How Does WordPress Work? (Simply Explained for Beginners)

If you are a beginner and asking yourself:

- What is WordPress?
- How does WordPress work?
- Why should I use it for my website?

We're going to cover the basics of how WordPress works and why it's the best option to manage a professional blog or business website.

The best way to support or say "thanks" is to start your website idea!

If you use my affiliate links, I get a small cut (no extra cost to you) that helps me create free tutorials like this.

You'll also get a peek into the WordPress directory structure and the PHP template hierarchy that builds your design from your installed theme.

WordPress is a content management system that is run with PHP code and a MySQL database.

The best part? It's free to use & open source, so you can edit & customize however you'd like.

The tradeoff for this limitless capability is the learning curve, which is a bit higher than other website builders.

Most web hosting companies offer 1-click WordPress installation, making the process simple to begin.

From there, you work with themes and plugins that are created by thousands of developers across the world to build your design and functionality.

While WordPress is free to use and there are plenty of free themes/plugins, it's often a good idea to look at premium themes/plugins if you want a better design along with customer support.

One of my favorites is Divi by Elegant Themes because they allow you to design visually. Check them out from the link below.

Themes are built with PHP files and if you're a curious person or web developer, you'll probably be interested in how it works. Check out this page that explains the template hierarchy:

WordPress is the best choice 90% of the time if you're looking to make a blog or website.

Use the links below to build your side business today!

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DISCLAIMER: Please note that some links are affiliate promotions. I only recommend products & services that I know and trust.

[manishsamanta]

Loved the simple and precise nature of the video. Thanks a lot.❤️

[ReneeSolutions]

Very useful and what I need. I hate when I’m kind of testing around.

[adelcorona]

you really are good at explaining at at point. I believe you can get big one day

[leopoldomolina]

Hi, thank you for this great explanation for a deeper understanding of WordPress. Changing themes designed for Wordpress is that easy as only “ telling” WordPress that we want to use another template over the existing website? In such a case, what happen with elements that don’t fit in the structure of the new template

[zackplauche]

This is the actual video I was looking for lmao. I was so lost, like WTF is wordpress REALLY! Now I know it's just a database with php files lol. I still don't understand how it actually gets ran though... Like, how does it "run"? What interprets the PHP to make it work?

[cjwebdev]

Thank you for the video, do you have a pdf of the flow chart by chance to download?

[ReneeSolutions]

How can I transfer the media files from one word press page -hosting on siteground - to another? im building with Divi Extra and I a wondering how i can use the same media libery. Thx

[sjnichani]

nice video ray good explaination.how to get the link for business 101 training thanks

[KaramikoAlexander]

Hi Ray, I do Web Development freelancing using WP since 3 years ago. Instead of just freelancing, now I am thinking to get a permanent job in an established company. Should I deep dive to PHP and stick to WP or learn on demand language like JavaScript (react and node)?

[mikestl]

I am searching everywhere for an explanation why wordpress seems to be conflicting itself making a new user like me terribly lost. I have Astra theme and Elementor and both seem to have header and footer editors. Logos and buttons on astra header editor that don't show up on the website. Can't find where to edit the actual header showing up on the site. It seems there are too many menus, settings, etc. where to make changes to the site in wordpress that I can't wrap my head around.