WordPress Glossary 10 Commonly Used WordPress Terms Explained

When you first get started with WordPress, its easy to feel overwhelmed by the volume and variety of terms the WordPress community uses. To help, we created this WordPress glossary of the most important terms and distinctions so that you can quickly get up to speed.By the end of this post, youll know the difference between front-end and back-end, how widgets and widget areas connect, what a theme framework is, and a whole lot more! In one short sentence   WordPress.org is an open-source software offering and WordPress.com is a service  built on the open-source WordPress.org software.With WordPress.org, you need to find suitable hosting, download the WordPress software, and install it on your server. It gives you full flexibility to manage your site, choose themes, plugins, and extensions, and you totally own your data. WordPress.org also puts you in total control over your website and allows you to  monetize it freely.In contrast, with WordPress.com you simply sign up for a hos ted WordPress service that takes care of site management completely. It restricts your choice of themes and plugins (unless you pay for the most expensive plan)  and you do not have full control over your data, but it is a bit more beginner friendly.WordPress.comWordPress.orgServiceOpen-source softwareHosted and managedSelf hostedLimited choice of themes and pluginsFull freedom to choose themes and pluginsLimited control over your dataFull control over your dataIf you ever want to switch, its not too difficult to move your website from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.Go to top2. Blog and websiteThe difference between a website and a blog lies mainly in the way data is presented.A website is a collection of pages where the content rarely changes. On the other hand, a blog is a collection of posts updated regularly with fresh content. While a website is hierarchical in nature, blog posts appear in reverse chronological order.Usually, a blog is conversational and it encourages two-wa y communication with your readers. Not so with a website, which is often transactional enabling selling, form submissions and the like.BlogWebsiteCollection of postsCollection of pagesConversationalTransactionalChronologicalHierarchicalTimely contentTimeless contentIts easy to create a blog with WordPress. In fact, you can also add a blog feature to any WordPress website.*Blogs are technically still websites were just trying to draw a distinction between how most people use the two terms.Go to top3. Categories and tagsCategories and tags help you add additional organization and classification to your WordPress content and are thus a very important part of this WordPress glossary:Tags describe a post in a specific manner and can often be keywords relating to the post content in some way.Categories are broader in nature than tags and help to group similar posts and topics together.Usually, you want to use a single category for each post, but you can use multiple tags.For example, if you write a sports blog:Basketball would make a good  category for all basketball-related posts.Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls would be two good  tags for a post specifically about Michael Jordan.CategoriesTagsMandatoryOptionalHierarchicalFlatBroad basedMore specificIf you do not categorize a post it will show up as uncategorized on your blog (though you can change it in options). However, its not mandatory to tag all posts. In fact, we dont use tags here at Themeisle only categories.Go to top4. Front-end and back-endIn a nutshell, the front-end is that part of the website thats visible to the public when they visit your site. The back-end is where you add new content, configure options, and decide how your front-end will look and feel.All the pages that control your site’s options and settings are collectively called Administration Screens and make up the back-end. Only authorized users can access the back-end. They can create, delete or modify content and alter layou t and design. On the other hand, any casual site visitor can view the front-end.Front-endBack-endMostly passive viewingActive managementAnyone can accessOnly authorized users have accessControlled by back-endControls the front-endWhat a visitor seesWhat site admins seeGo to top5. Plugins and extensionsTheres really no clear line separating plugins and extensions. You could say a plugin is a piece of software that extends functionality or adds specific features to WordPress. Extensions, on the other hand, add features or functions to specific plugins or themes.For example, a plugin or theme author might allow other developers to add extensions to the base plugin or theme, or that developer might offer their own extensions.PluginsExtensionsGenerally extends WordPress functionsUsually extends theme and plugin functionsEnables WordPress core to remain lightEnables themes and plugins to remain lightOffers additional features to WordPress usersOffers additional features to specific theme and plugin usersWhen developers make a plugin extensible, it allows them to keep essential functions and additional functions separate. It also enhances the scope for future development. Customers too have an option to purchase just the features they need in a plugin, with extra features bundled into extensions.Plugins enable the WordPress core to remain lean and light. Extensions do the same for plugins (and themes).Go to top6. Pages and postsPages and posts are next on our WordPress glossary. Although theyre content types that appear similar, theyre used for different purposes.Posts make up the core of your blog and are used for updates or trending information. Each post has a publish date. On your blog, they appear in a reverse chronological order, with your latest post at the top. Posts encourage conversation with built-in comment options and you can tag, categorize, and archive posts on your WordPress blog.PostPageTimely contentTimeless contentArranged in reverse chronological orderHierarchicalCan be included in feedsNot included in feedsMostly used by writers and editorsMostly used by adminsUsually categorized and taggedGenerally not categorized or taggedOn the other hand, pages are what make up a website and contain information thats constant over a period of time for instance, a  contact page or products page. They dont have a public publish date and dont appear in a timeline like blog posts. They are hierarchical and you can organize them in any order you want, though you cannot categorize or tag them.Go to top7. Text editor and visual editorWordPress offers you two different ways to create and edit posts and pages visual and text. In the text editor, you can write and modify HTML. Using quicktag buttons, you can also wrap a piece of selected text in commonly used tags.On the other hand, you cannot add or modify HTML in the visual editor. However, it has a good set of formatting options that help you get a fair idea of how your post will appear in the browser (kind of like Microsoft Word).  Its easy to switch between the two editors.Text EditorVisual EditorCan add or modify HTMLCannot work with HTMLView content in text and HTML format WYSIWYGRemoves all formatting from pasted contentDoes not remove formattingNeed to get familiarMore user-friendlyGo to top8. Widget and widget areasWidgets are small, self-contained pieces of information that add content and features to a website. These widgets can only appear in specific predefined widget areas on the website, such as sidebar or footer. You can’t use a widget outside of a widget area.WidgetsWidget AreasSelf contained piece of info that displays on websiteA pre-defined area in website layout to contain widgetCan exist only within widget areaProvides space for display of widgetBy default, WordPress comes with some widgets (search, categories) as well as a widget area for your themes sidebar. Plugins and themes can provide additional widgets or create widget areas on a w ebsite.Go to top9. Theme frameworks and buildersBoth theme frameworks and builders help you build a custom website. What makes them different is the user groups they target.A framework is intended for use by developers. It saves them the trouble of writing themes from scratch by offering some ready-made code as a start point. Youll need coding skills to work with frameworksFrameworkPage BuilderIntended for developersIntended for regular WordPress usersRequires coding skillsWorks by mere drag and drop and selecting optionsIn contrast, a builder is for use by regular WordPress users like you and me. It helps you create, edit, and customize your site layout working off a user friendly interface, using drag and drop. No coding skills are necessary, and you can  pick and choose elements and control the way each element appears and functions.Go to top10. Themes and templatesThis WordPress glossary would not be complete without reference to themes and templates. A WordPress theme is a co mplete design for a website. A template is a single layout thats available within a theme. A theme may contain a number of templates for you to choose from, and can also allow you to build your own custom template.Some themes have special templates such as full-width templates for special design features.ThemeTemplateProvides design for the entire websiteProvides design for a single pageTheme can contain many templatesReverse is not trueWhile a template controls the appearance of a single page, a theme applies to all the pages on a website. However, if you have the coding skills, you can create your own custom templates.Go to topConfused by any other WordPress terms?That rounds up our WordPress glossary. But that doesnt mean youre done learning!Have another WordPress term that confuses you? Leave a comment and well try to help illuminate things! We might even add it to the WordPress glossary. Learn the meaning of 10 common #WordPress terms in this beginner-friendly glossary