If you are responsible for developing a website for your business and you know very little about web design, then you may find that the various choices you have when it comes to building your website can be quite confusing. After all, how do you choose between a WordPress site and HTML when you don’t even know what those terms mean? If you are having a hard time sorting through the jargon and deciding which option is right for you, then you’ve come to the right place. Here to help is this rundown of the differences between HTML and WordPress:
Coding versus using a template
One of the most definitive differences between WordPress and HTML has to do with how you execute your site creation. HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a programming code (or language) that you use to design static web pages from scratch. For example, in an HTML document, you would see something like this:
…representing a single line of text with bold text. If you don’t know what all of that means, then you would need to learn HTML to write the code. Otherwise, you could create HTML pages on a platform like Dreamweaver (in which case you should still know a thing or two about coding). WordPress, on the other hand, is a platform for building dynamic web pages (we’ll get to the difference between static and dynamic later), using a template-based format that allows you to easily create websites by adding content and dragging/dropping features you want on your pages.
Static versus dynamic
HTML pages are static, meaning they stand alone and stay the same unless you go in and manually change them. That means that if you want to change the look or feel of your entire website, you will have to open up the file for each page manually and make the necessary changes separately. WordPress pages are dynamic, meaning they are all stored in a single database and linked together in that way that allows you to make style changes with just a few simple clicks from a single user interface. (It is worth mentioning that you can also create static pages using WordPress if you so desire).
Closed source versus open source
HTML is a closed source, meaning only you (or the person who wrote the code) can make changes to, or embellish, the code. This is relatively limiting unless you have a very skilled coder on hand. WordPress is an open-source platform, which means that anyone can develop additions (like plugins) that you can apply to your site to make it better-looking, more functional, and highly customized.
When it comes to building your brand, your website is one of your most powerful tools. Contact Dr. John Elcik at identityXperts to handle all of your web design needs. We can be reached by phone at (561) 543-2892 or email: jelcik@identityXperts.com.
