What is WordPress and how does it work?

WordPress is an app that can be installed onto web servers. It is a whole package of computer code, mostly written in the PHP programming language. The code is “open source,” meaning that coders around the world are constantly working to improve it, and openly sharing that work. There is no cost for you to buy it. Generally, you work with it online, through your web browser, rather than installing it on your laptop or desktop computer.

WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) — that is, a system for organizing all the articles, pictures, forms, pages, posts, headlines, comments, authors, etc. that make up a website. It stores all of these pieces in a database, then assembles them as needed to display any individual page of a website. There are other Content Management Systems, such as Drupal and Joomla. WordPress is the most popular, and usually considered the easiest to use.