Lisa Sabin-Wilson - Wordpress for Dummies: 9th Edition

WordPress For Dummies, 9th Edition

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Copyright 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020949710

ISBN 978-1-119-69697-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-69698-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-69696-4 (ebk)

There used to be a program from Microsoft called FrontPage, which was the first visual interface for creating websites that I saw. It worked like Microsoft Word and Publisher, so with very little knowledge, I was able to hack together the worlds worst website in just a few hours without worrying about what was going on under the hood.

Years later, when I look back at that website, I cringe, but at the time, it was incredibly empowering. The software, though crude, helped me publish something anybody in the entire world could see. It opened a world I had never imagined before.

Now, using software like WordPress, you can have a blog or website light years beyond my first one in both functionality and aesthetics. Just as my first web experience whetted my appetite for more, I hope that your experience entices you to explore the thousands of free plugins, themes, and customizations that are possible with WordPress, many of which are explained in this book.

WordPress is more than just software; its also a community, a rapidly evolving ecosystem, and a set of philosophies and opinions about how to create the best web experience. When you embrace it, youll be in good company. WordPress users include old-media organizations such as CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, along with millions of personal bloggers like me for whom a WordPress blog is a means of expression.

Matt Mullenweg

Cofounder of WordPress

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 9
7. Chapter 10
8. Chapter 12
9. Chapter 14

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 16

It was 2003 when I discovered the WordPress blogging software. Way back then (and in Internet years, thats actually quite a lot of time), I used Movable Type as my blogging platform. A friend introduced me to the WordPress software. Try it, she said. Youll really like it.

As a creature of habit, I felt reluctant to make the change. But I havent looked back. Ive been with WordPress ever since.

WordPress started as a tool for blogging. Authors, students, parents, business owners, academics, journalists, hobbyists you name it use blogs as a matter of course. Over the past decade, WordPress has emerged as the premier content management system (CMS) available on the Internet. WordPress software currently powers 35 percent of the websites you see.

Today, WordPress is much more than a blogging tool. Individuals, organizations, and corporations are using WordPress to build their entire web presence. WordPress has grown into a valuable solution for everything from selling products on the Internet to running membership sites and blogging. Pretty much anything you think you can do with your website, you can accomplish with WordPress.

To a brand-new user, some aspects of WordPress can be a little bit intimidating. After you start using it, however, you begin to realize how intuitive, friendly, and extensible the software is.

This book presents an insightful look at WordPress. In the book, I cover managing and maintaining your WordPress-powered website through the use of plugins and themes, as well as using the intuitive WordPress Dashboard to manage your content. If youre interested in taking a detailed look at the website-building tool provided by WordPress, you happen to have just the right book in your hands.

This book covers all the important aspects of WordPress that new users need to know to use the software for their own websites. I cover the software package available at