WordPress

Tag

An important keyword or term that helps describe the content of a post. Though not required for each post, site owners are encouraged to apply tags, as they assist both visitors and search engines to determine the subject matter of a post. Tags are more specific in nature than categories.

Sidebar

An optional vertical column of content, composed of individual widgets, that displays on a WordPress site. Can be located left of the main content column, or even on both sides.

Blogroll

Collection of links that point to external websites recommended by the blog owner. The links reside in the sidebar and can lead to any type of website, not just blogs.

CMS

Content Management System. Any software platform that makes it simpler for users to publish, organize, and manage information on the internet. WordPress s a CMS.

Custom Menu

Customized set of links that serve as a navigational menu for a blog or static website. Submenu items can be created via the parent/child relationship.

Screen Options

Drop-down tab on most Dashboard screens which lets the site owner select which modules appear on the screen. The available modules differ for each Dashboard screen.

Publicize

Feature in which a site owner can post links to posts on other social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Available for posts but not for pages. Configured in the Sharing Settings screen.

Poll

Feature in which the site owner can solicit feedback from readers in the form of upvoting on several pre-defined options. Polls are configured in the Feedback section of the Dashboard. To enable poll, a WordPress.com user must first set up an account with Polldaddy.

Media Library

Repository of images, videos, audio files, and documents uploaded to a WordPress site. The media library helps organize and manage large numbers of media files. The free version of WordPress does not allow uploading of audio or video files.

Comments

Section of a page or post in which site visitors can share their thoughts and ideas about the content and can reply to what other commenters have said. Configured in the Discussion Setting screen.

Permalink

The full URL of a WordPress post or page. It is automatically assigned when the post or page is created, but it can be manually edited via the Edit Post/ Edit Page screen.

More Tag

A WordPress-specific tag that can be inserted into a post to break the content into two sections. Only the first section will appear on the blog home page, requiring the visitor to click the link to read the full article.

Category

A method for logically organizing WordPress posts. Categories represent high-level, general classifications. Each WordPress post requires that a minimum of one category be assigned to it. Categories are more general than tags. Subcategories can be created via parent/child relationship between categories.

Page

A method of content creation in WordPress. Pages generally have static content and do not have dates or times associated with them. Unlike posts, pages cannot have categories and tags assigned to them.

Open Source

A platform of software development in which anyone can contribute to the modification and improvement of the product. The source code is published publicly and anyone is free to use, change, or distribute it. WordPress is an open-source product.

Theme

A set of graphics, colors, layouts, and fonts that can be applied to a WordPress site to change the visual representation and limitations. Some themes in WordPress are free and some require a paying fee.

Shortlink

A short and convenient URL that automatically redirects to the full URL of a WordPress post or page. Accessed from the Edit Post / Edit Page screen.

widget

A tool or application that can be placed into the sidebar to display customized content on a site. Widgets can be added, rearranged, or removed from the sidebar via a drag-and-drop interface in the WordPress dashboard.

Post

The main unit of content creation in WordPress. Each post is a blog-style entry with its own title. Each post has a date and time associated with it and posts are generally displayed in reverse chronological order (most recent on top) on the home page. Categories and tags can be assigned to posts.

Site Title

The name of a blog. In WordPress, this title generally displays prominently at the top of the site. The site title is set in the General Settings screen.

Archives

The past history of blog posts. Also, a widget that displays links to older blog posts, sorted by month and year.

WordPress.com

Version of WordPress that includes free hosting, backup, and maintenance. Bloggers can set up a new site quickly and easily on this platform, though it lacks some of the powerful features of the self-hosted version.

Tag Cloud

Visual representation of the tags applied in a site's history of posts. The most used tags appear nearer the center of the "cloud" and in larger font size. Lesser-used tags remain on the periphery and in smaller fonts. The Tag Cloud widget gives visitors an instant idea of what a blog is about.

Static Site

Website that, unlike a blog, has a fixed home page and prominent navigation menu. Which page appears as the home page is configured on the Reading Settings screen.

Geotag

Optional feature in which a geographic location can be associated with a particular post. If used, the location appears at the bottom of the post.

Tagline

Optional sentence or short phrase that further explains what a blog or site is about, and generally displays prominently near the Site Title. The tagline is set in the General Settings screen.

WordPress.org

Self-hosted version of WordPress in which the site owner is responsible for installing, configuring, maintaining, and backing up the site. Though the software platform is still free, the site owner is responsible for paying for web hosting and domain registration fees. This version of WordPress is more versatile and contains more features than WordPress.com.

Sharing Buttons

Set of graphical links, usually at the bottom of a page or post, that allows visitors to post a link to the site on social networking sites or other WordPress sites.

Dashboard

Set of management screens used to configure and maintain a WordPress site. Also known as the "back-end" of a WordPress site.

Avatar

Small image or graphic displayed next to usernames in the comments section of a WordPress.com blog.

Akismet

Software built into WordPress.com that automatically filters incoming comments to detect and remove spam.