WordPress is an open source software that serves as a content management system and a blog publishing application. It was developed in 2003, as a successor to b2/cafelog and licensed under the GPL General Public License. WordPress began as a personal publishing system, written in the PHP programming language on
MYSQL database. Today it is the largest self hosted blogging tool in the world and a content management system for everything from small personal web sites to Fortune 500 company web sites. All of it's services are provided for free and can easily be downloaded from the internet.
WordPress operates on a
template system, with a focus on aesthetics and usability. The WordPress corporation has gone through great lengths to make the core of their software user friendly, even for an individual who does not have any previous programming experience. The templating system includes widgets and can be rearranged and altered without having to
edit PHP or HTML code. However, with more than 100 extensions available, and the ability to manually write codes, it gives an experienced programmer the flexibility to customize as desired. WordPress is also search engine friendly, features integrated link management, has the ability to assign multiple categories to articles, and can support for tagging of articles and posts. It will allow one to make password protected posts, a place for visitors to leave comments, bookmarklets, and more. Easy install, importing, upgrading and spam control are all part of the software's perks.
On the other hand, WordPress can create sites that are vulnerable to hackers. They have had
security issues in the past, particularly with older versions of the software that are still commonly being used. At one point, it was estimated that more than 98% of all WordPress blogs being run with outdated software were exploitable. However, newer versions of this product have heightened security and WordPress continues to improve.
Overall, WordPress is a highly functional blogging software and content management system. It has been downloaded over a million times and is seen by tens of millions of people daily. It should be considered as a reliable option when shopping for a
content management system.
