Understanding WordPress
| WordPress isn't your typical computer computer program. For example, it doesn't run on your computer, like Microsoft Word. It isn't a plugin for your Web browser, like QuickTime or Adobe Reader. Instead, it's a Web publishing system built on PHP and MySQL, both of which run on Unix. Although that may sound scary, it shouldn't. As you'll see in this book, you can create and maintain a WordPress blog without knowing a single Unix, PHP, or MySQL command. But, as you'll see in the book's later chapters, knowing these languages can give you more power when going beyond the basics to customize WordPress. How WordPress worksWordPress uses PHP commands on a PHP-compatible Web server to communicate with a MySQL database. On installation, WordPress creates the required tables in the database and fills them with sample and default information. When you use your Web browser to administer your blog, your browser sends commands to add and modify entries in the MySQL database. In fact, the content for your entire blog is stored in a single MySQL database file. When readers visit your blog, their Web browsers send PHP commands to your MySQL database. The database contents are returned to their Web browsers for them to read. To display blog contents and administration screens properly, WordPress uses theme files which include templates for displaying various kinds of information and pages. These plain text files combine PHP, XHTML, and CSS codes to control how content is presented on your site. WordPress offers many theme files to choose from, so you don't have to create them from scratch. As you learn more about WordPress and how it works, you may be able to modify your site's theme to customize its appearance and add features. We explain how in Chapters 6 through 8. WordPress client requirementsThe software you use to administer WordPress is referred to as client software. If you access the World Wide Weband who doesn't these days?you probably already have the software you need to administer your WordPress blog: a Web browser. Although just about any Web browser will work with WordPress, some browsers are better suited than others for administering a blog. One of the browsers we recommend is Firefox because it properly displays all JavaScript tools for editing entries. If you don't have FireFox, you can download it for free from www.getfirefox.com. Firefox is available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux in an impressive variety of languages. In addition to a Web browser, you also need access to the Internet or a network connection to the server on which WordPress is running. WordPress server requirementsAs we discuss a little later in this introduction, you can either create and maintain a WordPress blog on the free WordPress.com service or on your server or an ISP's server. If you set up your blog on WordPress.com, you can skip this section; you don't have any server requirements. But if you plan on using WordPress on a server, read on. To run WordPress on a server, the server must have the following:
If you're using your ISP's server and you're not sure if the server meets these requirements, contact your ISP's technical support and ask them. Be sure to mention that you need all this to install and run a WordPress blog. Tips
|
EAN: 2147483647
Pages: 142