What WordPress is: a content management system, explained without code

Can AI build a website now? Yes it can, which raises a fair question for day one of this series: why learn WordPress at all? After spending almost 7 years in WordPress ecosystem, my answer is that a website is more than what gets generated.

WordPress is a content management system, or CMS: software for creating, organising and publishing website content without writing code.

Think of a website as a shop. AI can help stock the shelves and dress the window, but a shop still needs a back room where someone decides what goes out, fixes mistakes and keeps things running. A CMS is that back room.

WordPress isn’t ignoring AI either. Version 7.0 added a Connectors screen where a site owner can link an AI provider such as Anthropic, Google or OpenAI. No AI provider comes bundled, so that choice stays with you.

WordPress.com hosts the site for you; self-hosted WordPress is free software you install with a web host (a company that keeps sites online).