What's a content management system? What's WordPress? Do I need to know HTML to manage my site?
Content management systems (CMSes) are bits of technical cleverness which make it easy for you to update your website without having to know anything at all about HTML.
All of my sites come with a CMS, so you'll be able to look after them yourself.
I'm so excited about the menu thing. Not being able to make those kinds of changes before drove me crazy!
Shannon Wilkinson
Coolio. What's WordPress, then?
WordPress is the world's best-loved CMS. Millions of people use it to run their sites and blogs. One of the reasons WordPress is so popular is that it's incredibly easy to use.
But it's very flexible, too. You can add extra functionality with plugins. And because WordPress is so popular, there are loads of developers writing plugins – which means you can find a plugin for pretty much anything you want to do, from putting YouTube videos on your site to running your own forum.
And to put the icing on the cake – it's free!
So I don't need to know any code?
Nope.
When you want to update your website, you go to a private page on your website (private in the sense that it doesn't appear on your website's menu), and log in. This takes you into the 'back end' – pages where you can edit your site.
The WordPress text editor has the same buttons you'd find in Word or Outlook, allowing you to change the appearance of your text, set headings, add links and images, and much more, without needing to know any code at all.
You can also add or delete pages, and WordPress will update your site's menu automatically.
What if I want to use code?
No problem. You can switch to html view and edit the code directly.
Show me!
Your wish is my command. I've made a video to give you a super-quick tour of WordPress.
What if I can't figure out how to use it?
I'm way ahead of you. All my clients get access to the members section of my site, where there are lots of video tutorials showing you how to use WordPress.