a simple and free piece of software that has evolved massively and become very sophisticated in use, and is now an integral part of the way we work every day.

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform in the world (Reynolds, 2016). To install a blog, you must first have a website domain name and web hosting. Web hosting is where your website files are stored on a computer connected to the internet so that people can visit those pages with their web browsers from around the world.

Hosting 

When you buy hosting, you get to choose between shared or dedicated hosting. With shared hosting, your site gets a proportion of the resources on the server it is hosted on, whereas with dedicated hosting, your site gets all the resources of that one particular server (WordPress). Once you have bought web hosting and set up internet access for yourself or your business, you can purchase a domain name (WordPress).

Many people already own their domain names, but if not it can be purchased at around $10-$15 per year. WordPress takes about five minutes to install on most hosting packages (Mullenweg, 2016). WordPress makes it easy for the user to access and update the content of their blog through a user-friendly interface, and it is also very simple to remove unwanted pages.

Templates

One of WordPress's key features is that it provides an array of free templates for users to use, which can be edited with just a few clicks of a button. Current development focuses on implementing new features such as responsive themes which respond to the size of users' screens, and improved image handling (WordPress). With over 2.2 billion websites existing on the internet today, WordPress is one of the best usages of technology in our current time (Reynolds, 2016).

WordPress has grown massively over the years, contrary to what most people may think. While it was originally just used for blogging, it has evolved into a very user-friendly website builder that businesses of all sizes use to create their websites without having to pay expensive web designers. The WordPress market is huge and is only expected to grow further with more technological advancements.

E-Commerce

WordPress is not just limited to blogging or creating websites, but can also be used for other things such as ecommerce stores. For example, the website WooCommerce uses WordPress under the hood and allows users to set up virtual shops on their sites in order to sell products (WooCommerce). WordPress has become a big part of society, and many people don't even realise that they are already using it on their blogs, or the websites of their local businesses. WordPress was created in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, today it powers over a quarter of the internet (Reynolds, 2016). With all this information about WordPress in mind, hopefully you will be encouraged to use it more in the future.

Conclusion

WordPress is extremely user-friendly, and you can even install your own WordPress blog or website for free using this site! So why not give it ago?