Definition:
WordPress is a popular open source blog platform and content manager (CMS). Based on PHP and MySQL, WordPress allows users to create sophisticated, professional-looking websites and blogs.
WordPress competes in the content management market with other services such as Drupal and Joomla, and currently manages more than 73 million websites. The system also offers users a wide selection of plug-ins and templates or themes, to extend the functions and customization options of the platform.
WordPress version 3.0 introduces a new feature, multi-user WordPress or WordPress MU, making it possible to create multiple blogs with a single WordPress installation, which can be managed from a centralized admin panel.
WordPress plugins
WordPress plugins allow users to extend the features and functionality of their website or blog. WordPress currently has over 40,500 plugins available, each of which offers custom features and elements that allow users to tailor their sites for their specific needs.
These customizations range from search engine optimization to customer portals that are used to display the private information of registered users, through content management systems or the characteristics of the content to be displayed, such as the addition of widgets and navigation bars. But not all available plugins are always up to date with updates and as a result it may not work properly or not work at all.
Other WordPress features
The system also features integrated link management, with a search engine, a permalink structure, the ability to assign various categories to articles, and support for tagging messages and articles. It also includes automatic filters, providing the normalized formatting and text style in the articles. WordPress also supports trackback and pingback standards to display links to other sites that they themselves have linked to a post or article.
WordPress blog posts can be edited in HTML, using the visual editor or using one of a number of plugins that allow for a variety of custom editing features.