What is HTML?

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language and was invented by Tim Berners-Lee, a physicist working European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland. He wanted to create way for scientists to collaborate and share information. The main part of HTML was the use of links to other pages of work. This was a way for authors of content to give create to sources used in the creation of their piece. Web pages were created by a series of tags which are interpreted by your computer’s browser on the page. Each tag has a specific function for rendering content on the page. Most notable of tags is the table tag. This tag was created for displaying tabular data but early web designers found another function for tables. Displaying graphics and thus the true web was born. Many beautiful and intricate sites used tables for displaying layout and content. This was not what it was designed for and therefore created problems in the future.

Why are table tags bad?

Table tags for displaying tabular data, not for website layout. When the web was invented it was basically a standard way for creating documents that would be shared on the Internet. The created didn’t expect that the web could be so much more, graphics, multimedia, audio could be added to HTML documents. Most people will not even look at a website unless it is graphically appealing. Tables add to the overall size your web page. Screen readers view them as part of the document, not the layout. Accessibility will be an issue for those viewing your website. The more tables that exists the harder it is to process the website.

Why do so many websites still use tables?

Why we still go to McDonalds even though we know that the Big Mac is bad for us. It is because of convenience. Many large websites would have to be totally revamped which costs money. It might not be cost effective to consider those using screen readers to view your website. While I believe that major institutions should improve the accessibility to their websites ultimately very few have complained. A Chief Information Officer for a major institution told me that it wasn’t feasible to create a website completely table less because of the size of their website. I found this argument strange because larger websites would benefit greatly by reducing their code on the server, making it more accessible, easier to index, and reducing the complexity of the website.

Why do so many bad sites look good?

Well that’s because many web designers are not into coding websites. They are into creating really attractive websites with little substance. Websites are about content. Really that was the goal of HTML’s author Tim Berners-Lee. Problem is that nobody wants content that’s bland. We want rich colors, dynamic feedback, and animation. I had redesigned a website for a friend of mine and really liked the Flash animation used at the introduction of the website. It appears as if the authors of this website simply used a template. I came to that conclusion after review the navigation elements and seeing names like menu1, menu2, etc. After navigating the website I had discovered that there were dead-links, generic menu items, Flash based navigation. Using the website as a starting base I had decided to use the main colors in the website and totally redesign the layout. I had removed the flash based navigation, included a sitemap, using CSS for the layout of the page. Here is what the website looks like now.

The limitations of HTML

HTML is a great markup language, simple in its design which is why it became so popular. But because of its simplistic, loose structure, it needed other languages to make it more dynamic, robust. Javascript offered client-side dynamic actions to HTML, coining the term DHTML. Flash was used to create animations that would be extremely complex using DHTML. Flash has evolved to become a multimedia format for presenting programs, games, videos, even websites. Some people have created complete websites from flash. It is my opinion that Flash should not be used for website elements such as navigation or page layout. Flash does have its place in website Introductions, videos, and interactive games.

Introduction of Internet Based Applications

Web based applications have become the gold rush of developers today. This is because we have become a more interconnected society and having access to applications on the web is better than having them installed on your computer because you might not always have access to your computer. You might, for example, be at a friend’s house and need to update a document that you were working on earlier. Having documents online allows you to quickly access information when you need it as well as collaborate with other users, such as class mates. These Internet based applications use a combination of technologies, Apache, PHP, IIS, Ajax, ASP.NET, MySQL, etc. Applications typically need the same things, a platform, database, and host. These technologies are important for web-based application development.

Why are websites great

Websites are a collection of webpages that present a topic, idea, product, etc. The ability to speak to people around the world is priceless. The printing press allowed for mass production of books which improved the spread of ideas. The Internet takes it one step further by allowing content to be displayed around the world. It allows smaller players to have a voice within our society. Great website are created by individuals not large corporations. More and more technology levels the playing field between large institutions and small organizations.

Joomla is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) written, like many of the most popular content management systems, in the PHP scripting language and using the MySQL database access language to store and retrieve information from a database. The Joomla CMS is released under the popular GNU General Public License, making it an attractive solution to bloggers, web developers and non-profit organizations.

Simply put, Joomla is a server-side software package that allows users to conveniently setup dynamic websites and blogs without needing to do any programming or know any markup languages. The Joomla software is installed on a web server using a convenient installation process, and the site’s operator configures, administrates and runs the website using a fully-featured administrative control panel.

Like many other CMS, Joomla has a long list of features including RSS syndication, blogging, language localization, caching, searchable content, convenient banner management, customizable templates and many others.

History of Joomla

Joomla’s history is somewhat sordid in comparison to that of other content management systems; the Joomla CMS sprang into existence in 2005 as a branch of the Mambo CMS after an internal disagreement about the structure, philosophy and general direction in which Miro International (the non-profit foundation setup to fund and legally shelter the Mambo software) was planning to take the Mambo project. The disagreement became public when the development team, led by project leader Andrew Eddie (known as “MasterChief” in the development community) created OpenSourceMatters, a website to disseminate information to the open-source web development community.

The site quickly gained in popularity after it was featured on popular science and technology news aggregation site Slashdot; Miro International was soon forced to make a public response to the widespread criticism of the Mambo project, which CEO Peter Lamont did in an article entitled “The Mambo Open Source Controversy – 20 Questions With Miro.” Although Mambo continues to exist as a content management system, Joomla has dramatically outpaced it both in terms of active developers and user popularity.

Technically, Joomla’s name is “Joomla!” with an exclamation point, although this is often omitted when the CMS is mentioned.

Joomla’s development is somewhat slower than that of fellow content management systems Wordpress and Drupal; the most recent version of Joomla is 1.5.14; version 1.5 was released in January of 2008. Drupal 1.6 is currently in active development; an alpha release of that version was released for testing in June of 2009.

Current Usage of Joomla

Exact Joomla usage is difficult to measure; there is no built-in system to report back to the Joomla development team about how many websites are currently running the software. The Joomla software package has been downloaded from the JoomlaCode repository over ten million times; however, it’s not safe to assume that each of these downloads represents a unique, active website running the software. Of the top 1 million websites (as rated by Alexa), it’s estimated that approximately 25,000 are running the Joomla software – that’s roughly 2.5%, although some estimates run as high as 3%.

Among the most popular websites running Joomla are RocketTheme, a website featuring professionally designed Joomla and PhpBB3 themes, and Kontera, a popular online advertising network specializing in contextual link advertising. Some of the most prominent organizations to utilize Joomla for their websites include Quizilla (now owned and operated by MTV), IHOP (the International House of Pancakes restaurant chain), Harvard University, Citibank, and several others.

Benefits of Joomla

Joomla’s greatest benefits are its “extensions” and “components” systems, which allow for the extension and integration of additional features beyond Joomla’s core functionality (“extensions” were previously known as “Mambots” before the Joomla/Mambo split). Extensions and components are similar to “Plugins” in Wordpress the Wordpress CMS and “Modules” in the Drupal CMS.

Currently, over 4000 extensions are listed in Joomla’s Extensions Directory, as well as a significant number of components. Both extensions and components are, for the most part, written, submitted and maintained by third-party developers.

Drawbacks of Joomla

Currently one major feature that Joomla doesn’t feature is granular user permissions and access control, which allows administrators to customize the actions and features available to particular Joomla users and user groups.

Joomla: Looking Toward the Future

Joomla is currently one of the most popular and fully-featured open-source content management systems, and it’s supported by a collection of vibrant, active and self-motivated user communities. Although its development is somewhat slower (and began somewhat later) than other CMS like Wordpress and Drupal, it is nonetheless a powerful platform on which to build both large and small websites.

The 1.6 version of the Joomla software is expected to shore up some of its shortcomings, as well as add additional functionalities to bring it up to speed with other popular content management systems. Having already left its predecessor, Mambo, in the dust, it’s a safe bet that Joomla will remain at the head of the class well into the future.

Also, when a site needs changes made to it, the client incurs another charge.  This is where a content management system becomes handy. By using a database, such as MySQL, to store content, the layout of the website can be truly separate from the content, allowing users to make minor changes to the content without dramatically affecting the layout of the page. This saves time and money for the client. These implementations are generally more difficult to setup and require a great deal of knowledge when it comes to databases, scripting languages, and hosting services. While most hosting companies will allow you to use a CMS they may not give you certain permissions on the server or database. Usually they have some mechanism for setting up the CMS, but it becomes difficult when you are trying to use a third party plugin that requires certain greater permissions to the web host than you are allowed.

For most small businesses looking to create a stunning web presence this shouldn’t be an issue for you because your main goal just to display content. This website I am blogging on now is a work in progress. I am new to Wordpress so I am getting into when the software is more widely adopted. While this means I’m working with a mature platform I do not have the same experience as Wordpress veterans may have. If you want to build a website my advice is to hire a professional. Do not do it yourself.  That may sound biased coming from a professional, but developing your own website can be very tricky. They’re are tons of templates out there that make it really easy, but they will never give you the flexibility that you need. Another problem with using a template is that it is quite possible that someone has already used it. Then there is the issue of branding; you want your website to stand out. You want your color scheme to be in sync with your web design. Logos are very important to a business and should be done before the website, not after. If you would like to consult a freelance graphic artist contact us and we will put you in contact with the best.

While I lack the artistic talents to make very colorful websites I do possess a good eye and I’m able to best capture what a business will need. Now my methodology for website design can be broken down into four phases:

• concept
• design
• development
• implementation

The concept phase is one in which you work with your client to develop the concept of the website. You begin by discussing color scheme and layout options. The color scheme is very important and must be done in concert with logo design. A good business logo can go a long way in helping you to be remembered by clients. When developing the concept of a website I find that its best to start with a pencil, paper and T-ruler. This is so that I can design the layout of the boxes. While some might believe that they maybe able to better prototype in Adobe Photoshop I find it difficult to prototype websites on systems because of the hacks you have to develop to support multiple browsers. Also you will decide in this phase what kind of meta tag information is important for your website to contain. Meta tag information is information that is not visible to the website user but can be picked up by search engines. Every page should have a unique description and keywords meta tag unless you have hundreds of pages. Then a few pages that have a unique description would be sufficient.

The design phase is when you start creating the layout and structure of the website. You can’t concerned with functionality at this point. That should have been resolved in the concept phase. Your time will be divided between making sure your site looks the same in multiple browsers. Also this is the phase in which your client will be able to better direct as to what to add and what to remove. You can also decided on what different colors and placement of the company logo. Make sure that you logo colors match the website colors as this will enforce branding. Logo design is outside of the scope of this blog but should be considered first on any new or existing business’s list of things to do. During this phase you can develop the look and feel of forms that will be used on the site but don’t worry about the code. You won’t be able to test functionality of the forms until you unload the website to the Internet.

The development phase is where you begin to test the functionality of code that you added to the website. This could be Javascript that you used to make fancy drop down menus or a form validation script. Their are many things you can add to website to extend the functionality. Forms are very important as to many people may not be at their computer to send you a message. It allows anybody connected to your website to send you a message. It also serves to keep your website hidden from spyders. These are the spiders that have 8 legs and make webs. These are nasty pieces of code that rip identifying information for the hope of spamming. While many scripts for form processing are free their support is not. If you are having difficultly its up to you to find out the problem with your code. This can account for hours of troubleshooting. Since you probably won’t have direct access to your web server you might need to load a dummy server on your development computer so you can debug your code. I haven’t done this yet because the code is usually very simple to implement. Also it could be your hosting company not allowing you to run certain types of scripts.

The implementation phase is the final stage in which you post the content of the website. Most problems should have been resolved before reaching this phase. Content should be checked for errors and functionality bugs should have been worked out. This is not feasible for small websites. It might just be easier to upload the website and worry about the development phase during the implementation phase. Putting up the website allows client to see the finished product and work out any bugs that crept into the final draft. If you follow the design process getting sign off at the end of each phase you should have less problems and re-work to do as the client would have agreed to the implementation of the website. This will also give clients a clear expectation of the website.

Now having a structured process for web development allows for your client to track the progress of their website. It gives them milestones in which they can objectively determine the success or failure of the website. Breaking the process into logical groups allows you to focus on the success of each milestone instead of the entire project. Web development is a big process that should be broken down so that you can deal with them easily. Any professional web developer should have a process in which you can observe the progress of the website. Now that doesn’t mean their process will mirror my own. The process maybe longer or shorter depending on what works for that particular developer. I have had the opportunity to engage in challenging and engaging projects. To retain my services for interesting web development projects use the contact form and we can discuss the pricing.

The way I have mine setup is my C:\ is my system, programs, and swap file partition while my D:\ is my data partition. Lockheed Martin’s computers are setup in a similar fashion by their IT department. I believe this saves them time as they can simply reload windows on the C:\ drive. More advanced partitioning schemes involves creating a separate partition for the operating system, programs, and swap file. I feel that this is over kill and make the process unnecessarily complex.

For the die hard techs I will explain why creating a swap file partition maybe a good idea. It has to do with drive space. If your swapfile is on the same drive as your operating system. If that drive was somehow filled to capacity then that would mean that system would crash. This is something that would happen quite often in Enterprise Servers whose log files would get to big. By keeping the swap file on another partition the system can still operate even though it’s approaching full capacity. When setting up servers I use the more advanced configuration so that I can increase uptime. Last thing I want to do on a Saturday is recover a server.

Windows Vista has a different user profile structure than XP. Moving the whole user profile is tricky and beyond the scope of this post. To read more about how to do that click here. The simplest way to move the profile is to double click on profile folders, select all the folders underneath, cut them, and then paste them in their new location. And your done. Make sure you are placing them in a location that the system can access at all times, like a local drive or partition. Do not use a network folder or removable disk. This is because the could be a time where that folder is not accessible and the system will be forced to create new folders.

Now I know that some profile folders will be left behind because they are hidden by default. I do not suggest moving them. I know what you are saying, what about my email. My suggestion is to use IMAP and forget it. Going through and backing up your data is a real pain. Copying and moving your .pst files. Worrying that they may become corrupted. Who has time for all of that. My favorite IMAP service provider is Gmail. They offer the most space, best features, and they are free. Now their are alot of free email providers. Do not just go and pick one. Make sure to choose one that has been around for awhile. Please read my post on The Benefits of IMAP if you are curious.

WordPress as a Content Management System

A web content management system, or CMS, is an easy to use program that allows you to place, edit and publish content on the Internet without needing to know any complicated coding. Therefore, no experience with website design or construction is necessary in order to use WordPress. Instead you can quickly create your own content and easily add images or other features to the new page, while having it automatically fit into the theme or template you are using.

The flexible CMS functionality of WordPress is one of the chief reasons why it has become so popular and widespread. It allows users to create engaging, high-powered and feature-rich websites without needing any technical skills or experience.

Benefits and Features of WordPress

In addition to its role as a CMS, a main reason why WordPress is so widely used is because of the diverse feature set that it includes. The WordPress interface allows you to easily insert widgets, which are predefined pieces of coding with a specific function, into various designated areas on your site. Widgets include Recent Posts, Tag Clouds, a Blogroll and many others which can help you provide a more complete experience for your visitors.

WordPress also allows for immediate installation of a huge variety of plugins. Plugins are snippets of coding or small programs that can be installed onto your website separately. They differ from widgets because they are not preloaded into the WordPress system, you have to seek them out and add them on your own. Additionally, they are developed by third parties and are open source, meaning you can edit them or otherwise alter them to your liking.

The vast array of plugins allows you to do just about anything with your WordPress site. For example you can quickly add a contact form to your page or you can add a plugin designed to improve your site’s search engine optimization. Other popular plugins include ones which automatically create your page’s sitemap and a spam comment protector known as Akismet which comes installed with the WordPress setup.

Another benefit to the WordPress platform is the great variety of themes or templates that you have to choose from. Also developed independently by third parties, you can install a theme to make your website as simple or complex as you desire. There is a huge selection of free templates available for download and installation, and there are also many premium templates available for purchase from third party developers.

Using WordPress you can create both “posts” and “pages”, and you can always go back to edit them at a later point in time. Posts come with the ability to be grouped into categories and have tags added to them. In addition, you can store and access pictures, videos and other media files in your Media directory and you can add links for your Blogroll in the Links section.

Comments can be approved, replied to or marked as spam, and individual posts can even have comments turned off. You can designate additional users to have administrative access to your blog and you have control over a wide range of settings related to how your content appears, how people interact with your website and much more.

One particular control setting that adds a great deal of value to the WordPress platform is the direct control over your site’s permalinks. A permalink is essentially a page’s permanent web address, and you can use several different options or create a custom structure. The standard URL structure isn’t very search engine friendly, however you can switch to a structure based off the title of the page or post, thereby including relevant keywords into your page address. This allows for direct control over – and easy improvement of – your site’s search engine optimization.

Overall, WordPress is an amazingly rich and detailed web content management system and blogging platform. You can create fully functioning, diverse websites or more standard blogs. WordPress is entirely free, and allows you to quickly install additional codes, programs and themes. The simplicity of the interface, the wide range of settings and control options and the infinite number of features makes WordPress one of the most beloved and widely used website creation platforms in the world.

Like most CMS, Drupal features the ability for users to create and customize user accounts, the capability to customize the frontend appearance and layout using theme packages, customizable user permissions, as well as many other features and functions; the core Drupal software is one of the most broadly featured CMS packages available.

History of Drupal

Drupal was originally created to be a message board (BBS) software by Dries Buytaert, a Belgian software developer who continues to actively develop for the CMS. In 2001, Buytaert took the source code from his Drop.org website and made it into an open-source project, at which point development of the Drupal software became “crowdsourced.”

Drupal’s latest official release is 6.13; the official 6.0 version of the Drupal package was released on February 13th, 2008, after four release candidates (RC). Since many Drupal websites are still running the 5.x version of the Drupal software, that branch remains under development, although there will be no new features released for this branch; development for the 5.x version of the software is limited to security and performance-related changes.

Currently the 7.x version of the Drupal software is in steady development, although the development team is uncertain as to when it will be officially released; the Drupal 7.x is available for development purposes but should not be considered a usable version of the software.

Current Usage of Drupal

According to Buytaert himself, the Drupal software was downloaded over 1.4 million times between July 2007 and June 2008; the previous year, he reported over 620,000 downloads between July 2006 and June 2007, showing that the popularity of the Drupal software is growing fast. Statistics for the 2009 period have yet to be released, but the general consensus is that they will surpass the 2008 statistics. Usage of the 6.x version continues to increase steadily as 5.x users port their sites over to the newest stable version of the software.

Benefits of the Drupal Platform

Drupal’s “module” system is its greatest strength; like the “plugin” system used by Wordpress, Drupal modules are user-contributed extensions to the core software that dramatically increase Drupal’s range of functions and features. There are currently over 4500 user-contributed modules listed on the Drupal.org site, although not all of these modules are designed for the current release of the software. With such a broad array of modules available to users, almost any functionality that users can think of is satisfied by an existing module. Two of the most popular modules used to customize Drupal are the “Content Creation Kit” (CCK) module, which allows users to easily and quickly create customized content types (a process which is far less simple in other CMS like Wordpress), and “Views,” which allows users to create customized lists of content, enabling them to dramatically change the way that Drupal looks to browsers. The indispensable CCK module has been integrated into the Drupal core functionality in the 7.x version; it’s a safe guess that Views integration will follow in a future release.

In addition to the “module” system, Drupal’s “theme” system is a powerful feature that lets users quickly change the outward appearance of Drupal sites. In preparation for the 6.x version of the software, some Drupal developers created a third-party “Theme Garden” site to let users easily compare different themes without having to download or install them on their own sites. Like modules, themes are user-contributed and specific to particular versions of the Drupal software. Beginning with the 6.x version of Drupal, a template engine was put into place to simplify the process of theme creation.

Drupal’s “block” layout system further enhances the already-powerful software; like “widgets” in Wordpress, “blocks” are a simple and easy way for users to customize sidebars and other areas of their themes with dynamic content without having to do any programming; many modules enable “blocks” which Drupal site administrators and drag-and-drop into place, quickly changing the layout and appearance of a Drupal site.

Drupal: Looking Toward the Future

Drupal is actively under development, and major releases are frequent. Although Drupal often sacrifices backward-compatibility in favor of improved performance and functionality, usage of older versions of the Drupal software remains heavy. Drupal is often criticized for having a far steeper learning curve than simpler CMS like Wordpress, although the development team has made simplification of the administrative process a priority for the 7.x branch. With 7.x presently under development, and a slew of new features and improvements planned, it’s safe to assume that 7.x downloads, installations and usage will exceed those of the 6.x version and that Drupal will remain a viable solution for small and large websites alike for years to come.

If you are a frequent Internet user, you have seen the incredible changes in terminology and software that have occurred in recent years. Words like blogging and tweeting would have been a foreign language not so long ago, but are now part of the common Internet vernacular. Software has also made tremendous strides, especially in the area of social media. Networking services like Twitter and Facebook have captivated the populace, and software design in this area continues to expand. WordPress is one such piece of ever evolving and improving Internet technology.

WordPress Defined

WordPress is a free, open-source, web-based software program that allows anyone—even the less tech savvy—to build and control a website or a blog. WordPress is the successor of the original blogging software called b2\cafelog created by Michael Valdrighi. Originally designed to provide Internet users an easy way to set up their blogs, WordPress has since grown exponentially. Since WordPress is open source, that means programmers from all around the world have access to its basic software and can improve on the platform. Thanks to all their hard work, WordPress can now be categorized as more of a content management system (CMS), which is a program that can create, manipulate, and manage website content. The WordPress software can be used even by people who have no knowledge of PHP or HTML code, but it can also be manipulated by more advanced users to customize their WordPress system.

WordPress Features

WordPress offers a wide variety of interesting and useful control features. The following are a few of the main features of this program.

• WordPress Pages—this feature allows users to manage non-blog content, like static website content or files.
• WordPress Links—this feature allows for integrated link management and creation.
• WordPress Themes—the program has a basic templating system which allows users to rearrange widgets and content on the site to their satisfaction and well as change the look or “theme” of the site as often as they wish.
• Communication Tools—WordPress supports Trackback and Pingback standards, which allows for links to other sites that have links to WordPress posts or articles.
• Importing—WordPress offers importing software for several other blogging sites, including Blogger, b2, and Greymatter.
• Multiple Authors—WordPress allows different levels of users that are authorized to publish, edit, and manage the content.
• Automatic Filtering—WordPress provides clean formatting and styling for text within blogs and other pages.
• Comments—visitors to the site can leave comments on blog posts or articles.
• Blacklist and Spam Checkers—this feature blocks unwanted visitors and scans the comment posts for any spam.
• Privacy Options—both the user registration system and the post management system have levels of privacy control.
• Plugins Provide Extras—Along with the basic WordPress platform, there are hundreds of compatible plugins that users can apply to WordPress to extend its functionality.

Using WordPress for Business

WordPress holds great value not only for the individual, but also for companies interested in a formidable online presence. The easily created and customized web design programs are cheaper, less time consuming, and less labor intensive than developing a business website from scratch. The easy system also allows anyone to manage the site or blog, so a company doesn’t have to hire a specialist to maintain their online content. The blogging features are simple in form and function, allowing a company to keep their subscribers updated on all events and news relating to their business. Blogs also allow companies to receive feedback from their targeted audience. The most critical aspect of WordPress for companies is its fresh content, which means better ranking in search engines, which in turn translates to more exposure to the target audience.

Simple but Extraordinary

WordPress is easy to download and install, and with a compatible host, a user can begin building their dream site in a heartbeat. With WordPress’ flexibility and diversity, plus the extended number of plugins available, there is almost no limit to what a site owner and blogger can do with this versatile program. From blogging to content management, WordPress offers a simple but extraordinary way to create your own place in the wide world of the Internet.

Who Uses WordPress?

WordPress is used primarily by individual bloggers, who sign up for a free blog at WordPress.com.  The blog is given a unique URL which is formatted as “[blog title].wordpress.com”.

But these are not the only users of WordPress.  WordPress is offered as a free add-on service by many website hosting companies, so some bloggers and website owners opt to buy their own website domain name, and install WordPress as their primary way of not only blogging but also managing their content.  AvalonUnlimited.com, owned by life coach Cindy Parker, is an example of such a website, as is the popular self-improvement website, StevePavlina.com.

Famous WordPress Bloggers

Here is a short list of  some of WordPress best-known users (from WordPress.org):

• Wyclef Jean – multi-platinum Haitian-American musician
• Jane Fonda – actress, activist, and writer
• Sir Richard Branson – British multi-billionaire and owner of the Virgin Group companies
• New Kids on the Block – yes, even that 1980s boy band uses WordPress
• Margaret Cho – stand-up comedienne and actress

Advantages of Using WordPress

Because of the open source policy established by WordPress from the beginning, WordPress enthusiasts have created countless WordPress plugins and widgets which allow the casual, non-programmer user to make their blog more powerful and more interesting.

But what are plugins and widgets?

A plugin is a tool which expands WordPress’s functionality.  Like miniature programs, plugins can be installed into a user’s WordPress blog.  These days, plugin developers have created a WordPress plugin for virtually every occasion:  there are plugins that filter out spam comments, plugins for creating polls, plugins for showing blog statistics, plugins that integrate one’s blog with one’s Twitter tweets, and plugins that display random song lyrics.

A widget is like a plugin, but makes it even easier for users to add to their WordPress, because users do not need to change any code.

Themes

WordPress users have also created a wide variety of WordPress themes, or style sheet templates, which allow users to customize the look and feel of their WordPress website or WordPress blog.  Like the majority of plugins and widgets, themes can be downloaded used free of cost.  The WordPress Codex (at WordPress.org) maintains a directory of plugins, widgets, and themes which can be downloaded for free by WordPress users.  Most themes can be further customized with CSS experience (or the patience to read the instructions in the Codex).

Disadvantages of WordPress

For those who wish to monetize their blog by adding affiliate banner ads or Google AdSense, the free blogs offered by WordPress are not the right choice.  Unlike Blogger.com and other free blog sites, WordPress does not allow users to profit off their blogs.

However, for the entrepreneurial blogger or web developer who appreciates the versatility and functionality of WordPress and still wants to use it for their own monetized blog or website, it is easy to set up WordPress at one’s own domain.  The website WebHostingSearch.com provides a list of hosting providers which offer WordPress as part of their hosting package.  In most cases, a blogger or developer can get a WordPress blog online and monetized in a matter of a couple of hours.

Security Problems with WordPress

Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks to using WordPress is its security vulnerabilities.  In May 2007, a study found that the vast majority of WordPress blogs (98%) were vulnerable to exploitation because they were using out-dated versions of WordPress.  In the same year, Stefen Esser of the PHP Security Response Team criticized WordPress for not doing more to protect its code.  To address the security problems that continually to plague WordPress, new versions of the program are constantly being released.  This can make it difficult for the casual user to keep up with constantly updating his or her website or blog.

Conclusion

WordPress is one of the most popular blogging and content management tools on the web for good reason:  it’s free; it’s easy to use; and its plugins, widgets, and themes make it extremely versatile.  While security problems continue to follow WordPress, overall it is a strong application that will no doubt become only more popular as blogging further cements itself into popular culture.