Glossary · Web Development

WordPress

WordPress is an open-source content management system, written in PHP with a MySQL-compatible database, that powers a large share of websites.

Updated October 6, 2026

WordPress is a free, open-source CMS built on PHP and a MySQL-compatible database. Its themes control appearance and its plugins add features, which lets it run anything from a simple blog to an online store.

Why it matters

Because of its popularity, WordPress has a huge ecosystem and many hosting options, and it is also heavily targeted by automated attacks. Typical outage causes include a failed plugin update, exhausted PHP memory or database connection errors. Do not confuse WordPress.org, the downloadable software, with WordPress.com, a hosted service.

Example

Common files and paths:

/wp-config.php        database settings
/wp-content/themes/   installed themes
/wp-content/plugins/  installed plugins
/wp-login.php         admin login

Renaming the plugins folder over SFTP disables all plugins, a standard first step when a plugin crashes the site.

Common mistakes

  • Editing theme files directly instead of using a child theme, losing changes on update.
  • Leaving unused plugins installed, since they can still be exploited.
  • Running outdated PHP versions that no longer get security fixes.

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