WordPress blog design

WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and a content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL. It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 16.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1 million" websites and as of August 2011 manages 22% of all new websites. WordPress is currently the most popular blogging system in use on the Internet.

Founder of Wordpress:

It was first released on May 27, 2003, by founders Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little as a fork of b2/cafelog.

Features:

WordPress has a web template system using a template processor.

Themes:

WordPress users may install and switch between themes. Themes allow users to change the look and functionality of a WordPress website or installation without altering the information content or structure. Themes may be installed using the WordPress "Appearance" administration tool or theme folders may be uploaded via FTP. The PHP and HTML code in themes can also be edited for more advanced customizations.

Plugins:

One very popular feature of WordPress is its rich plugin architecture which allows users and developers to extend its abilities beyond the features that are part of the base install; WordPress has a database of over 18,000 plugins with purposes ranging from SEO to adding widgets.

Widgets:

Widgets are small modules that offer users drag-and-drop sidebar content placement and implementation of many plugins' extended abilities. Widgets allow WordPress developers to add functionality to their sites. These small modules can be used to add functionality such as a slideshow, Facebook Like box, small news slider, and more.

Multi-user and multi-blogging:

WordPress supported one blog per installation, although multiple concurrent copies may be run from different directories if configured to use separate database tables. WordPress Multi-User (WordPress MU, or just WPMU) was a fork of WordPress created to allow multiple blogs to exist within one installation that is able to be administered by a centralized maintainer. WordPress MU makes it possible for those with a website to host their own blogging community, as well as control and moderate all the blogs from a single dashboard. WordPress MU adds eight new data tables for each blog.

Mobiles:

Native applications exist for WebOS, Android, iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad), Windows Phone, and BlackBerry which provide access to some of the features in the WordPress Admin panel and work with WordPress.com and many WordPress.org blogs.

Other features of note:

WordPress also features integrated link management; a search engine-friendly, clean permalink structure; the ability to assign nested, multiple categories to articles; and support for tagging of posts and articles. Automatic filters are also included, providing standardized formatting and styling of text in articles (for example, converting regular quotes to smart quotes). WordPress also supports the Trackback and Pingback standards for displaying links to other sites that have themselves linked to a post or article.

Awards:

A blog is an important part of any website today. It is an interactive, personal way to communicate with your customers.

For example: If you think of your website as a book about your products, then your blog is the weekly magazine always fresh and interesting.

Use your blog to tell the world about all the exciting things happening with you and your business, to keep your existing customers up to date or to attract targeted search engine traffic and build a database. You write and manage it yourself so it is personal, up to date and takes only minutes a day to write a new article.

Blog has some important criteria

Works as E-Newsletter

There are several ways to turn your blog into an email newsletter. Add a subscription form to your website or blog and get a database subscribers who get a branded email every times you write a new post on your blog.

Search Engine Support

Search engines love blog posts because the content is fresh and usually focuses on one subject per post. Every post you write about a topic or product relating to your business gives you another chance to come top in a Google search.

Yourself Expertness

A blog gives you the chance to talk about what you know best. You can write about something different every week - introduce another idea, product or story. By commenting on other blogs and forums with links back to your own site, you start to build an online community and become part of the bigger picture.