While yesterday’s world required webmasters to have advanced programming skills, today’s world allows individuals to create websites in as little as a few hours. Although there are many available platforms, such as Wix, MoonFruit, and FreeWebs, that allow users to create websites via pre-built templates and drag-n-drop tools, these sites usually display ads or their own branding on your website and are often limited in customizability.

Instead of using these platforms, users can build websites with the help of CMS (Content Management System) platforms, such as Blogger, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. All of these platforms are essentially the same, but WordPress is the most popular and easy-to-navigate for most people. WordPress is the most preferred content management software on the Internet right now. In fact, did you know that there have been over 13,000,000 downloads of this CMS in the past? Well, now you know. However, many people are stuck when it comes to using the software. This article will give you answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about WordPress so that you become more comfortable using WordPress.

WordPress is a free blogging tool and vibrant content management system which is based on PHP and MySQL. This article is focused on providing unique kind of information for the people who want to manage the WordPress powered site. You will get to learn the basic and technical skills of managing and customizing WordPress.

Most Frequently Asked Questions about WordPress

1. What is WordPress?

   WordPress is software that started as a blogging platform but over time has evolved into a content management system.

2. What are the advantages of using WordPress?

   It is very easy to install and configure WordPress and you are always in control what features appear on your website.

3. What are WordPress features?

   WordPress offers a nice set of tools that allow you to create a unique website. What makes WordPress unique itself are the fans and professionals that have created thousands of plugins, add-ons, widgets and other features that WordPress users can add to the basic installation.

4. What can I do with WordPress?

   WordPress is great for posting information in the form of text, images, videos and links. It is possible to change the look and style of your website because there are countless themes available that can be modified any way you wish. You can add widgets and other cool features to your website thanks to plugins. There are numerous plugins that add functionality to your website.

5. Who are the creators of WordPress?

   The founders of WordPress are Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little.

6. When was WordPress first released?

   WordPress was first released on May 27th, 2003.

7. How is WordPress licensed?

   WordPress has GNU General Public License which is an open source license. Open source licenses allow users to change and share the source code under certain conditions.

8. Why are there two websites: WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

   WordPress.org allows you to download the WordPress software and get some information on the program while WordPress.com is a blog network where you can join and host your blog. The services are free for both websites but some add-ons or upgrades are only available for premium users.

9. Do I have to know how to program PHP in order to use WordPress?

   WordPress can be used through the user interface with no need to alter PHP directly. The only time when you might need to alter files is when dealing with some of the plugins, although most can be used through the user interface alone.If you do happen to have a plugin that requires you to manually alter PHP files, it will usually come with clear instructions on how that is done.

10. What should I know before installing WordPress?

    To proceed with the installation you will need access to your web server (through shell or FTP), a FTP client, a text editor and a web browser.

11. How to install WordPress?

    If you and your web host have at least the minimum requirements to run WordPress, download the latest WordPress from WordPress.org and unzip the file you have downloaded.

12. What are the minimum requirements to run WordPress?

    Minimum requirements for WordPress change over time. At the moment to run WordPress your host needs PHP 5.2.4 or greater and MySQL 5.0 or greater.

13. What is the famous 5 minute install?

    After downloading and unzipping the WordPress package, make a database on your web server and a MySQL user for WordPress. Rename wp-config-sample.php to simply wp-config.php and fill in the details of your database. Then upload the WordPress files to the web server. Run the WordPress installation script (wp-admin/install.php) in your browser. All these steps should not take more than 5 minutes.

14. How to create a database and user?

    First look at your control panel to see if you need to create a database manually. If so, you can use cPanel and click MySQL Databases section. If you are using phpMyAdmin, navigate Home › Privileges › Add a new User.

15. Where can I find my Administration Panel?

    To access your Administration Panel, enter the address http://yourwebsite.com/wp-admin/ in your browser.

16. How to write a post in WordPress?

    In the Posts menu, click the Add New button. This will give you a field where you can enter a new post. Once you have written your text, press Publish to publish it.

17. How to create a new page in WordPress?

    In the Pages menu choose Add New to add a new page.

18. How to create a new category in WordPress?

    To create a new category navigate to the Posts menu on your Dashboard › Categories and choose Add New Category.

19. How to change the category of a post?

    To change the category of a post go to Posts Menu › Edit and choose Quick Edit on the post you would like to edit. Then from Categories select a new category and click Update Post to save the changes you have made.

20. How to delete a category?

    Select the category you wish to delete in the Category tab, then choose delete. Press OK when the confirmation pop-up appears. Please remember that the posts from this category will be moved to the default Uncategorized category.

21. How to moderate the comments in WordPress?

    In the WordPress Administration Panel choose Comments. That will allow you to edit or delete individual comments. For general comment settings go to Settings › Discussion. From there you can choose whether or not to allow comments at all and what should be considered to be spam.

22. How to change your WordPress theme?

    You can find default WordPress themes in your Administration Panel under Appearance › Themes. You can change your theme by clicking the theme of your choice and then Activate.

23. How to install new WordPress themes?

    There are numerous websites offering thousands of different WordPress themes. Download the WordPress theme of your choice to your hard drive. Once you have the new theme you can use File Manager to upload the compressed file under wp-content/themes directory and extract it online or extract it on your computer and then upload the theme through FTP. Now the theme should appear under Appearance › Themes in your Administration Panel.

24. What are WordPress plugins?

    Plugins are little pieces of software that add functionality to your website. There are thousands of useful plugins that either add extra interactivity with your website or help you with managing the website.

25. How to install a WordPress plugin?

    There are websites that offer you WordPress plugins for download. Once you have a plugin on your hard drive, go to the Administration Panel. Navigate Plugins › Add New and select the plugin from the archive and the installation will begin.

26. How to remove a plugin?

    To remove a plugin, remove the directory for the plugin you wish to uninstall.

27. How to add an image, audio and video to posts in WordPress?

    In the Administration Panel, go to Posts › Add New. In the editor menu you can choose to Add anImage, Add Video, Add Audio and Add Media.

28. How to create an image gallery in WordPress?

    Go to the Administration Panel, select Posts › Add New. Click the Add an Image button and upload the images you want to see in the gallery. Once you are done, click to Save All Changes. This will make a Gallery Tab to appear which will allow you to manage the pictures and set the Gallery settings. Once you are done, click Insert Gallery.

29. How to add tags to your WordPress posts?

    When you are writing a post, you can add tags by entering your desired tags in the Post Tags module and clicking the Add button or hitting enter after typing each tag. There is no limit as to how many tags you can add.

30. How to manage users in WordPress?

    In the Administration Panel go to the Users section. From there you can choose to add a new user by clicking the Add New button. To manage current users go to the Authors&Users where you can change the role of a user or remove it.

31. What should I keep in mind when uploading files?

    First you have to choose where you would like your WordPress site to be. You can use a FTP client to directly upload the files to the root directory or create a sub-directory for your files.

32. How to rename the WordPress folder?

    If you haven’t installed WordPress yet, you can rename the folder directly. However, if you have a WordPress installation, login to the weblog as the administrator and go to Settings › General.

33. How to change WordPress password?

    In the Admin Panel menu find Users. It will open a list of users. Find yours and click Edit User. In the New Password section type in the new password. Once it is done, click the Update Profile button.

34. How can I hide my website from other people?

    The only way how to do it is by creating password protected content. To make your content protected, deselect Allow Anonymous Access and choose Basic Authentication instead.

35. How to get WordPress working when you are behind a reverse proxy?

    There might be some problems with WordPress if you are behind a reverse proxy because the proxy overwrites the http_host. To solve this issue, add this line to the ks29so_config.php file:

    $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] = $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'];
    

36. Is it possible to use WordPress without MySQL?

    WordPress supports only MySQL database servers. Other databases are not supported at the moment.

37. Why does WordPress use MySQL?

    WordPress uses MySQL because it is very fast and it is also the most widely accessible database server on the Internet. Most hosts support MySQL which means almost anyone can access it. MySQL is also open source which is important for WordPress development.

38. What is phpMyAdmin?

    This is a free administrator’s tool, a PHPscript that allows people to interact with MySQL databases. It is great for performing maintenance, backing up information and editing.

39. Can WordPress run in PHP safe mode?

    Yes, it can. It works just fine when PHP is running in safe mode.

40. Do I really need PHP for WordPress?

    Yes, it is one of the requirements (version 4.1 or newer) for your WordPress website. PHP scripting language is what powers all WordPress. Without PHP WordPress cannot function.

41. How to find information about the server?

    To see what version of PHP or MySQL you have or what server software your site is hosting, write the following command in a text editor:

    <?php phpinfo(); ?>

    Save the file as testphp.php. Upload this file to the root directory and then type in the address to the file in your browser (such as http://example.com/testphp.php) to see the test results.

42. How do I know which version of WordPress do I have?

    Locate the wp-includes folder and open the version.php file with a text editor. This file contains information about your WordPress version. Alternatively look at the bottom of the screen in the Administration Panel to see the number of WordPress version you are using.

43. How to upgrade WordPress to the latest version?

    First be sure to check the minimum requirements for the new version. If they are met, create backup of your database so you will be able to restore it if for whatever reason you wish to downgrade your WordPress version. It is also a good idea to disable plugins because sometimes they can cause problems with the latest versions. To start the update process: Go to Tools › Upgrade. Click the button Update Automatically and you are done.

44. How do I disable plugins?

    Go to the Manage Plugins in dashboard and deactivate Bulk Actions. Click Apply and you are done.

45. How to backup WordPress database?

    There are several ways to backup WordPress data. The easiest is the automatic solution. There are several WordPress plugins designed to backup your files. To find such plugins, go to your Administration Screen and browse in the Plugin Browser. There you will find numerous backup plugins such as BackWPup and Duplicator.

46. How to restore database from backup?

    You can restore a database from backup using phpMyAdmin. After you have logged in, click Databases and select the one you want to import data from. Then choose Import. Then click Browse and locate the backup file. Make sure the SQL radio button is checked and then click Go. It will take a little while to complete.

47. What are smileys and how can I use them in my posts?

    Smileys or emoticons are little icons to represent emotions. By default WordPress automatically changes text smileys to small images.

48. How to turn off graphic smileys?

    From your Admin Panel navigate to Settings › Writing. Choose Formatting and uncheck the box for emoticons.

49. How to customize the ‘read more’ link?

    Teasers that encourage readers to click and read more can be changed either by inserting a quicktag in the code or by replacing the template tag the_content() with the_excerpt(). To add a ‘more’ quicktag, put the cursor in the place you want to stop the teaser text, then go to Administration › Write › Post where you can find the ‘more’ quicktag.

50. How to wrap text around images?

    To align an image with the text tag the image with class=“alignleft”, class=”alignright” or class=”aligncenter”. Here is a code example:

    <img src=”http://exampleimage.com/example.jpg” class=”alignleft” />

51. How to make notes in my files?

    Sometimes it is very useful to add a note or a comment to a file. You can add comments in HTML or PHP pages like this:

    <!-- insert comment here -->

    Add comments in CSS files like this:

    /* insert comment here */

52. How is the date and time formatted in my posts?

    Some of the WordPress tag functions accept format strings that decide how the date is going to be displayed. For example, a format string l, F j, Y creates a date that looks like this Monday, January 7, 2013. Here is what each character represents:

    • l – name for a day of the week
    • F – name for the month
    • j – the day of the month
    • Y – the year in 4 digits

    This is how this date would look in the template tag:

    <?php the_time('l, F jS, Y') ?>

53. What are template files?

    Template files are files that control how your website will be presented on the web. They take information out of your MySQL database and create a code which is then transmitted to the web browser. By using template files you can create different WordPress themes which will influence the colors and style of your website. It is possible to configure template files to act differently under different conditions. Most common template files are header, footer, sidebar and content but there are many, many more.

54. What are template tags?

    A template tag is a code that gives an order to WordPress to do or show something in a certain way. For example, the tag <?php the_title(); ?> will display the title of the current post. Most template tags are simple but there are some that are more complex.

55. How to customize the Error 404 page?

    On the WordPress Administration Screen choose Appearance › Theme Editor. Click the link for ‘404 Template’ to edit the message text and save your changes.

56. What is the WordPress Loop?

    The Loop is PHP code that WordPress uses to display posts and format them according to how they match the criteria in loop tags. For example, if you wish your page to display recent 10 posts from newest to oldest, the WordPress will organize them exactly like that. However, if you ask for specific posts to displayed, WordPress will use this information to choose that specific post from the database.

57. How to hide or disguise your e-mail address to avoid spammers?

    The easiest trick for disguising your e-mail from spammers is creating an image which contains your e-mail address, cropping it and inserting it in your website.

58. How do I link my posts?

    To link to a post, go to the Administration screen to find the ID of the target post. Then use the code to link to your post:

    <a href="index.php?p=123">Post Title</a>

    Replace 123 with the post ID.

59. What are feeds?

    Feeds allow feedreaders to access your site. Feedreaders are looking for new content and are posting the information about news and updates on another site. Feeds are useful for making your blog more popular and to keep up-to-date with the newest information among bloggers.

60. What are the most important things to do when maintaining my website?

    Make sure your WordPress installation is up to date, that your website doesn’t have any dead links or spam comments. Always back up your website.

Image Credits – Q&A