WordPress is currently one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) in the world. It is also open source, and you can use it to build, edit and update your website easily. This is very different from the early days of the internet, where you had an HTML file for each website page, and any update that you wanted to make had to be done through HTML. Now imagine if you wanted to change the menu of the site – you would have to do it for each page. A CMS not only makes updating a website easy, it also propagates changes through all the relevant items and pages.
When hiring someone to build a website using WordPress, you really need to understand what that means. Since WordPress is extremely customizable and very accessible, the price can include everything from taking a premade template and modifying it for your business, to building an entirely new theme with custom functionality. It all depends on your aims as a business.
What is the difference between a custom theme and using a WordPress template?
A WordPress template is also known as a theme, and every website that is built using WordPress will use a theme. There are standard themes (templates) and custom themes, which are built through code from the ground up. Standard or premade themes have all the elements built-in, and you really do not have to know that much about coding to build a website. However, you do have to be very familiar with WordPress. While accessible, WordPress is not a website builder, like the ones you can find when you buy a new domain name for example. It is still a complex instrument that requires specialized knowledge.
You might be thinking at this point that you want your website to be as unique as possible, so using a standard theme is out of the question. However, a very unique website can come out of a standard theme. These themes are there to help you cut costs on projects that are not complex enough to warrant building a website theme from the ground up (which can be very expensive).
WordPress Front-End Design
What we’ve been talking about so far has been front-end design. This is the part of the process that starts with wireframes and mockups, which are rudimentary representations of the website, and ends up with a set of beautiful pages written using HTML, CSS and JavaScript within a WordPress theme.
WordPress Backend Development
The functionality of the WordPress website happens on the backend where PHP and SQL databases are used. How do you track user behavior? What happens when a user fills out a form or makes an account? All of these issues and more are handled on the backend of the WordPress website. These might sound like complex features to implement and customize. However, WordPress comes with a ton of plug-ins.
Plug-ins are similar to themes, in that they are pre-built items or systems that you can download and use right away. You also have standard plug-ins which may or may not be free, but which are available for download and testing, and then you have custom plug-ins which your developer can build for you in order to add a specific function or set of functionalities to the site.
What is the programming language for WordPress?
WordPress uses an L.A.M.P. setup, which consists of Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Many top websites and companies around the world use this setup including Facebook. Even if you might not know what any of this means, you can use it as a reference point when hiring a developer. Simply put, Linux is an OS like Windows, Apache is the server technology, MySQL is the database technology (which contains the pages, user data, etc.), and PHP is the programming language used to set up both the backend and frontend of WordPress.
Are you interested in building a WordPress website for your company?
The great thing about using WordPress is that you can set up a website that is full of features and functionality, and which anyone on your team can edit and update with no technical knowledge. The degree to which you can customize your website build is also very impressive. If you are currently interested in building a website for your business, whether for SEO purposes or as an eCommerce store, contact us today and we will help you out.
