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What is the difference between WordPress vs Web Development?
The difference between WordPress vs. Web Development is that WordPress is a Content Management System otherwise known as a CMS. A CMS is basically software that is used to build websites.
Whereas Web Development is more of an all encompassing general term that could mean the development of websites, coding and programming things like apps, ecommerce stores, plugins and themes regardless of CMS or programming language etc.
In this post, we are going to look at not only the differences between WordPress vs. Web Development, but also answer some frequently asked questions regarding the two.
Should I learn Web Development or WordPress?
If you are interested in a career in learning programming languages, finding solutions to coding issues, working with software, developing apps as well as custom building websites etc. then you should definitely learn Web Development.
However, if you are only interested in getting a website up on the internet or several websites, for that matter, then you should learn WordPress.
Although learning WordPress doesn’t limit you to just getting a website or personal blog up on the internet. You could expand your knowledge of WordPress and set up an ecommerce store through WordPress’s own ecommerce platform called WooCommerce.
In fact, simply learning WordPress can take you beyond just setting up a few websites. If you become very proficient in WordPress, you can create websites for other people using the WordPress CMS, working with your favorite themes and plugins to create great looking and fully functional websites for clients.
You may even want to set up a reseller account with a Web Hosting Provider and actually host your clients WordPress websites through your own Web Hosting service. There’s a myriad of things that you can do with just WordPress alone that does not involve all the other intricacies that Web Developers are engaged in.
Do most Web Developers use WordPress?
If you’re a Web Developer, it seems like you’re in one of two camps. Either you hate WordPress with a passion or you love it with a passion. Although there are many Web Developers that fall in between.
Many who get into Web Development realize that although WordPress is the most popular CMS on the internet today and powers over 40% of all websites on the web, it may have its limitations.
Web Developers have so many more tools available at their disposal for not only creating websites but all kinds of other web applications that many feel under appreciated or their talents may even go to waste if they solely worked with WordPress.
Most Web Developers, however, do fall in between the two camps. They realize that WordPress can be a useful tool for non-coders to set up their own websites.
Though, realistically speaking, most Web Developers appreciate the fact that WordPress is open source and not proprietary, so they accept the fact that WordPress is part of the Web Development landscape. But also know that it certainly isn’t the only tool in the toolbox.
Is WordPress coding?
Any Web Developer will tell you that WordPress is not coding. In fact, anyone familiar with WordPress at all from the time they’re an absolute beginner, knows that WordPress is not coding.
Though actually, it’s the fact that WordPress doesn’t need any coding skills at all that’s it’s first and biggest attraction for absolute beginners who simply want to get a website up on the internet without much hassle.
Although if you do know coding especially, PHP, HTML and CSS there’s so much more you can do to customize a WordPress website. However valuable those skills are, you certainly don’t need them to create a great looking website.
Is WordPress good for beginners?
One of the main reasons why WordPress is so popular is that it is very good for absolute beginners.
WordPress helps those who have no Web Development knowledge nor coding skills to get a fully functional website up on the internet within just a few hours.
In addition, what’s really great about WordPress is that it’s open source. This means no platform owns the code, themes or plugins for the software that is used to create beautiful websites and get them live on the internet.
This is unlike closed platform CMSs who do own the code, themes as well as plugins to their CMS. I will go into this more below.
But, it does seem that more and more of these “closed source” platforms have been rearing their heads over the last several years.
Certainly a development that I’m not in favor of, considering I’m a big proponent of a free and open internet. But that’s a discussion for another day.
Is WordPress hard to learn?
Although WordPress does have a learning curve, what doesn’t? The learning curve has been getting smaller and smaller as WordPress has evolved.
But even with WordPress’s learning curve, an absolute beginner should be able to get a WordPress website up and live on the internet within just a few hours. But that’s just the beginning of course.
You still have to learn and orient yourself with your theme as well as get to know which plugins would work best with your website design and goals for its functionality.
But relax, learning and working with WordPress is a long-term commitment. There seems to be a never-ending stream of things to learn since WordPress continues to grow and evolve. It certainly isn’t stagnant.
Plus, there’s also a huge and vibrant community with numerous forums throughout the internet for WordPress enthusiasts who help each other solve problems as well as create solutions all are free to use and share.
Those who work with WordPress, including WordPress Developers, are quite open in sharing their coding solutions to common WordPress problems and, not so common, with the community.
Can I build a WordPress site without coding?
Yes, you can build a WordPress site without coding. WordPress CMS was actually designed for this very purpose.
WordPress was created originally for bloggers and others looking to have their own place on the web without having to rely on a closed source and proprietary CMS platform.
In order for them to accomplish this, not only did they make WordPress open source, but they’ve also made it easy for non-developers to be able to get their own website up and live on the internet.
WordPress keeps improving on these tools as well as adding new ones.
For example, its recent development of the Gutenberg Block Editor can perform many of the tasks that once only paid page builders could accomplish, but now it’s included in WordPress’s Core and comes free with every WordPress website.
Is Wix easier than WordPress?
I can’t lie, Wix is a little easier than WordPress out of the box. However, Wix is a closed platform CMS. This means whatever you learn, build, customize and use is really not yours but the property of Wix. Why?
Simply because you cannot migrate your theme, plugins or anything else you’ve built on the Wix platform with their code to another platform or Web Hosting Provider.
Whereas with WordPress, anything you build can be hosted on any number of independent Web Hosting Providers.
So with Wix, you’re stuck with their hosting, support and service. If you have any problems or don’t find their support as supportive as it should be you can’t move your site to another Web Hosting Provider.
With WordPress if you don’t like your Web Hosting Provider, you can migrate your entire website including your themes, plugins and any customizations you’ve done to it to another Web Hosting Provider.
Try doing that with Wix or any other closed source platform.
Are WordPress developers in demand?
Since WordPress is the most popular CMS on the internet today, there are loads of Developers specializing in it.
However, great WordPress developers are in extremely high demand. But like any other profession, you have to cultivate and earn a great reputation. By doing so you can also command some of the highest rates in the industry.
WordPress vs Web Development, conclusions.
As you can see there is a big difference between WordPress vs. Web Development. In fact, you can say that WordPress is a subset of Web Development.
If you’re interested in coding and becoming a programmer, creating your own customized coded websites, plugins, themes or web applications etc. then you should definitely go into Web Development.
However, if you are only interested in setting up a website or several websites, learn how to build those websites and run them yourself, so they not only look great but function great as well. But if you don’t want to learn any coding or have the desire to do so, then you should learn WordPress.
