Wordpress

## **Key Terms**

**CMS (content Management System)**: a computer application that supports the creation and modification of digital **content**. It typically supports multiple users in a collaborative environment (Wikipedia.com, 2018).

**Blog:** a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style. (Dictionary.com)

**Branding**: Associating with or assign a brand name to. (Dictionary.com)

**Themes:** A color scheme; on wordpress, you can choose a pre made theme, or select colors for the text and background on your page.

**Blog posts:** a piece of writing or other item of content posted on a blog.

## **Analysis**

1) **Background: Who uses it and why?**

Wordpress was originally created as an easy blogging platform, where anyone and everyone could share their art and stories for free and with ease. Since its start up, wordpress has become a major platform for students in classrooms, every day bloggers, and businesses and corporations to share their content as well. The free version of wordpress supplies you with a link followed by .wordpress.com, that is customizeable for the user (wordpress.com/about, 2018). Big brand websites often pay for wordpress to give them their own title, such as thenewyorker.com. These companies distance themselves from the Wordpress branding, so a lot of the time you don't realize that the websites you frequent are actually created by Wordpress. A monthly subscription is required for the advanced service, ranging anywhere from 4 to 25 dollars a month. Wordpress is now the largest content management system in the world (Skillcrush.com, 2017).

2) **Who Endorses the platform and why?**

People who endorse this platform are people who are artistic influencers, business people who want an easy platform to display all of their information, contacts, and products, and networkers who use Wordpress to get their name out into the public, and teachers who want to help their students build up digital literacy. They endorse this platform because it is by far the simplest way to start up a website, whether it be for a blog or for a large company.

3) **What Benefits/Drawbacks accompany using the platform?**

There are many advantages of using WordPress. To start, WordPress offers a basic free plan for their users as well as monthly plans. WordPress makes it easy to use with website templates and built-in blogs ready to go. One of the best advantages of using WordPress is the user had control of their site, it’s 100% customizable and your site can grow as your business grows.

Although WordPress offers some advantages for its users,
there are some drawbacks. One of the most concerning is the unsecured CMS
platform, leading to being more vulnerable to security hacks and malicious
activities. Another drawback to consider is the speed of the site, the excess
of plugins drastically affects the performance of the site making it slower.

4) **How does this digital literacy benefit society?**

This digital literacy benefits society because it allows for people to create simple blogs or even full-featured business websites. WordPress is the most popular tool for creating websites.

## **How To Access Wordpress**

1) go to www.wordpress.com

2) Hit "create a site"

3) Click "Let's get Started" in the top right corner.

4) Enter your site name, what your website is about, and the primary goal for your website.

5) give your website an address. Be creative with your URL.

6)Choose a payment plan. If you are a new blogger, we recommend the free version, but the payment plans range anywhere from 4$ for hobbyists to 25$ for professional businesses to own a wordpress site.

7) Edit your profile, biography, theme, color scheme, or anything else you would like.

8) click the button in the top right corner that says "write".

9) start posting! posts can be anything from just pictures to blog entries.

## **Fun Facts**

1) 74.6 MILLION sites rely on wordpress to push their name out there in the internet. (Managewp.org, 2017).

    2) WordPress websites collectively reign in about 40 million more monthly viewers than Amazon.com (Managewp,org, 2017).

3) On top of the New Yorker using Wordpress as their platform, huge names such as  CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes.com have constructed their online presence through Wordpress.

## **Sample**

https://chicoenglishupdates.wordpress.com

## Sources

https://wordpress.com/about/

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/blog?s=t

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/branding?s=t

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuchico/reader.action?docID=3317700&ppg=72

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content\_management\_system

14 Surprising Statistics about Wordpress: https://managewp.com/blog/14-surprising-statistics-about-wordpress-usage

https://skillcrush.com/2016/07/25/13-wordpress-facts/