WordPress terms, explained simply

A plain-English A–Z glossary of WordPress words and phrases you'll encounter when managing your website.

WordPress has its own vocabulary. When you hear words like "plugin," "permalink," or "the block editor," it can feel like a foreign language — especially at first.

This glossary explains every common WordPress term in plain English, with no assumed knowledge.

Quick summary

Bookmark this page. When you encounter an unfamiliar word in WordPress or in a message from our team, look it up here. Terms are listed A–Z.

Admin (Administrator)

The user role with the most access on a standard (single) WordPress site — a person with full access to every setting, page, plugin, and user on the site. (A multisite network also has a Super Admin role above it.) Be careful about who you give this role to. See WordPress user roles explained.

Admin bar

The horizontal bar that appears at the very top of your screen when you are logged in to WordPress. WordPress's own documentation calls it the Toolbar. It gives you quick links to edit the current page, manage the site, and more. Visitors who are not logged in don't see it. See The WordPress admin bar explained.

Author

A user role that can write and publish their own posts, but cannot edit other people's work or change settings. Good for regular blog contributors.

Backup

A saved copy of your entire website — all your pages, posts, images, settings, and database. Backups let you restore the site if something goes wrong. See How WordPress backups work.

Block

The individual content building units in the block editor (called Gutenberg). A paragraph, image, heading, button, and video are all separate blocks. You build pages by stacking and arranging blocks. See Working with blocks.

Block editor

The modern WordPress content editor (also called Gutenberg) that uses blocks instead of a traditional text field. Introduced in WordPress 5.0 in 2018, it is now the default editor. See Getting started with the block editor.

Blog post

A piece of content organized by date and category, usually shown in reverse-chronological order on a blog or news page. Different from a Page. See Pages vs posts: what's the difference?.

Cache / Caching

A saved copy of a web page stored either in your browser or on the server, so the page loads faster the next time it is requested. Can sometimes show visitors an old version of the page after you make changes. Clearing the cache forces a fresh copy to be loaded. See My changes aren't showing up.

Classic editor

The older WordPress text editor that worked more like a word processor. It was the default before the block editor arrived. Some sites still use it via a plugin. See Classic editor vs block editor.

Comment

Text that a reader submits on a blog post. Comments are optional — you can disable them. See Comments & discussion settings.

Contributor

A user role that can write draft posts but cannot publish them. A site editor or administrator must approve and publish their content.

Core (WordPress core)

The base WordPress software — the essential code that runs every WordPress site. Plugin and theme developers build on top of it. "Core updates" are updates to this base software.

Custom field

An extra piece of data you can attach to a page or post — for example, a price, a subtitle, or a review score. Often used by page builders and plugins to store specific information. See also: Metadata.

Dashboard

The main screen you see when you log in to WordPress — your control center. It shows recent activity and links to all the tools you need. See A tour of the WordPress dashboard.

Database

Where WordPress stores all of your content, settings, user accounts, and more. The database runs behind the scenes — you rarely interact with it directly. It is not the same as your media files, which are stored separately.

Draft

A saved but unpublished page or post. Only logged-in users with the right role can see drafts — they are not visible to your website visitors. See Drafts, previews, and publishing.

Editor (user role)

A WordPress user role that can create, edit, and publish any content on the site — including other people's work — but cannot install plugins or change settings.

Excerpt

A short summary of a blog post, often displayed on the blog listing page instead of the full post text. You can write a custom excerpt or let WordPress generate one automatically. See Post excerpts explained.

Featured image

The main image associated with a page or post. Your theme decides where it appears; many themes show it on blog listing pages. When a link is shared on social media, the preview image usually comes from an SEO plugin; Yoast SEO, for example, uses a post's featured image unless you choose a separate social image. Also called a "post thumbnail." See Setting featured images.

The bottom section of your website, usually containing contact details, navigation links, legal text, or social media icons. See Editing your footer & widget areas.

Gutenberg

The code name for the WordPress block editor project. The name is a nod to Johannes Gutenberg: the project aims to change web publishing as much as he changed the printed word. You'll see this name in developer discussions and in the Gutenberg plugin, a beta plugin that gives early access to editor features before they reach WordPress. In everyday use, it's just called "the block editor." See Getting started with the block editor.

The top section of your website, usually containing your logo, site name, and navigation menu.

Hook

A technical WordPress concept — a point in the code where developers can attach their own functions to change behavior. You'll rarely need to think about this as a content editor.

Hosting / Host

The service that stores your website's files and makes them available on the internet. Examples include WP Engine, Flywheel, and Kinsta. Different from your domain (your web address). See What is web hosting?.

Install (plugin/theme)

Adding a new plugin or theme to your WordPress site. You can install from the WordPress.org directory or by uploading a file. See How to install a plugin.

Media library

The built-in WordPress tool for managing all uploaded files — images, PDFs, videos, and more. See The media library explained.

A navigation list, usually displayed in your header or footer, that links to your pages. You control what appears in it and in what order. See How to edit your navigation menu.

Metadata

Extra information stored alongside a post or page — things like the author, publish date, and custom fields. You don't usually see or edit this directly.

Multisite

A WordPress feature that lets you run multiple websites from one WordPress installation. Most single small-business websites don't need it.

Page

A standalone piece of content — like your Home, About, or Contact page. Unlike posts, pages are not organized by date and don't use categories. See Pages vs posts: what's the difference?.

Page builder

A plugin that replaces the standard WordPress editor with a visual drag-and-drop interface. Common examples include Elementor. See What is Elementor?.

Pattern

A pre-designed combination of blocks that you can insert into a page and then customize. Patterns save time when building consistent sections. See Reusable blocks & patterns.

Permalink

The permanent URL (web address) of a page or post — for example, yoursite.com/about-us. WordPress lets you control the format of permalinks. See Permalinks & URL structure.

Plugin

An add-on that extends WordPress with new features — contact forms, SEO tools, security, e-commerce, and thousands more. Installing a plugin is like adding an app to your phone. See What are plugins?.

Post

A time-stamped, categorized piece of content — blog articles, news items, and similar updates. Different from a Page. See Pages vs posts: what's the difference?.

Post status

Whether a piece of content is Published, Draft, Pending (waiting for review), Scheduled, or Private. See Drafts, previews, and publishing.

Revision

A saved version of a page or post from an earlier point in time. WordPress keeps revision history automatically, so you can undo mistakes. See Undo mistakes with revisions.

Role

The level of access a WordPress user has. Roles range from Subscriber (least access) to Administrator (full access). See WordPress user roles explained.

Shortcode

A small piece of code in square brackets — like [contact-form] — that WordPress and some plugins use to insert content into a page or post. Blocks now do much of the same job, but shortcodes still work: in the block editor, you add one with the Shortcode block.

Site editor

A newer WordPress feature that lets you edit your entire site's design — including header, footer, and page templates — using blocks. It's only available when your site uses a block theme (you may also see this called "Full Site Editing," or FSE). See Using the WordPress site editor.

Slug

The part of a URL that identifies a specific page — for example, in yoursite.com/about-us, the slug is about-us. You can edit the slug when creating or editing a page or post.

Staging site

A private, hidden copy of your live website where you can test updates and changes without affecting real visitors. See What is a staging site?.

Subscriber

The lowest WordPress user role — can only manage their own profile and read content. Often used for members-only areas.

Tag

A keyword label you can add to posts to describe their content in detail (e.g., "recipe," "vegan," "quick"). Tags are more specific than categories. See Using categories & tags.

Template

A pre-built page layout or design structure that you can apply to new pages or posts. Saves time when creating pages with the same structure.

Theme

The visual design of your WordPress site — colors, fonts, layout, and overall look. A theme is separate from your content: switching themes changes the design but keeps your pages and posts, although features built into the old theme may not carry over. See WordPress themes explained.

Trash

WordPress's equivalent of a recycle bin. Deleted pages and posts go to the Trash and, by default, can be restored for 30 days before permanent deletion. (Your site or host can change that number.) See Deleting & restoring pages and posts.

Update

A new version of WordPress core, a plugin, or a theme. Updates add features and — importantly — fix security vulnerabilities. Keeping everything updated is one of the most important things you can do for your site. See WordPress updates explained.

Upload

Adding a file to your WordPress media library. Images, PDFs, audio files, and videos can all be uploaded. See How to upload images and files.

A small, self-contained block of content or functionality — a search box, a recent posts list, a map — that you can add to sidebar or footer areas. Since WordPress 5.8, widget areas in classic themes are edited with blocks, and block themes usually don't use widgets — you edit those areas with blocks in the site editor.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org

Two different products. WordPress.org is the free, open-source software you install on your own hosting. WordPress.com is a hosted service owned by Automattic. Both run the same WordPress software; the main difference is who handles the hosting. See WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.

WSOD (White Screen of Death)

A WordPress error where the site displays a completely blank white page with no error message. Common causes include a faulty plugin or theme, or a PHP or database error. On current versions of WordPress you'll usually see a "There has been a critical error on this website" message instead of a blank page. See Fixing the "white screen" error.

Common questions

I heard the term 'PHP' — what is that?

PHP is the programming language that WordPress is written in. You don't need to understand it to use WordPress. You'll occasionally see "PHP" mentioned in error messages or hosting settings — if you do, contact us and we'll translate.

What is a 'database' and do I need to worry about it?

Your WordPress database is where all your content lives — pages, posts, comments, settings, and user accounts. Think of it like a giant, organized spreadsheet running behind the scenes. You never interact with it directly in normal use. A full backup includes the database as well as your files, so it's protected.

What does 'open source' mean?

WordPress is open source, meaning the code is free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It's developed by a large community of people who contribute to the project. This is why there are so many plugins and themes available for it.

I keep seeing 'WP' — is that WordPress?

Yes. "WP" is just a shorthand for WordPress. You'll see it in plugin names, plugin file prefixes, and in casual conversation. WP-admin, WP Engine, and WP Rocket all refer to things related to WordPress.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

WordPress terms, explained simply

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