WordPress as a content management system

Although WordPress is primarily known as a blogging tool, it really is much more. With a few modifications — a couple plugins and custom templates — it’s possible to use WordPress as a content management system. In one sense, WordPress is already a content management system because it’s a blog application. All blog applications are essentially content management systems because they allow you to create, share, and store content from a single location. By modifying WordPress just a little, you can also use it for other content management functions, such as managing

_ Portfolio sites

_ News and magazine sites

_ Article libraries

_ Gallery sites

_ Photologs

_ E-commerce sites

WordPress site designs are based on the idea of themes. Themes are basically design templates that can be uploaded to your server and then assigned from within the WordPress Control Panel. The beautiful thing about templates or themes is the ability to alter them. WordPress and other blog platforms tend to use a lot of proprietary code that can be difficult to get just right when you’re putting together a design template. By relying on a pre-designed template, you can focus on editing the graphics and moving snippets of code around to get the design that you want

WordPress also has a handy little feature — Page Management — that allows you to create static Web pages pages that always remain the same. You can create top-level pages that show in the navigation bar of your Web site or you can create lower-level pages that live underneath your main navigation topics. These secondary pages appear as drop-down navigation under the main links in your navigation bar.

Other features of WordPress include a built-in blog roll, which makes creating a list of related links as simple as filling out a small form to add a new listing. The best part? No HTML is required to do this. The WordPress panel also allows site owners to quickly change the appearance of their sites by switching from one theme to another as simply as selecting a new theme. WordPress does the rest

WordPress also has plugin capabilities, meaning you can ‘plug in’ small additional bits of code that someone else creates to add functionality to your WordPress site. Examples of plugins are the capability to use WordPress as a content management system, or even features you can add to your WordPress blog, like a picture viewer or video player

Plugin management is mostly seamless in WordPress, and that’s where you find the real benefit of using WordPress as a content management system. Plenty of plugins are available, and there are usually detailed instructions for installing and using those plugins.