WordPress is a free publishing platform that makes it possible for you to write and publish material online. People are using WordPress to blog about all sorts of topics – to share their thoughts, express their views and opinions to the world, to perform product reviews, and more.

Once a website has been set up, it is very easy to add content and update the content on your own, almost as easily as writing a document in Microsoft Word.

Cal Evans is our featured guest in this Episode of The Small Business Trends Radio. Cal is a PHP programmer, blogger and host of The Sixty Second Tech podcast. Cal is no stranger to WordPress and in this episode he discusses all things WordPress and answers many questions you may have.

Here’s a sampling of topics from the show:

• Plugins — are small pieces of code to incorporate specific functions into your blog. Most plugins are relatively simple and easy to use. Some popular plugins are Akismet (spam blocker), Feedburner (RSS feed), Google Sitemaps (sitemap of blog), WP-DB-Backup (data backup), Simple Tags (tagging) and All In One SEO (search engine optimization). This post is incorporating a plugin by the name of Podpress (enables the audio reel underneath this post).

• Just about any web service — has the ability to interact with WordPress and many plugins are available. Flicker, YouTube, Twitter, Del.icio.us and many other services can be easily incorporated right into your blog.

• WordPress can build a site — not just a blog. WordPress then acts as a content management system (CMS) that lets you easily update your website.

• WordPress MU — is the multi-user platform used to setup and run a network of blogs. Use it if you are setting up a lot of blogs. Multiple domains can be controlled using WordPress MU, however, it may be a bit advanced for beginner bloggers.

• WordPress.com or WordPress.org? — The basic difference is hosting. Using WordPress.com the hosting is automatic and you can get it up and running easily and use plugins, themes, etc. When using WordPress.org, you download the WordPress code base itself and from there you can manipulate it to your liking, however, you will need to find your own hosting arrangements.

One of the things that makes WordPress so popular is the open source element and the community of developers that contribute to WordPress on a regular basis by building plugins. themes, etc. WordPress makes websites that are easy to update and which empower their owners.

WordPress is so versatile, that some small business owners use it to create full-blown websites, publish online magazines, and more. You can learn more about WordPress by clicking the red and yellow player below and listening to Cal’s full interview.

Brought to you by our sponsors:

JumpUp.com and Infusionsoft.com

Listen Now:

 WordPress 101: Using Plugins and Themes [29:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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