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title: WordPress
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# WordPress

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system. It is most associated with blogging but supports other types of web content including more traditional mailing lists and forums, media galleries, and online stores.

As a CMS, WordPress allows you to control and manage content of your website with a very easy system such as the WordPress dashboard panel. A dashboard lets you to do work on your website without needing to program anything. You can add or delete images and edit text on your webpage fast and easily.

WordPress powers over 30% of all websites and is by far the most used CMS on the planet. Backed by a huge community, this open-source platform powers a multi-billion dollar economy with themes/plugins and custom software.

Easy to use, Wordpress offers an easy solution for both web developers and non-web developers.

Advantages of WordPress include:
* Manageable from any computer
* Built-in blog ready to go whenever applicable 
* Plugins to extend functionality to WordPress sites 
* Thousands of free themes are available to customize

Here are some examples of big name brands using WordPress: 
* Sony Music
* The New Yorker
* MTV News

Whether it's page transitions or a customized contact form, WordPress users are only a few clicks away from building a website.

Note: WordPress's ease of use may encourage new users to forget about website security. However, the popularity of WordPress increases the activity of malware and other issues. 
It is important to choose extremely difficult or random passwords for the administrators and for the database. This guards against random brute-force attacks. 
Using tools such as [Jetpack](https://jetpack.com/) and an [SSL certificate](https://www.verisign.com/en_US/website-presence/website-optimization/ssl-certificates/index.xhtml) increases your protection against unwanted attacks.

### More Information

- [WordPress Codex: the online manual](https://codex.wordpress.org/)
- [WordPress Code Reference](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/)
- [WordPress Github Repository](https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress)