YNOT – We’ve finally reached the long-awaited moment in which we will dive into the world of the WordPress content management system. In previous columns, we saw how to weigh the quality of a hosting service and discussed how the choice of certain parameters over others depends on the characteristics of the portal we wish to create.

Today we will dedicate ourselves to analyzing the characteristics of the popular content management system.

We can summarize WordPress in a few simple words:

WordPress is a platform for “personal publishing” and content management written in PHP. It uses MySQL as a database, which allows the creation of a blog or personal site. Created by Matt Mullenweg, WordPress is distributed under the GNU General Public License.

The characteristics of this popular CMS are indeed numerous and adaptable to the needs of both professional and amateur.

Here’s a quick roundup:

• Support for third-party plugins: You can install applications created by third parties to customize the CMS to your specific needs.

• Category manager and tags: All site content may be associated with a particular category to make navigation and content management easier. Each published article also may be associated with a distinctive tag that allows you to relate similar articles in the same category.

• Page management: In addition to dynamic articles, you can create static pages (for example, a contacts page or disclaimer) that also can be categorized with the click of a button.

• Automatic notification of updates (including plugins): You will not need to check whether updates are available for the platform or for any WordPress plugins you are using. Updates are listed in the admin panel, and you can decide whether or not to accept the changes.

• One-click automatic updates: As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, you can upgrade the components or the entire CMS simply by accepting the update notifications that display in the control panel. Undoubtedly this method is quick and convenient, but I recommend you use caution when considering updates, especially when your site is working properly. Some updates may generate clashes between plugins or between components and the CMS itself.

• WYSIWYG editor: The interface for creating content is a “what you see is what you get” type, allowing even inexperienced users to create and manage their web content without undue stress.

• Advanced multimedia content: WordPress makes it possible to insert pictures and video into any post, creating an attractive portal that will entertain users. Wizards ease the insertion of multimedia content.

• Research and direct installation in the administration panel: The administration panel also allows you to search and browse not only your own site, but the web at large — without opening your browser. Find plugins and themes that suit your needs and install them on our website without ever leaving the control panel.

• Supports graphical themes: As in the case of WP plugins, you also can customize your site with graphic themes that enhance the content. Download and install themes directly from the admin panel.

• Themes for mobile: If you intend to allow users to interact with your site via mobile phone or other untethered device, WordPress also offers themes that are compatible with mobile devices.

• Trackback support: To spread the word about your site.

• Feed support: Plugins will generate RSS feeds to keep your users updated about what’s new on the site. In addition, plugins also allow the reverse process, which is to create sections on your site that contain feeds from other portals.

WordPress is available in both hosted and locally installed implementations. In future articles, we will analyze the differences and discuss which may be better for your purposes.

This article was written for YNOT by Eng. Antonio Lodesani. For more information, visit ingoccupati.blogspot.com(in Italian).