Today's Deep-Dive: WordPress CMS
Ep. 104

Today's Deep-Dive: WordPress CMS

Episode description

This deep dive explores the versatile platform of WordPress, which powers millions of websites from simple blogs to complex business sites. The discussion highlights WordPress.org as an accessible entry point, emphasizing its user-friendly design flexibility, no-code approach, and features like live previews that simplify website creation. The conversation also introduces plugins as essential tools that add specific functionalities to WordPress sites, likening them to apps on a smartphone. While the abundance of plugins may require some searching, many are free, allowing users to experiment without significant costs.

The latest version, 6.7, introduces a zoom-out editing mode, providing a comprehensive view of website layouts, which aids in making broader design changes. The open-source nature of WordPress fosters community collaboration, with events called WordCamps offering opportunities for networking and learning for all WordPress users, not just developers. Behind the scenes, a GitHub repository showcases the technical aspects of WordPress development, where community members actively contribute to new features and improvements. Overall, WordPress is portrayed as a powerful, flexible tool that democratizes web creation, enabling anyone, regardless of technical skill, to build a digital presence. The conversation encourages listeners to envision the type of website they could create, emphasizing that the only limit is their creativity.

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0:00

Welcome back everybody for another deep dive and today we're diving into the

0:04

world of WordPress WordPress you know the platform that powers millions of

0:10

websites right from you know like those simple blogs to big complex businesses

0:15

yeah yeah but before we get into that a quick shout out to our sponsor Safe

0:19

Server okay for making this deep dive possible awesome they can help you bring

0:23

your WordPress vision to life okay with their hosting solutions and expert

0:27

guidance right you can find out more at www.safeserver.de cool so now back to

0:34

WordPress we often hear it's so much more than just a blogging platform yeah

0:39

for sure but what does that actually mean right to help us unpack this we've

0:43

got two sources okay first we'll look at WordPress.org the official website which

0:48

is like the front door to this whole world and then we'll peek behind the

0:52

scenes with a github repository right where the actual development happens

0:56

cool so looking at WordPress.org the first thing that jumps out is how much

1:01

they emphasize design flexibility hmm interesting themes customization blocks

1:06

it all sounds pretty user-friendly yeah even for someone who's never built a

1:10

website before right it's like they're saying hey you don't need to be a coding

1:13

whiz to create a beautiful website right and what I find really impressive is

1:18

this no code needed approach that they're pushing yeah it's all about

1:23

making web design accessible to everyone regardless of their technical skills I

1:27

see what you mean yeah it's like those drag-and-drop website builders but maybe

1:32

even more powerful exactly and you know what else caught my eye what's that the

1:36

live preview feature oh you can actually see the changes you're making in real

1:41

time really without having to switch back and forth between screens Wow no more

1:46

guessing games that would have saved me so much time and frustration when I was

1:50

building my first website really it's like having a mirror that reflects your

1:54

every design tweak instantly absolutely so it's clear that WordPress is great

1:58

for building basic websites right but what about something more complex okay

2:03

like let's say an online store well that's where it gets even more

2:07

interesting okay WordPress isn't limited to just websites or blogs yeah they have

2:12

this massive ecosystem of plugins right they can add all sorts of functionality

2:16

I say want to sell products online uh-huh there's a plug-in for that okay

2:21

need to integrate social media yeah another plug-in wow it's like having a

2:24

giant toolbox for your website hold on plugins yeah I've heard that term before

2:29

but can you explain what they are exactly sure imagine you have a basic

2:33

smartphone okay it can make calls send texts browse the internet right but what

2:39

if you want to play games edit photos or track your fitness yeah you download

2:44

apps right right plugins are kind of like apps for your WordPress website I

2:48

see they add specific features and functionality okay without you having to

2:54

code everything from scratch oh I get it now yeah so you're saying that the core

2:58

of WordPress is like a blank canvas and then you can add these plugins to paint

3:03

whatever picture you want that's a great analogy cool and that's what makes

3:07

WordPress so adaptable okay you only add the features you need right which keeps

3:11

your website lean and efficient okay but wouldn't that also mean you have to spend

3:16

a lot of time searching for the right plugins that's a fair point yeah there

3:20

are thousands of plugins available which can be daunting yeah but WordPress org

3:25

does a pretty good job of categorizing them okay and highlighting popular

3:30

choices and many of them are free cool or have free versions right so you can

3:35

experiment without breaking the bank hmm that makes sense yeah so you're saying

3:40

it's a bit of a trade-off yeah you get incredible flexibility right but you

3:45

might have to do some digging to find the perfect tools for your website

3:47

exactly yeah but hey isn't that part of the fun of building something yourself I

3:52

guess so discovering new tools figuring out how to use them yeah to create

3:58

something unique it's like solving a puzzle yeah but instead of pieces you

4:02

have these plugins right that you can fit together to build your dream website

4:06

that's a great way to put it thanks and speaking of puzzles WordPress itself is

4:10

constantly evolving and adding new pieces interesting they just released

4:15

version 6.7 okay and it's packed with new features oh really what's the most

4:21

exciting new feature in your opinion well for me it's the zoom out editing

4:25

mode zoom out yeah you can step back and see the entire layout of your website oh

4:30

wow which is incredibly helpful for making big picture changes I see

4:34

imagine you're designing a house okay you wouldn't just focus on each room

4:39

individually right right you'd also want to see how they all fit together this

4:43

feature gives you that bird's-eye view that sounds like a game changer for

4:48

someone like me yeah who tends to get lost in the details but how does

4:52

WordPress manage to keep adding these new features and stay up to date that's

4:57

the beauty of open source projects like WordPress okay it's not just a company

5:01

churning out updates it's a whole community of developers and users

5:06

working together to make it better there are new versions bug fixes security

5:12

updates and features constantly being developed and rolled out so it's like a

5:16

living breathing organism yeah constantly adapting and improving exactly

5:20

and that's only possible because of the vibrant community behind it absolutely

5:24

and speaking of community both of our sources really highlight the importance

5:27

of collaboration they do wordpress.org even mentions these events called word

5:32

camps word camps they've got one coming up in Manila tell me more about those

5:36

well imagine this you're in Manila surrounded by passionate people from all

5:40

over the world who use and build WordPress Wow there are workshops talks

5:45

networking it's a fantastic way to learn from others share your own experiences

5:49

and contribute to the growth of the platform wait so it's not just

5:52

developers go into these events not at all it's for anyone who's interested in

5:57

WordPress whether you're a blogger a designer a business owner right or just

6:01

someone who's curious about how it all works gotcha I actually went to a word

6:06

camp a few years ago and it was amazing really I met so many interesting people

6:11

and learned a ton of new stuff that sounds really cool yeah I had no idea

6:15

these events even existed yeah they're great took a giant meetup for WordPress

6:20

enthusiasts exactly and it's a testament to the open source nature of WordPress

6:25

right anyone can contribute yeah whether it's by reporting issues proposing code

6:30

changes or simply sharing their ideas so we've see how user-friendly WordPress is

6:36

right but you might be curious about what's happening behind the scenes yeah

6:40

our github repository is where things get really technical for sure we see code

6:44

branches issues all the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes WordPress tick right

6:49

and even without coding knowledge taking a peek into this world can be

6:53

fascinating yeah you get a sense of the scale and complexity of what goes into

6:58

developing such a powerful platform okay for example one recent issue was a

7:03

proposal for a new feature that would allow users to easily create multilingual

7:08

websites interesting the community discussed the pros and cons offered

7:12

suggestions Wow and even submitted code to help implement it so it's not just a

7:17

bunch of developers working in isolation it's a real collaboration with everyone

7:22

contributing to make WordPress better precisely and this collaborative

7:25

approach is reflected in everything from the development process to the support

7:29

forums you can always find someone who's willing to help you out that's great

7:33

whether you're stuck on a technical issue or just need some inspiration for

7:36

your website okay so we've seen the polished front end of wordpress.org

7:40

yeah and dipped our toes into the development side with the github

7:46

repository right what does this all mean for someone who just wants to build a

7:49

website it means they have an incredibly powerful and flexible tool at their

7:54

disposal okay regardless of your technical skill you can create a website

7:59

that looks great functions smoothly mm-hmm and can be expanded as your needs

8:04

evolve it's like having a team of developers and designers at your

8:07

fingertips exactly without having to code a single line and that's the beauty

8:11

of WordPress right it breaks down barriers to entry and empowers anyone to

8:16

create a digital presence yeah regardless of their budget or technical

8:19

expertise that's incredible and that's something we can all get behind right

8:23

absolutely it's democratizing the web giving everyone a voice and a platform

8:27

to share their ideas with the world and speaking of empowering creators a huge

8:32

thanks again to safe server absolutely our sponsor for this deep dive right

8:37

they offer hosting solutions and expert guidance okay for anyone looking to

8:41

build and transform their digital presence I see check them out at

8:45

www.safeserver.de it's amazing to see how a platform like WordPress can really

8:52

level the playing field online yeah giving individuals and businesses the

8:58

tools they need to succeed in the digital world for sure so we've explored

9:03

the design freedom right the extensibility the constant updates and

9:08

the incredible community behind WordPress it's amazing it's clearly a

9:12

lot more than just blogs yeah definitely but here's the big question for you our

9:16

listener okay knowing all this what kind of website could you build with

9:20

WordPress that's a good question what features would you use yeah what kind of

9:24

online presence do you envision for yourself or your business we encourage

9:29

you to explore those possibilities and see where your imagination takes you for

9:34

sure because with WordPress the only limit is your own creativity absolutely

9:38

yeah it's like a living breathing organism constantly adapting and

9:42

improving right and that's only possible because of the vibrant community behind

9:47

it speaking of community both of our sources really highlight the importance

9:53

of collaboration yeah wordpress.org even mentions these events called word camps

9:59

word cams they've got one coming up in Manila word camps tell me more about

10:03

those well imagine this you're in Manila surrounded by passionate people from all

10:08

over the world well who use and build WordPress okay there are workshops talks

10:13

networking it's a fantastic way to learn from others share your own experiences

10:18

and contribute to the growth of the platform wait so it's not just for

10:22

developers not at all these events it's for anyone who's interested in WordPress

10:25

oh wow whether you're a blogger a designer a business owner or just

10:30

someone who's curious about how it all works I actually went to a word camp a

10:34

few years ago and it was amazing really I met so many interesting people and

10:38

learned a ton of new stuff that sounds really cool yeah I had no idea these

10:42

events even existed yeah they're great it's like a giant meetup for WordPress

10:45

enthusiasts exactly and it's a testament to the open source nature of WordPress

10:49

right anyone can contribute whether it's by reporting issues proposing code

10:54

changes or simply sharing their ideas so we've seen how user-friendly WordPress

11:00

is right but you might be curious about what's happening behind the scenes yeah

11:04

our github repository is where things get really technical for sure we see code

11:09

branches issues all the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes WordPress tech right

11:13

and even without coding knowledge taking a peek into this world can be

11:16

fascinating yeah you get a sense of the scale and complexity of what goes into

11:21

developing such a powerful platform okay for example one recent issue was a

11:25

proposal for a new feature okay that would allow users to easily create

11:30

multilingual websites interesting the community discussed the pros and cons

11:34

offered suggestions Wow and even submitted code to help implement it so

11:38

it's not just a bunch of developers working in isolation no it's a real

11:42

collaboration with everyone contributing to make WordPress better precisely and

11:47

this collaborative approach is reflected in everything from the development

11:52

process to the support forums okay you can always find someone who's willing to

11:56

help you out okay whether you're stuck on a technical issue or just need some

12:00

inspiration for your website so we've seen the polished front end of

12:04

wordpress.org yeah and dipped our toes into the development side with the

12:09

github repository right what does this all mean for someone who just wants to

12:13

build a website it means they have an incredibly powerful and flexible tool at

12:17

their disposal okay regardless of your technical skill you can create a website

12:22

that looks great functions smoothly and can be expanded as your needs evolve

12:26

it's like having a team of developers and designers at your fingertips

12:30

exactly without having to code a single line and that's the beauty of wordpress

12:34

right it breaks down barriers to entry and empowers anyone to create a digital

12:39

presence yeah regardless of their budget or technical expertise that's incredible

12:44

and that's something we can all get behind absolutely is democratizing the

12:47

web giving everyone a voice in a platform to share their ideas with the

12:50

world and speaking of empowering creators yeah a huge thanks again to

12:57

safe server absolutely our sponsor for this deep dive right they offer hosting

13:01

solutions and expert guidance for anyone looking to build right and transform

13:07

their digital presence yeah check them out at www.safeserver.de cool it's

13:15

amazing to see how a platform like WordPress can really level the playing

13:20

field online yeah for sure giving individuals and businesses the tools

13:24

they need to succeed in the digital world definitely so we've explored the

13:28

design freedom yeah the extensibility the constant updates and the incredible

13:33

community behind WordPress it's really impressive it's clearly a lot more than

13:36

just blogs way more but here's the big question for you our listener okay

13:39

knowing all this what kind of website could you build with WordPress what

13:44

features would you use what would you need what kind of online presence do you

13:48

envision for yourself or your business yeah we encourage you to explore those

13:52

tool because with WordPress the only limit is your own creativity that's the

13:52

tool because with WordPress the only limit is your own creativity that's the