One of the first challenges you might face when setting up a site is understanding the terminology. There’s a lot of specialized jargon, which can get confusing quickly! This glossary is intended to clarify the terms we use to discuss websites… or, to put it another way, to de-mystify some of the technobabble. We included terms specific to WordPress.com and words in broader general usage on the World Wide Web.
For more in-depth explanations of some of the technical terms and concepts we use, please see Tech Jargon Explanations.
In this guide
- address
- Automattic
- block
- browser
- cache
- canonical URL
- content
- dashboard
- DNS record
- domain name
- domain connection
- domain registration
- drop-down menu
- editor
- footer
- Site Editing (formerly Full Site Editing or FSE)
- header
- home page
- Jetpack
- landing page
- legacy
- menu
- page
- plan
- plugin
- plugin-enabled
- post
- registrar
- SEO
- sidebar
- site
- subscription
- template
- theme
- third-party
- upgrade
- URL
- widget
- WooCommerce
- WordPress
- WordPress.com
- WordPress.org
- World Wide Web
- WP Admin
An address (or “web address”) is the reference for a specific resource on the World Wide Web, such as a website. This is also known as a URL (short for Uniform Resource Locator).
Automattic is the company that owns and creates WordPress.com, as well as several other web platforms and services.
A block is a distinct structural element on a page, post, or widget area. In the WordPress Editor, blocks allow you to add and edit specific content areas, such as text, images, and videos.
A browser (or web browser) is a software application on your computer, tablet, phone, or other device used to view and interact with sites on the World Wide Web. Common browsers include Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.
In computing terms, a cache is a stored record of information. We commonly refer to a browser cache, where your browser temporarily stores the sites you’ve visited recently. This can also refer to the site cache, where data about your site is stored on our servers to deliver it more quickly the next time it is requested.
The canonical URL is the default version of your site’s address preferred by search engines such as Google or Bing.
Generally speaking, content is anything published on your site: text, images, videos, audio files, and any other information you make available to people.
The dashboard is the main control panel area for your WordPress.com site. There are two versions of the site dashboard: the standard WordPress.com dashboard, which you can access at wordpress.com/home, and the “classic” WP Admin dashboard.
A DNS record is a setting that determines how your domain works. Modifying your DNS records allows you to connect your domain to third-party services that aren’t hosted on WordPress.com, such as an email provider.
A domain name (or simply “domain”) is an address people use to visit your site.
Domain connection is the association of a specific address to your site so that when a domain is connected to your site, typing that address into a web browser will load your site.
Domain registration is the lease of a specific address by an individual or an entity. This address is generally connected to a specific site. For example, when you register a domain through WordPress.com, the domain is associated with your WordPress.com account.
A drop-down menu, or sub-menu, shows additional items when you hover or click on an item in your menu.
The editor is the interface that enables you to edit the content on your site, such as pages and posts. WordPress.com has two editors: the WordPress Editor, also known as the block editor, and the Classic Editor.
The footer displays content in widget areas at the bottom of your site, below the main content of every page or post. For example, you can use the footer to share your contact information and social media links, provide a site menu, or any other information you want to make available throughout your site.
Site Editing is a collection of interrelated features which enables you to edit your entire site using blocks, taking advantage of the familiar and flexible experience of the Block Editor.
The header displays content at the top of your site, above the main content of every page or post. Your site’s title, tagline, and navigation menus are commonly found in the header.
A home page (also called a homepage or a front page) is the first page visitors will see when they visit your site.
Jetpack is a plugin built into plugin-enabled WordPress.com sites. Jetpack on WordPress.com includes site activity records and backups, optimized performance, anti-spam features, security and downtime monitoring, and much more.
A landing page is a standalone page generally used for a single purpose (sometimes called a “call to action”), such as encouraging your visitors to sign up for a service, buy a product, or join a mailing list. You can use WordPress.com to create a landing page by creating a one-page website with a static front page or creating a single page within your larger site.
A legacy feature is a feature that has been retired from development. You may still have access to legacy features on your site, but they are no longer being improved upon and may not work well with newer versions of WordPress. See also legacy plans.
A menu is a list of links for accessing your site’s content, typically displayed at the top of your site.
A page is a static document for displaying content on your site. For example, some common pages on a site include the Home, About, and Contact pages. (Pages are sometimes confused with posts, so we wrote a guide to explain the differences!)
A plan is a packaged set of options that allow you to add functionality, storage space, and other features to your WordPress.com site. You can learn about the WordPress.com plans here.
A plugin is a piece of software used to add extra features to WordPress. Some plugins, such as Jetpack and WooCommerce, are made and updated by Automattic. Other plugins are created by people and companies in the WordPress community. These are sometimes called third-party plugins and are supported by their developers.
A plugin-enabled site is a site that has activated the full hosting features available on WordPress.com Creator and Entrepreneur plans or the legacy Pro plan. Most commonly, this happens when you install your first plugin, but your site can also be considered plugin-enabled after uploading a third-party theme, activating backups, or activating hosting features at Settings → Hosting Configuration.
A post is a document for displaying dynamic content on your site, generally listed in reverse chronological order. Posts are always associated with a date, which is included in the URL. (Posts are sometimes confused with pages, so we wrote a guide to explain the differences!)
A registrar is a company or organization which handles the registration of domain names with the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
SEO (short for “search engine optimization”) is the process of improving your site to help it rank high in the results of search engines such as Google and Bing.
A sidebar is a column to the left or right side of a site’s main content area. Sidebars can be used to display menus, widgets, and other content.
Your site (short for “website”) is the collection of pages, posts, and other content published on the World Wide Web to be viewed by visitors.
This term is used in a couple of ways:
- When talking about WordPress.com upgrades and other products, a subscription is the dated period of the upgrade plan for your site.
- When talking about your blog itself, subscription refers to site visitors signing up to receive email updates whenever you publish a new post.
A template controls the layout of your pages or posts. Modifying or switching a template affects the look and feel of individual pages or posts or of groups of pages or posts. (Sometimes confused with the theme of your site.)
Your theme controls the visual design of your site, applying layout and design settings to your content. The theme defines where the site logo, menus, and widgets appear on your site and controls the site’s default color scheme, fonts, and other design features. (Sometimes confused with templates for pages or posts.)
Third-party refers to products, such as plugins and themes, which aren’t made or developed by WordPress.com. You can acquire these products from WordPress.org’s plugin and theme repositories, the developer’s website, or a third-party marketplace. Because we don’t make these products, our scope of support for them is limited.
An upgrade is a product sold by WordPress.com to add functionality to your site. Common upgrades include plan subscriptions and domain registrations, and connections. You can view your site’s active upgrades from Upgrades → Purchases in the left sidebar of your site dashboard.
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator), also known as an address, is the reference for a specific resource on the World Wide Web, such as a website.
A widget is a modular piece of content that can be added to specific areas of your site, such as the sidebar or footer.
WooCommerce is a plugin that enables you to create a store to sell physical and/or digital products. With WooCommerce installed, you can add a cart and checkout process, take payment, monitor inventory, and do everything else you need for an online store.
WordPress is a free, open-source software system for publishing content on the World Wide Web.
WordPress.com is a platform that lets you build a website and publish content on the World Wide Web using the WordPress software, with managed hosting for an easier-to-run site. You’re here right now! We’re often confused with WordPress.org, so we wrote a guide to explain the differences.
WordPress.org is the repository site for the WordPress open-source software. It’s often confused with WordPress.com, so we wrote a guide to explain the differences.
The World Wide Web is an interconnected system of documents and other informational resources accessible on the Internet. It’s what the “www” you see at the beginning of some addresses stands for. (It’s worth mentioning that WordPress.com automatically removes the “www” from all URLs. Your site address can still be reached at www.yoursite.com, but it will always redirect to the non-www version. This is for SEO reasons; search engines prefer one version of the site address be set as the canonical URL to keep them from listing duplicate content.)
WP Admin is the “classic” WordPress dashboard, which you might often see when looking at WordPress tutorials online. While you can do almost everything in your site’s main WordPress.com dashboard, you can also use WP Admin if you prefer. You can access the WP Admin dashboard from your main WordPress.com dashboard or by adding /wp-admin/ to the end of your site address like this: https://yourgroovysite.wordpress.com/wp-admin/.
