The WordPress software is a personal publishing system that uses a PHPand-MySQL platform, which provides you everything you need to create your own blog and publish your own content dynamically, without having to know how to program those pages yourself. In short, all your content is stored in a MySQL database in your hosting account.

PHP (which stands for PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side scripting language for creating dynamic Web pages. When a visitor opens a page built in PHP, the server processes the PHP commands and then sends the results to the visitors browser. MySQL is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS) that uses Structured Query Language (SQL), the most popular language for adding, accessing, and processing data in a database.

If that all sounds Greek to you, just think of MySQL as a big filing cabinet where all the content on your blog is stored.

Every time a visitor goes to your blog to read your content, he makes a request thats sent to your server. The PHP programming language receives that request, obtains the requested information from the MySQL database, and then presents the requested information to your visitor through his Web browser.

In using the term content as it applies to the data thats stored in the MySQL database, Im referring to your blog posts, comments, and options that you set up in the WordPress Administration panel. The theme (design) you choose to use for your blog - whether its the default theme, one you create for yourself, or one that you have custom-designed for you - isnt part of the content in this case. Those files are part of the file system and arent stored in the database. So its a good idea to create and keep a backup of any theme files that youre currently using. See Part IV for further information on WordPress theme management.

When you look for a hosting service, keep an eye out for the hosts that provide daily backups of your site, so that your content/data wont be lost in case something happens. Web hosting providers that offer daily backups as part of their services can save the day by restoring your site to its original form.

Archiving your publishing history

Packaged within the WordPress software is the capability to maintain chronological and categorized archives of your publishing history, automatically. WordPress uses PHP and MySQL technology to sort and organize everything you publish in an order that you, and your readers, can access by date and category. This archiving process is done automatically with every post you publish to your blog.

When you create a post on your WordPress blog, you can file that post under a category that you specify. This feature makes for a very nifty archiving system in which you and your readers can find articles/posts that youve placed within a specific category. The archives page on my personal blog (see it at http:// justagirlintheworld.com/archives) contains a Topical Archive Pages section, where you find a list of categories Ive created for my blog posts. Clicking the Blog Design link below the Topical archive pages heading takes you to a listing of posts that I wrote on that topic (see Figure 2-1 and Figure 2-2).

WordPress lets you create as many categories as you want for filing your blog posts by topic. Ive seen blogs that have just one category and blogs that have up to 1,800 categories - WordPress is all about personal preference and how you want to organize your content. On the other hand, using WordPress categories is your choice. You dont have to use the category feature if youd rather not.

Interacting with your readers through comments

One of the most exciting and fun aspects of blogging with WordPress is getting feedback from your readers the moment you make a post to your blog. Feedback, referred to as blog comments, is akin to having a guestbook on your blog. People can leave notes for you that are published to your site, and you can respond and engage your readers in conversation about the topic at hand (see Figure 2-3 and Figure 2-4). Having this function in your blog creates the opportunity to expand the thoughts and ideas that you presented in your blog post by giving your readers the opportunity to add their two cents worth.

In the WordPress Administration panel, you have full administrative control over who can and cant leave comments. In addition, if someone leaves a comment with questionable content, you can edit the comment or delete it. Youre also free to choose not to allow any comments on your blog.

Figure 2-3: Readers use
the form to leave their comments.

Some blog users say that a blog without comments isnt a blog at all. This belief is common in the blogging community, because experiencing visitor feedback through the use of comments is part of what has made blogging so popular. Its a personal choice. Publishing a blog without comments lets your readers partake of your published words passively. Allowing comments on your blog invites your audience members to actively involve themselves in your blog by creating a discussion and dialogue about your content. By and large, readers find commenting to be a satisfying experience when they visit blogs, because comments make them part of the discussion.
 

 

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