It’s crazy how much jargon there is in the world of WordPress design! I feel like I’m constantly learning new terms and it’s actually really exciting to see all the ways you can build cool stuff with it.
But I’m not gonna lie it can be confusing at first.
Ready to take your WordPress skills to the next level? 🤔 This glossary has all the answers you need! 🤯 No more jargon confusion – it’s time to speak the language of design like a pro! 💪
The WordPress Designer’s Glossary: Your Guide to Understanding the Lingo
Ready to take your WordPress skills to the next level? 🤔 This glossary has all the answers you need! 🤯 No more jargon confusion – it’s time to speak the language of design like a pro! 💪
Remember those times when we were just starting out with WordPress and everything felt like a complete mystery? Well guess what? I just stumbled across this awesome glossary that breaks down all the key terms – think of it as the ultimate cheat sheet for anyone who’s trying to navigate this whole WordPress design thing.
A-Z of WordPress: Demystifying the Essentials
I know what you’re thinking – it’s a lot to take in! But trust me once you get the hang of these terms you’ll be able to have some serious conversations with other designers.
Accessibility: This is basically about making sure your website is easy to use for everyone no matter what their abilities are. It’s like thinking about how your design would work for someone who uses a screen reader or a different kind of assistive technology. It’s not just about being nice; it’s about making sure everyone gets a good experience on your website.
Archive Page: Ever wondered where all those old blog posts go? That’s where the archive page comes in. It’s basically like a central hub for your older content and it often gets organized by month category or tags. You can even create a custom archive page and get really creative with how you group your content.
Back-End: Imagine your website is like a house. The back-end is where you keep all the stuff that the average visitor can’t see like your website’s settings your dashboard and the plugins you’re using. It’s your private workspace where you make all the magic happen.
Backlink: This is like a vote of confidence from another website. If they link to your site it’s kind of like saying “Hey this content is awesome check it out!” It’s a big deal in SEO because it shows Google that your site is popular and relevant.
Backup: Have you ever accidentally deleted something important? Yeah me too. That’s why backups are super important. They’re basically copies of your entire website – all your files your database your theme and everything else – so you can restore it if anything goes wrong.
Below the Fold: This is an old term from the print world and it’s all about where your content shows up on a page. Anything “below the fold” is something you need to scroll to see. The idea is to keep your most important content above the fold so it’s the first thing people see.
Bounce Rate: this one is kind of a bummer. A bounce rate is the percentage of people who visit your website and then leave after just one page. It means they weren’t interested enough to explore your site. But the good news is you can work on lowering your bounce rate by creating engaging content and making your website super user-friendly.
Breadcrumbs: These are like little signposts that help people navigate your website. Think of them like the “you are here” markers on a map. They show you exactly where you are and how you got there.
Caching: This is a fancy way of saying that your website is storing a copy of your pages for faster loading times. Instead of your server having to build the page from scratch every time someone visits it can just grab the cached version and send it out super fast.
Categories: Think of categories like the different sections in a library. You can use them to organize your blog posts or other content like grouping all your articles about design together.
Child Theme: This is like a custom dress you make based on a pre-made pattern. You can use an existing theme (the “parent theme”) and then build a child theme to customize it without messing with the original. This way you can update the original theme without losing your customizations.
CMS (Content Management System): This is what lets you create and edit your website. Think of it like the control panel for your website. WordPress is one of the most popular CMSs out there – that’s what we’re working with!
Codex: This is like the official manual for WordPress. If you have a question the Codex is the place to go. It’s a huge resource with tons of information about everything from basic settings to advanced development.
Comments: This is how people can interact with your blog posts. They’re like the comments section on a YouTube video or social media post.
Core: This is the foundation of WordPress the essential files that make everything work. It’s like the framework of your website.
Customizer: This is a powerful tool that lets you change the look and feel of your website without needing to write any code. It’s like a drag-and-drop interface where you can customize colors fonts widgets and more.
Dashboard: This is the first thing you see when you log into your WordPress site. It’s like the command center for your website where you can see all your recent activity and manage different aspects of your site.
eCommerce: This is basically setting up an online store on your website. If you want to sell products you’ll need to use an eCommerce platform.
Excerpt: Think of an excerpt like a teaser for your blog post. It’s a short snippet that summarizes your content and it often shows up in search engine results or on social media.
Favicon: Have you ever noticed that little icon that appears in your browser tab? That’s a favicon. It’s a small image that helps people identify your website.
Footer: This is the area at the bottom of your website where you can put information like copyright details links to other pages and contact information.
Front-End: This is everything that your visitors can see on your website like your homepage blog posts and contact forms. It’s the part of your website that you interact with as a user.
Gravatar: Have you ever left a comment on a blog and wondered where that little picture next to your name comes from? That’s a Gravatar. It’s an image that’s linked to your email address and it can be used on any website that supports Gravatars.
Hooks: These are like little triggers that you can use to add extra features to your website. It’s a bit more advanced but it allows you to customize your website beyond just using plugins and themes.
Landing Page: This is a specific page that’s designed to achieve a particular goal like selling a product or capturing email addresses. It’s often used for marketing campaigns.
Malware: Think of this as the bad guys of the internet world. It’s malicious software that can harm your website and potentially steal your data. It’s important to take precautions to protect your website from malware.
Metadata: This is information about your website content like the date it was published the categories it belongs to and the tags that describe it. It helps search engines understand what your content is about.
Navigation Bar: This is the menu at the top of your website that helps people navigate between different sections. It usually includes links to your most important pages.
Open Source: This means that the code for WordPress is available for anyone to see use and modify. It’s free to use and it allows anyone to build themes and plugins.
Pages: These are the static pages on your website like your “About Us” page or your “Contact Us” page. They’re not part of your blog.
Pageview: This is simply the number of times a page on your website has been viewed. It’s a way to see how popular your content is.
Parallax: This is a fancy design technique that creates the illusion of depth on your website. It’s often used to create visually engaging backgrounds and scrolling effects.
Permalink: This is the permanent URL for a specific post or page on your website. It’s the link you can use to share your content with others.
Pingback: This is a notification that’s automatically sent when someone links to one of your blog posts. It’s like a “thank you” for linking to their content.
Plugins: These are like add-ons for your website. They can add all sorts of extra features from contact forms to social media integration to eCommerce functionality.
Posts: These are the blog posts that you publish on your website. They can be articles news updates reviews or any other type of content that you want to share with your readers.
Responsive Layout: This is super important these days. It means your website looks good on all kinds of devices whether it’s a desktop computer a tablet or a smartphone.
Shortcode: This is a short code that you can use to add extra functionality to your website. It’s like a shortcut for adding complex content without having to write code.
Staging Site: This is like a test version of your website where you can experiment with changes before making them live. It’s a safe space to try things out without risking your real website.
Tags: Think of tags like labels for your blog posts. They’re keywords that describe your content and they help people find your content through search engines.
Themes: These are the templates that determine the look and feel of your website. You can choose from thousands of free and paid themes or you can create your own.
Trackbacks: These are like manual pingbacks. They’re notifications that you send to another website when you link to their content.
White Space: This is the empty space on your website and it’s really important for good design. It helps to break up your content and make it easier to read.
WYSIWYG Editor: This is the editor that you use to create and edit your content. It stands for “What You See Is What You Get” and it allows you to see how your content will look before you publish it.
301 Redirect: This is a way to permanently redirect traffic from an old page to a new page. It helps to avoid broken links and ensure that people are directed to the correct content.
404 Page: This is the page that shows up when someone tries to access a page that doesn’t exist. It usually includes a message like “Page Not Found.”
That’s it for The WordPress Designer’s Glossary.
I hope this helps you understand all the crazy terminology! If you’re still feeling a bit lost don’t worry – there are tons of resources available to help you learn more.
Ready to take your WordPress skills to the next level? 🤔 This glossary has all the answers you need! 🤯 No more jargon confusion – it’s time to speak the language of design like a pro! 💪