Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve tried to anticipate what questions you might have about ShutterThemes, so we’ve compiled a list of all the essential questions. In addition to offering a number of free video tutorials, check out our Quick Steps to Getting Started guide for a list of things you’ll need to use our Themes.
WHAT IS WORDPRESS?
WordPress is a free online software program, commonly labeled as a content management system.
This means that WordPress uses a database to store content (your site’s text and image information) that you enter in it, totally online.
A content management system like WordPress makes it easy to create and manage websites and blogs.
The free WordPress software is made to be installed on your web hosting account. And numerous web hosting companies offer Linux-based hosting and a 5-minute installation of WordPress to run on your site. We’d be glad to offer suggestions for hosting companies we think do a good job.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO USING WORDPRESS & SHUTTERTHEMES?
Here are some of the great benefits of using WordPress to manage your website:
- Control – Instead of hosting your website on another company’s domain name, take control and put it entirely on your own custom domain name.
- Flexibility – With your own hosting and domain name, you have a lot more options to do things with your website, like personalized email with your own domain name.
- Cost — WordPress is free and offered by most of the popular web hosting companies.
- Exposure — The search engines love WordPress. With a good search engine optimized Theme, and simple tweaks to WordPress, you can get your site indexed easily with Google.
- Ease – If you can use Microsoft Word, you can use WordPress.
WHAT IS A ‘THEME’?
Themes are website templates. They are the name that WordPress uses for web templates.
In WordPress, you can switch to a new Theme easily by uploading it to your website, then select it inside the WordPress Dashboard.
You can also edit and tweak your Theme to get it exactly like you want it in the WP Dashbaord.
HOW DO THEMES WORK?
Themes are the website templates and corresponding files that WordPress uses to display your site when someone visits your web presence.
WordPress automatically takes each theme files — like the header, menu, content area and footer — and dynamically generates the page your web guest is visiting.
The way that WordPress uses Themes makes it super easy to make sitewide changes to your site. For instance, if you have a phone number listed in your header area, or a copyright date in your footer, all you have to do is change one template file and it automatically updates it for your entire site.
WHAT ARE THE HOSTING REQUIREMENTS?
Of course, you’ll need the essentials: a domain name and web hosting (Linux platform).
Many of the popular hosting companies offer WordPress as a quick “5-minute” installation through their control panel software.
Here is the basic information you need to ask your web host if it’s not clear they offer it:
* PHP version 4.3 or greater
* MySQL version 4.0 or greater
Source: WordPress Requirements page
WHAT WEB HOSTING COMPANIES COULD YOU SUGGEST?
Here are a couple of web hosting companies, which offer WordPress:
Click here for other web services and products we suggest to clients.
