Content Management Systems, like WordPress, are designed to make creating a website or blog easy. However, many beginners find themselves struggling to do so. Most of the confusion dissipates once new users get used to the terminology and features.

At Bauen Solutions, we want to make managing your website as easy as possible. Below are many common terminologies and features and an explanation of what they mean and what they do.

What is a WordPress Theme?

A WordPress theme is the overall layout of your website. Depending on which theme you select, different formatting options are available to choose from to create your unique website. Some of the structural components pre-built into themes are menu structure, page templates, and widget locations. In most themes, you can change things like fonts and colors easily. Premium themes, which are the themes that cost money, come with page builders. Page builders are the most flexible and make it extremely easy to customize.

What is a Widget?

Widgets are the pieces of content that are standard on every page. You will commonly find widgets in sidebars and footers. For example, on our Blog page, the sidebar widgets are the Bauen blog sign up form, a search bar, recent posts, archives, and categories. You can edit the widgets from your dashboard by going to Appearance 🡪 Widgets. Then, you can customize the widgets by dragging and dropping them in the specified sections. You can click on the widgets to edit them further.

Available widgets and plugins windows in wordpress

What is a Featured Image?

A featured image is the banner image at the top of the blog post, portfolio item, or web page. In this post, it is the image at the top, directly below the title. In WordPress, you can add a featured image to any page by clicking Featured Image, located on the lower right-hand corner when in edit-page mode. For blog posts, it is the image that will display on the main blog page. The featured image appears on your main portfolio page in portfolio items, as seen in the photo below. Choose a picture that best represents what the entire page is about and will entice visitors to click through and read the post. The ideal featured image size is 1200 x 628 pixels.

Feature sample image in WordPress

What are Categories in WordPress?

Categories are visible on the portfolio and blog pages. They help readers find more content that is related to that topic. For example, this post’s categories are small business, web design, and blogging.

What is a Parent?

You can find the option to select a parent on the right-hand side of the edit page view. The parent helps set up the organization of the page and how the link will look. The page organization helps search engines and users understand how to navigate your website.

What is a Footer?

Like Word documents, the footer is the content at the bottom of the page. It is standard on every page. Most websites include copyright and any other information that they want readily accessible. Common examples of information in a footer are contact info, hours of operation, about us, and social media follow buttons. It can be edited in the widgets section, as described above.

Footer Sample in WordPress

What is a Plugin?

Plugins are how you can add on functions that are not already in your theme. Standard plugins include contact forms, page builders, and newsletter sign-ups. There are currently 57,358 plugins available to download on WordPress. Most of these plugins are free, which means support may be limited. However, you can view users’ ratings and how many active installs each plugin has, helping you identify one that is dependable. You can try out new plugins from your dashboard by going to Plugins 🡪 Add new and searching for the functionality you need.

Appearance Windows in WordPress

What are Updates in WordPress?

You may notice that a number will appear next to Updates on your dashboard. Themes, plugins, and WordPress itself will have updates every few months. The creators make updates to their products to introduce new features and to resolve bugs. Try and keep up with updates because essential elements may stop working if you fall too far behind.

Web Development Can Be Complex, But It Does Not Have to Be

Web development can be complicated and time-consuming, but it does not have to be. Bauen Solutions is a full-service technology company with services, including mobile application design, custom software solutions, and website development. We house the website in a user-friendly content management system such as WordPress, making it easy for your team to update and maintain a company blog.

In a highly competitive business environment, the relevance of your website’s content can be the difference between profitability and negative margins. At Bauen Solutions, we hone in on your brand’s personality to create a professional, modern, easy to navigate, conversion-focused website or mobile app, bringing your vision to life. Here are just a few of the benefits your company may reap from a website redesign:

  • Digital transformation.
  • Enhanced customer experiences and market expansion.
  • Built in SEO to reach the audiences relevant to your business.