If you find yourself in need of creating a website, blog or any kind of web content your first idea might be to hire a web developer. But, what if there was a free of charge option for all of us whose budget doesn’t go as far as hiring professionals? Good news is, there is! It’s called WordPress and anyone can use it, regardless of their coding skills, web development experience or previous encounters with similar projects. But, is there a difference in the options WordPress offers for those who know how to code and those who don’t?
Well, the answer is yes. Your coding skills may open some additional doors for you and allow you to create content differently. But, don’t let this burst your bubble. There are still plenty of options for non-coders. We’re going to break this down for you.
Creation
As we’ve already mentioned, WordPress allows you to create web content free of charge and completely independently. That means that you don’t need to have any experience in web development what so ever. How great is that?
By using WordPress, you can create:
- a blog
- a website
- a landing, coming soon or under construction page
- a forum
- an online store
- a mailing list
All you need to do is follow the simple steps and guidance you can find online, install it and you’re good to go.
Is there any difference for those who know how to code?
Setting up your web content and making the first step is absolutely the same for everyone. Coding doesn’t play a significant role.
Design
Every marketing expert agrees that the visual quality of your web content makes it significantly more successful if carried out properly.
Let us simplify: if your blog looks pretty, more people are going to read it.
Same goes for a website, a forum and even your e-commerce. People are drawn by design and by nailing this segment, you can hope for more clicks and visitors.
WordPress offers a wide variety of:
- templates
- themes
- fonts
- effects
- layouts
However, all of the features mentioned above are set features, which means you work with what you have. You need to rely on your imagination and creativity to create the perfect combination of the offered elements and set up your design.
Is there any difference for those who know how to code?
Yes, there is.
Those of you who have the basic knowledge of coding have the opportunity to customize the offered designs and make truly unique web designs. You can do this by using custom CSS and applying changes using snippets.
With more profound coding skills, you can even create themes yourself. This would help you bring your design to perfection and make it look just the way you imagined.
Plugins
WordPress developers are aware that not only those who know how to code need a great website or blog, with various options and features.
That’s why they created plugins.
“WordPress’ plugin architecture allows users to extend the features and functionality of a website or blog” as explained by Wikipedia.
In other words, plugins are additions to your WordPress web content which allow you to:
- tailor it
- expand its functionality
- make it more efficient
- improve the overall quality
The best part is, you don’t need to know how to code in order to use a plugin.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important and widely used WordPress plugins:
Multilingual Plugin
Expanding your audience is the key to improving your business and making your blog or website efficient. One of the ways to address this is to offer your web content in different languages.
WordPress allows you to translate all your web content in various languages by simply using its multilingual plugin.
This plugin:
- detects all your content
- allows you to choose one or more languages
- translates it all
- creates a language button on your website
The more languages, the bigger the audience.
Security Plugin
If you feel like your web content needs to be protected from hacking or other dangerous online activities, you can keep everything under control by using a security plugin.
Security plugins, such as WP Security Ninja help you:
- detect security problems
- fix and remove them
- check your site for vulnerabilities
- prevent hackers’ attacks
This means you can feel safe without coding your security system.
Backup Plugin
Everyone needs a backup plan!
You can avoid losing your web content or dealing with unsaved changes by installing one of the backup plugins.
The plugins help you:
- schedule regular backups
- store your backups wherever you like
- email the backups
As you can see, plugins can change your WordPress experience completely.
The big question is:
Is there any difference for those who know how to code?
When it comes to using the plugins, there is no difference.
However, those who know how to code can develop their plugins, specially designed to suit their needs. We have to admit, this is a great advantage.
Conclusion
If you don’t know how to code, there’s no need for feeling down. WordPress has so much to offer, that you might actually start feeling like a web developer. Just look into all your options and choose the best combination of WordPress plugins, templates, layouts and features to create the perfect web content.
If you do know how to code, we salute you. You’re ready to create a website not even remotely similar to other ones, and stand out from the crowd. The uniqueness of your website could be your secret weapon.