WordPress® All-in-One For Dummies®

Using WordPress as a Content Management System

You hear it a lot if you browse different Web sites that publish posts about WordPress: “WordPress is more than a blogging platform; it's a full content management system.” What does that mean?

A content management system (CMS) is a platform that lets you run a full Web site on your domain. This means that WordPress, in addition to a blog, allows you to create pages and build additional features into your Web site that have nothing to do with the content on your blog.

A Web site and a blog are two different things. Although a Web site can contain a blog, a blog cannot contain a full Web site. We know it sounds confusing, but after you read this section and explore the differences between the two, you'll have a better understanding.

A blog is a chronological display of content — most often, written by the blog author. The posts are published and, usually, categorized into topics and archived by date. Blog posts can have comments activated so readers can leave their feedback and the author can respond, creating a dialogue about the blog post.

A Web site is a collection of published pages and different sections that offer the visitor a different experience. A Web site can incorporate a blog but usually contains other sections and features. These other features include

• Photo galleries: Albums of photos uploaded and collected in a specific area so that visitors can browse through and comment on them.
• E-commerce stores: Fully integrated ...