Ian Stewart will lead customer experience at WordPress.com, utilizing his 14 years of experience on the WordPress.com team and a passion for themes.
WORDPRESS
9 Best Elementor Alternatives 2024 (Faster Page Builders)
Are you looking for a better and faster Elementor alternative that doesn’t slow down your WordPress site?
You’re on the right page. Sit tight!
While Elementor is a popular choice for creating WordPress websites, it may not be the best fit for everyone. Luckily, there are plenty of other options available that offer similar features and functionality.
Several Elementor alternatives are available, whether you’re looking for a more affordable option, a different user interface, or additional features.
In this article, I researched nine top elements or alternatives. I discuss each platform’s strengths and weaknesses to help you choose the one that best meets your needs.
Top 9 Elementor Alternatives
1. Kadence WP (Overall Best Alternative to Elementor)
If you’re looking for an Elementor alternative that provides you with a robust set of features, Kadence WP is the way to go.
Kadence WP is a popular page builder that has received considerable attention in the WordPress community. It is known for its speed, ease of use, and flexibility.
Kadence WP Key Features
Here are some of the key features that make Kadence WP stand out:
- Fast Loading Time: Kadence WP is designed to load quickly, critical for user experience and SEO.
- Intuitive Interface: The user interface is straightforward, making it easy for beginners and experienced users.
- Customizable Templates: Kadence WP has a wide range of templates you can customize to suit your needs.
- Advanced Row and Column Layouts: You can easily create complex row and column layouts.
- WooCommerce Integration: Kadence WP integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it an excellent choice for online stores.
- Global Color Palette: You can set a global color palette for your website, making it easy to maintain consistency across all pages.
Kadence WP Pros and Cons
Here are some of the pros and cons of Kadence WP:
Pros:
- Easy to use and beginner-friendly
- Fast loading times
- Customizable templates
- Advanced row and column layouts
- WooCommerce integration
- Global color palette
Cons:
- Limited third-party integrations
- No built-in pop-up builder
Kadence WP Pricing
- Free Plan: This plan is free and excellent for website creators wanting to start.
- Essentials Plan: This plan costs $149/year and gives you all the essentials, like the pro versions of the Kadence theme, starter templates, Kadence Blocks, and design patterns.
- Full Plan: This plan costs $219/year and gives you full access to all the tools to help you sell.
- Lifetime Plan: With this plan, you get every product in its complete bundle, lifetime support, updates, and all future products for a one-time payment of $799/lifetime.
2. Thrive Themes
Thrive Themes is an excellent option if you’re looking for a theme with various marketing features. It offers a range of powerful tools for building and optimizing websites, making it an excellent option for those seeking a comprehensive solution for marketing-focused sites.
It’s popular with bloggers, entrepreneurs, and marketers who want to create high-converting websites.
Thrive Themes Key Features
- Conversion-Focused Design: Thrive Themes are built with conversion optimization, with features like customizable buttons, testimonials, and call-to-action elements to help you generate leads and sales.
- Speed Optimization: Thrive Themes are lightweight and optimized for speed, ensuring that your website loads quickly and provides a smooth user experience.
- Customization Options: Thrive Themes offer extensive customization options, allowing you to personalize your website’s design to match your brand and style.
- Built-in Features: Thrive Themes come with a range of built-in features, such as customizable headers, footers, and sidebars, as well as custom widgets and shortcodes.
- SEO-Friendly: Thrive Themes are built using SEO best practices, helping your website rank higher in search engine results.
- Integrated Plugins: Thrive Themes integrate seamlessly with other Thrive plugins, such as Thrive Architect and Thrive Leads, to provide additional functionality and customization options.
Thrive Themes Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of using Thrive Themes:
Pros:
- Built-in marketing tools
- Frequent updates and improvements
- User-friendly interface
- Great customer support
- Highly customizable
Cons:
- Steeper learning curve
- Limited pre-built designs compared to Divi
- Some features may be overkill for basic sites.
Thrive Themes Pricing
Thrive Themes offers two pricing options:
- Thrive Suite Subscription: This annual subscription costs $299 and gives you access to all Thrive Themes products, including the themes and plugins.
- Thrive Themes Builder: This plan gives you access to only the Thrive Themes Builder and costs $99/year.
3. Divi Page Builder
Divi is a powerful and user-friendly Elementor alternative. It is a famous WordPress page builder known for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, robust features, and flexibility.
Divi Key Features
Here are some of the critical features of Divi that make it a great Elementor substitute:
- Intuitive Visual Builder: Divi’s visual builder makes creating stunning websites easy without coding knowledge.
- Customizable Layouts: Divi comes with a wide range of layout options, allowing you to create unique designs for your website.
- Responsive Editing: Divi allows you to edit your website’s design in real time, ensuring it looks great on all devices.
- Global Elements: Divi’s global elements feature allows you to save time by creating reusable elements that can be used across your website.
- Built-in Split Testing: Divi has a built-in split testing feature, allowing you to test different designs and improve your website’s performance.
- WooCommerce Integration: Divi integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it easy to create stunning online stores.
Divi Pros and Cons
Here are some of the pros and cons of using Divi as an Elementor alternative:
Pros:
- Intuitive visual builder
- Wide range of layout options
- Responsive Editing
- Global elements
- Built-in split testing
- WooCommerce integration
Cons:
- Limited third-party integrations
- It can be slow to load on some websites
- Some features may require additional plugins
Divi Pricing
- Divi: This costs $89 per year and has a lifetime subscription of $249. It includes access to all of Elegant Themes’ themes and plugins, updates, and support.
- Divi Pro: This plan costs $277 yearly and has a lifetime subscription of $297. It includes access to everything in the Divi plan plus Divi AI, Divi Cloud, and Divi Teams.
4. Squarespace (best non-WordPress alternative)
Squarespace is an excellent non-WordPress alternative to Elementor. Squarespace is a website builder that allows you to create a professional-looking website without coding experience.
Squarespace Key Features
- Templates: Squarespace offers many modern, sleek, and professional templates. You can choose from over 100 templates and customize them to suit your needs.
- Ease of Use: Squarespace is very easy to use and does not require any coding experience. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create and customize your website.
- Mobile Optimization: All Squarespace templates are mobile optimized, meaning your website will look great on any device.
- E-commerce: Squarespace offers built-in e-commerce functionality, which allows you to sell products and services directly from your website.
- SEO: Squarespace has built-in SEO features that make optimizing your website for search engines easy.
- Analytics: Squarespace offers detailed analytics that allows you to track your website’s performance and make data-driven decisions.
Squarespace Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of using Squarespace as an Elementor alternative:
Pros:
- Squarespace is straightforward to use and does not require any coding experience.
- Squarespace offers a wide range of modern, sleek, and professional templates.
- Squarespace has built-in e-commerce functionality, which allows you to sell products and services directly from your website.
- All Squarespace templates are mobile-optimized, meaning your website will look great on any device.
- Squarespace offers built-in SEO features that simplify optimizing your website for search engines.
Cons:
Squarespace Pricing
Squarespace offers four pricing plans:
- Personal: This foundational plan costs $25/month and gives access to fully customizable, best-in-class templates.
- Business: This is for those looking to grow their audience and begin taking payments. It costs $36/month.
- Basic Commerce: For $40/month, you get selling tools to help grow your business without transaction fees.
- Advanced Commerce: For $72/month, you get all the tools necessary for the more advanced seller with no transaction fees.
5. OptimizePress
If you’re looking for an Elementor substitute designed explicitly for creating landing pages, sales pages, and membership portals, then OptimizePress might be the right tool for you.
It’s a WordPress plugin that allows you to create high-converting pages and funnels without any coding skills.
OptimizePress Key Features
OptimizePress has many features that make it easy to create professional-looking pages. Here are some of the key features:
- Drag-and-Drop Page Builder: OptimizePress has a visual editor that makes it easy to create pages by dragging and dropping elements onto the canvas.
- Pre-designed Templates: OptimizePress has a library of templates you can customize to suit your needs.
- Conversion-focused Elements: OptimizePress has a variety of conversion-focused elements like countdown timers, progress bars, and opt-in forms to help you increase conversions.
- Membership Site Builder: OptimizePress has a membership site builder that allows you to create membership portals and restrict content to members only.
- Funnel Builder: OptimizePress has a funnel builder that allows you to create multi-step funnels easily.
- Integrations: OptimizePress integrates with various email marketing services, payment gateways, and other tools.
OptimizePress Pros and Cons
Like any tool, OptimizePress has its pros and cons. Here are some of the main ones:
Pros:
- OptimizePress is designed explicitly to create high-converting pages and funnels.
- It comes with many pre-designed templates and conversion-focused elements that make it easy to create professional-looking pages.
- The membership site builder and funnel builder are great for creating online courses and sales funnels.
- OptimizePress integrates with various email marketing services, payment gateways, and other tools.
- It’s a one-time purchase with no monthly fees.
Cons:
- OptimizePress can be a bit overwhelming for beginners.
- The visual editor can be a bit slow at times.
- The number of templates is limited compared to other page builders.
- The support can be slow to respond at times.
OptimizePress Pricing
OptimizePress offers three pricing plans:
- Builder Only: This plan allows you to build landing pages that can only be used on one site. It costs $129/year.
- Suite Starter: This plan lets you use all OptimizePress Suite features on one site. It costs $199/year.
- Suite Pro: This plan enables you to use all OptimizePress Suite features on up to five sites. It costs $249/year.
6. Beaver Builder
If you’re looking for an Elementor competitor, Beaver Builder is a great option. Here’s what you need to know about Beaver Builder.
Beaver Builder Key Features
Sure! Here are brief explanations of the specified Beaver Builder features:
- Easy-to-Use Drag-and-Drop Interface: Beaver Builder provides an intuitive interface that lets you drag and drop elements like text, images, and videos directly onto web pages, making the design process straightforward.
- Front-End Editing: This feature allows you to see changes in real-time as you edit your pages directly from the front end of their website. This live editing experience makes it easier to visualize the site’s final look without needing to preview changes separately.
- Responsive Design: This feature ensures that websites built with Beaver Builder are automatically optimized to look great on any device, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
- Customizable Templates: Beaver Builder offers a variety of pre-designed templates that you can easily customize to fit your needs.
- WooCommerce Integration: This allows you to design and customize product pages, shop layouts, and other e-commerce elements directly within the builder.
- Developer-Friendly: It is designed with developers in mind, offering features like custom modules, hooks, and filters that allow for extensive customization and functionality extension.
Beaver Builder Pros and Cons
As with any page builder, there are pros and cons to using Beaver Builder. Here are some:
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Great for beginners
- Lots of customization options
- Great customer support
- Developer-friendly
Cons:
- Limited design options
- Limited third-party integrations
- It can be slow to load
Beaver Builder Pricing
Beaver Builder offers four pricing plans:
- Standard: This plan is best for entrepreneurs, costing $99 annually.
- Pro: This plan is best for freelancers and costs $199 annually.
- Agency: This plan is best for agencies and costs $399 annually.
- Ultimate: This plan is best for power users. For $546 annually, you get everything in the agency plan plus the Beaver Themer add-on plugin and Assistant Pro.
7. Wix
If you are looking for an all-in-one website builder that is easy to use and offers a variety of features, Wix is an excellent option.
Wix Key Features
Sure! Here are brief explanations of the specified Wix features:
- Drag-and-Drop Website Builder: Wix offers an intuitive interface that allows you to easily create and customize websites by simply dragging elements like text, images, and videos into place.
- Hundreds of Customizable Templates: Wix provides a vast selection of professionally designed templates you can choose from and customize to fit your needs.
- App Market with Over 250 Apps: Wix’s App Market offers a variety of apps and integrations that you can add to your websites to extend functionality.
- Built-in SEO Tools: Wix includes a suite of SEO tools designed to help you optimize your websites for search engines.
- Mobile Optimization: Websites created with Wix are automatically optimized for mobile devices, ensuring they look great and function well on smartphones and tablets.
- eCommerce Functionality: Wix offers robust e-commerce capabilities, allowing you to set up online stores, manage inventory, process payments, and more. This functionality is ideal for businesses selling products or services directly from their websites.
Wix Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Wix is more beginner-friendly and easier to use than Elementor.
- Wix offers built-in features and tools, such as SEO and eCommerce functionality.
- Wix has a broader selection of templates and design options.
- Wix has a robust App Market with over 250 apps to help you customize your website.
- Wix offers a free plan with limited features, making it an excellent option for those on a tight budget.
Cons:
- Wix is not as customizable as Elementor, so advanced users may find it limiting.
- Wix’s pricing plans can be more expensive than Elementor’s, especially if you need advanced features.
- Wix’s templates can be less flexible than Elementor’s, so you may have to work harder to achieve your desired design.
Wix Pricing
- Free plan: This plan is free to use but has limited features, Wix branding, and ads on your site.
- Lite plan: For $17/month, you get the basics, which include a free custom domain for one year, more storage, no Wix branding, and the ability to use it with up to two collaborators.
- Core plan: For $29/month, you get everything in the lite plan plus basic site analytics, basic e-commerce features, and the ability to use it with up to five collaborators.
- Business plan: This includes everything in the core plan plus standard site analytics, standard e-commerce functionality, and the ability to use it with up to ten collaborators. It costs $36/month.
- Business Elite plan: This includes everything in the Business plan plus unlimited storage, an advanced developer platform, site analytics, and e-commerce functionality. It costs $159/month.
8. WPBakery Page Builder
WPBakery Page Builder is an excellent Elementor substitute. It’s a drag-and-drop page builder that allows you to create custom pages and posts without coding knowledge.
WPBakery Page Builder Key Features
- Frontend and Backend Editing: WPBakery Page Builder allows you to edit your pages and posts on your website’s front and back end.
- Customizable Templates: WPBakery Page Builder comes with a variety of customizable templates that you can use to get started with your website design.
- Responsive Design: WPBakery Page Builder’s templates and elements are all designed to be mobile-friendly and responsive.
- Element Library: WPBakery Page Builder has a library of pre-built elements that you can use to add functionality to your website.
- Third-Party Integration: WPBakery Page Builder integrates with various third-party plugins and tools, including WooCommerce and Yoast SEO.
- User-Friendly Interface: WPBakery Page Builder’s drag-and-drop interface is easy to use and requires no coding knowledge.
WPBakery Page Builder Pros and Cons
Pros:
- WPBakery Page Builder is an excellent option for those who want a user-friendly interface but lack coding knowledge.
- WPBakery Page Builder has a library of pre-built elements that can help you save time and effort when building your website.
- WPBakery Page Builder integrates with various third-party plugins and tools, giving you more flexibility when designing your website.
- WPBakery Page Builder is a more affordable option than some other page builders on the market.
Cons:
- WPBakery Page Builder can load slowly, especially when using many elements.
- WPBakery Page Builder’s interface can be overwhelming for some users, especially those new to website design.
- WPBakery Page Builder’s support can be slow to respond to user inquiries.
WPBakery Page Builder Pricing
WPBakery Page Builder is available as a WordPress plugin.
- Regular: This plan costs $59/lifetime and can be used on a single site. It includes free updates, one Year’s Access to WPBakery AI, one Year’s Premium support, and one Year’s Access to the Template Library.
- Five Sites: This includes everything in the regular plan and can be used on up to five sites. It costs $256/lifetime.
- Ten Sites: This includes everything in the five-site plan and can be used on up to ten sites. It costs $499/lifetime.
9. Bricks
Bricks is a great option if you’re looking for an Elementor competitor offering unique features.
Bricks Key Features
- Customizable Headers and Footers: Bricks allows you to design and customize headers and footers to fit your website’s specific needs.
- Advanced Typography Options: Bricks offers extensive typography settings, enabling you to customize fonts, sizes, weights, and other text properties. This helps achieve a cohesive, visually appealing design that aligns with the site’s branding.
- Built-in Responsive Design Controls: Bricks include tools for quickly adjusting and optimizing the design for different screen sizes.
- Powerful WooCommerce Integration: Bricks integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, allowing you to build and customize your online stores. This integration provides robust e-commerce functionality, including product pages, shopping carts, and checkout processes.
- Dynamic Content Capabilities: Bricks supports dynamic content, enabling you to display data from custom fields, post types, and taxonomies.
- Front-End Editing with Real-Time Preview: Bricks offers a front-end editing experience where you can see changes in real time as you design your pages.
Bricks Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Easy to use and customize
- Flexible and robust design options
- Excellent customer support
- Affordable pricing
- Regular updates and improvements
Cons:
- Limited third-party integrations
- There is no option to import/export templates.
- There is a steep learning curve for beginners
- Limited community support
Bricks Pricing
- Starter: This plan costs $79/year and can be used on one website. It includes updates, all features, and support during the subscription term.
- Business: This costs $149/year and includes everything in the starter plan. It can be used on up to three sites.
- Agency: It costs $249/year and can be used for unlimited sites.
- Ultimate: This lifetime plan can be used on unlimited websites. It costs $599/lifetime and includes all future updates, features, and technical support.
10. Oxygen WordPress Builder
Oxygen is worth considering if you are looking for an Elementor alternative that offers more design flexibility. It is a powerful website builder that allows you to create custom designs without any coding knowledge.
Oxygen Key Features
- Flexible Layout Options: Oxygen offers many layout options, including flexbox, grid, and custom CSS. Thus, you can easily create complex layouts.
- Customizable Styling: Oxygen gives you complete control over your website’s styling. You can customize every design aspect, from fonts and colors to margins and padding.
-
Dynamic Data: With Oxygen, you can create dynamic content that changes based on user input or other variables.
- WooCommerce Integration: If you are building an online store, Oxygen offers seamless integration with WooCommerce.
-
Developer-Friendly: Oxygen is designed with developers in mind. It offers a clean codebase and supports custom PHP and JavaScript.
- Speed Optimization: Oxygen is optimized for speed, which means your website will load quickly and perform well in search engines.
Oxygen Pros and Cons
Here are some pros and cons of using Oxygen:
Pros:
- Flexible layout options
- Customizable styling
- Dynamic data
- WooCommerce integration
- Developer-friendly
- Speed optimization
Cons:
- Steep learning curve
- Limited third-party integrations
- No built-in templates or themes
Oxygen Pricing
Oxygen offers three pricing plans:
- Basic: This plan costs $129 one-time and can be used on unlimited websites.
- WooCommerce: It can be used on unlimited websites with WooCommerce integration. It costs $149/lifetime.
- Ultimate: With this plan, you get all the features of Oxygen for Life for a one-time payment of $179.
Understanding Elementor & Why Consider a Competitor
If you are reading this article, chances are you are already familiar with Elementor – a popular page builder plugin for WordPress. Elementor is known for its drag-and-drop interface, ease of use, and wide range of design options.
However, as with any tool, it has limitations, and you may want to look for an alternative.
One of Elementor’s main limitations is its speed. As you add more elements to your page, the load time increases, negatively impacting the user experience.
Additionally, Elementor’s free version has limited features, and you may need to upgrade to the pro version to access advanced features such as custom fonts, animations, and WooCommerce integration.
Another reason to consider an alternative to Elementor is if you want more flexibility and control over your website’s design.
While Elementor is an excellent tool for beginners and those who want to create simple websites quickly, it may not be suitable for more complex projects requiring more customization.
If you are an agency or freelancer working with clients, you may also want to consider an alternative to Elementor. While Elementor is an excellent tool for in-house projects, it may not be the best option for clients wishing to change their websites.
Choosing the Right Platform
When choosing the right platform for your website, there are a few factors to consider.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
1. Ease of Use
One of the most important factors to consider is ease of use. You want an intuitive and easy-to-navigate platform, especially if you’re not a developer. Look for a platform with a drag-and-drop interface to add and move elements around on your site easily.
2. Customization Options
Another critical factor is customization options. You want a platform that allows you to customize your site to your liking without writing code. Look for a platform that offers a variety of templates and themes, as well as the ability to customize colors, fonts, and layouts.
3. Price
Price is always a consideration when choosing a platform. Some platforms are free, while others require a monthly or yearly subscription. Remember that you may need to pay for additional features or add-ons, so factor that into your decision.
4. Support
Finally, consider the level of support offered by the platform. Look for a platform that provides comprehensive documentation and tutorials and a support team that is easy to reach and responsive to your needs.
Final Thoughts on Elementor Alternatives
Exploring alternatives to Elementor can open up new possibilities for enhancing your website design and functionality.
Kadence WP’s lightweight structure, impressive speed, and extensive customization options stand out. It is a strong contender for those seeking a robust yet user-friendly WordPress theme and plugin solution.
Divi is a powerful and user-friendly Elementor alternative. It is a popular WordPress page builder known for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, robust features, and flexibility.
On the other hand, Squarespace offers an all-in-one platform that simplifies website building with its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and beautiful pre-designed templates, making it ideal for users who prefer an easy, seamless experience without dealing with additional plugins or third-party integrations.
Ultimately, the best alternative depends on your specific needs and preferences. If you’re looking for a highly customizable WordPress-based solution, Kadence WP is the perfect fit.
However, Squarespace is an excellent choice for a comprehensive, hassle-free website builder emphasizing design and user experience.
Frequently Asked Questions on Elementor Alternatives
What is a free alternative to Elementor for WordPress site-building?
If you’re looking for a free page builder plugin for WordPress, KadenceWP has a free plan, which is the best option. This plugin offers a range of features and functionalities that can help you create professional-looking websites without spending a dime.
Are there any page builder plugins that professionals prefer over Elementor?
Divi Builder and Beaver Builder are popular choices among professionals. These plugins offer advanced features like A/B testing, design options, and custom post-type support.
Which is more user-friendly for beginners, Wix, or Elementor-based WordPress sites?
Both Wix and Elementor-based WordPress sites have their pros and cons regarding user-friendliness. Wix is a website builder that offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for beginners to create websites. On the other hand, Elementor-based WordPress sites offer more flexibility and customization options but may have a steeper learning curve for beginners.
What are the top-rated page builders offering similar functionalities to Elementor Pro?
Some top-rated page builders that offer functionalities similar to Elementor Pro include Kadence WP, Beaver Builder, and Divi Builder. These plugins provide advanced features such as dynamic content, custom post-type support, and A/B testing, making them a popular choice among professionals.
Disclosure: We may earn commissions if you buy via links on our website. Commissions don’t affect our opinions or evaluations. We’re also an independent affiliate of many platforms, including ClickFunnels, Kartra, GoHighLevel, Podia, Northwest Registered Agent, and others. We’re not employees of these services. We receive referral payments from them, and the opinions expressed here are our own and are not official statements of these companies.
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What is PHP? A Thorough Explanation for Absolute Beginners – WordPress.com News
If you find yourself diving deeper into the topic of WordPress, content management systems, and websites, a term you will quickly stumble upon is “PHP.” You will likely hear how crucial PHP is for the Internet and that it is what’s powering WordPress websites.
However, what exactly is PHP, and why is it so important?
The short answer is that it’s a general-purpose, server-side scripting language. That said, unless you are already knowledgeable in programming and web development, that probably doesn’t make things much clearer.
In order to help you better understand this topic, we’ll cover PHP in detail below. You’ll learn what PHP is, why it matters, and how it relates to WordPress and pretty much everything you do online. We promise you’ll be surprised to hear how much you likely rely on PHP every day.
- What is PHP? History, features, and benefits
- How PHP works: Creating dynamic web content
- PHP and WordPress: The CMS’ heart and soul
- PHP in everyday life: You rely on it more often than you think
- What is PHP? It is the web’s backbone
What is PHP? History, features, and benefits
The original developer of PHP was a Danish-Canadian programmer named Rasmus Lerdorf. He first created the language in the mid 1990s to build tools for his own website; that’s why PHP originally stood for “Personal Home Page.” Today, it stands for the recursive acronym “Hypertext Preprocessor” and development and support has been taken over by the PHP Group.
PHP features
PHP has some notable features, many of which are applicable to the way WordPress works:
Open Source: The first thing that is important to note is that, like WordPress, PHP is open source. That means it does not belong to any one business entity. It also means that it’s free to download and use for any purpose.
Also like WordPress, PHP is maintained by a number of volunteers around the world. The next major release, 8.4, will be available November 21, 2024.
Finally, both WordPress and PHP are community-funded––while WordPress has the WordPress Foundation, The PHP Foundation’s mission is to “ensure the long-term prosperity of the PHP language.” Automattic is a proud Platinum Sponsor of The PHP Foundation.
Server Side: PHP is a server-side language, which means it executes on the server and not in the user’s browser.
For example, PHP’s most frequent application is for creating HTML documents for websites. Even though there are PHP files on the server, the browser does not receive the PHP code; instead, it receives the finished HTML documents for display. This is different from client-side languages like JavaScript where the processing happens directly in the user’s browser after downloading the JavaScript files.
To make things clearer, server-side languages are a bit like going to a restaurant. You send an order to the kitchen, they prepare the meal, and it arrives at your table ready to eat. Client-side languages, on the other hand, are like meal-delivery services. While they provide you with all the necessary ingredients, you still have to put them together in your own kitchen.
General Purpose: PHP is also a general-purpose programming language. You can use it for command-line scripting, creating desktop applications, and more. However, its primary application is in web development.
Ubiquitous: According to W3Techs, the language is present on 75.7% of all websites. That includes some famous ones, as you will see below.
In addition, it forms the backbone of many content management systems like Drupal, Joomla!, and—the most popular of them all—WordPress.
PHP is one of the biggest open source success stories, as much of the modern Internet depends on it to work.
Benefits of PHP
You might be asking yourself why the usage of PHP is so widespread. There are many good reasons for that, but here are just a few:
- Beginner-Friendly: PHP is relatively easy for beginners to learn due to its intuitive syntax. There are also plenty of tools and frameworks available to make coding easier.
- Wide Community: The language has a vast and active community of developers worldwide. This means there are loads of online resources, forums, and other places where users can seek help and find ready-made solutions to common problems.
- Cross-Platform Compatibility: PHP is compatible with popular operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Unix. It also works on various web servers such as Apache, NGINX, and Microsoft IIS.
- Database Connectivity: In addition, it works with a number of different database formats, such as MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Oracle, and more. PHP can execute SQL queries, retrieve, update and delete data, and handle database connections and transactions.
- Cost-Effective: As we have already learned, the programming language is free to use, distribute, and modify. That eliminates the need for expensive licensing fees and reduces development costs, making it an economical choice for web development projects.
- Scalability: PHP is capable of handling high traffic loads and can easily scale. You can use it together with caching techniques and other optimization strategies to enhance performance. Plus, it’s generally faster than some other programming languages, such as Python.
How PHP works: Creating dynamic web content
One of the main reasons why PHP is so popular for web development is that it seamlessly integrates with various technologies and services commonly used in this area. Examples include HTTP, POP3, IMAP, and more.
One of its main advantages is that it is highly compatible with HTML, the main language used to create and display websites. In fact, it’s possible to use PHP code in HTML files and vice versa.
Above you can see how both languages appear in the same file. The PHP markup is delineated by opening and closing brackets ( and
?>
) so that the server knows where it ends and begins. However, the PHP code itself is inside an HTML element. The
_e
function is a WordPress function used for localization, which allows for easy translations across the WordPress software.
The main benefit of this is that using PHP allows web developers to display dynamic content in otherwise static web pages. For example, PHP is able to pull content directly from databases, making it great for templating. You can create a fixed layout for all web pages but then display different content depending on the page a user is on.
This is vastly different from pure HTML, where the content needs to be hard-coded in the page file in order for the browser to show it. PHP, on the other hand, can add it on the fly as needed. That’s one of the main benefits of this programming language—the ability to dynamically combine and display content from different sources and of different kinds according to what the user requests.
PHP and WordPress: The CMS’ heart and soul
As a WordPress user, PHP is especially important. The programming language forms the basis of much of what WordPress can do. It’s what allows you to create, edit, and delete pages, posts, media, and other content. That’s why you see that a lot of files that end in .php
when you look in the directory of any WordPress installation.
It’s also why, when installing WordPress on a server, the system requirements insist that PHP be present. In recent years JavaScript has been playing a bigger and bigger role in the WordPress ecosystem, mainly because of the adoption of the Gutenberg editor. That said, PHP is still the main workhorse in the background.
Powering themes and plugins
What are some of WordPress’ main tasks powered by PHP? Before the advent of block themes, WordPress themes were all written mostly in PHP, especially page template files. In fact, if you look at the template hierarchy, you can see that WordPress has PHP files for pretty much all pages and theme components.
Why? So we have the ability to create a single layout for one type of content and then dynamically display what’s saved in the database for a particular piece of content.
That way, if you have 300 pages of the same kind on your site, you don’t need a file for each as you would on a pure HTML website. Instead, you just need one single page template file; PHP can then populate each individual page with its specific content.
PHP also makes it easy to compartmentalize different parts of your theme. For example, it’s very common to not have the markup for a footer in each file. Instead you can create a separate footer.php
file and call it into your templates where needed. That way, if you want to modify the footer layout, you only have to make changes in a singular place—the footer.php
file.
The same is true for plugins, aka collections of PHP files that contain the necessary markup for adding extra functionality to your WordPress site. When you activate a plugin, it gets added to the rest of your website code and can provide the functionality you are looking for.
Without PHP, there would be no WordPress
All of the above is only made possible by the flexibility that PHP offers. Besides the benefits we have discussed before, this is the main reason why WordPress relies on PHP to the extent that it does; PHP offers a ton of flexible functionality specifically for web development. PHP’s capabilities in content management, working with databases, and its modularity all make it a perfect candidate for powering the most popular website builder there is.
This also means that if you know PHP, it opens up a lot more possibilities to modify your WordPress website. You can write custom plugins, make changes to (non-block) themes and page templates, introduce functionality to functions.php, and so much more. So, if you want to improve your WordPress skill set, learning PHP is not a bad place to start.
PHP in everyday life: You rely on it more often than you think
Besides WordPress, you might actually be unaware how much of your general everyday online interactions are enabled by PHP. There are a number of very well-known websites that use PHP to run and many common processes that the programming language performs online:
- Facebook: The largest social network in existence was initially built using PHP. While they have moved away from the programming language over time, it still plays a significant role in their infrastructure.
- Wikipedia: The world’s biggest online encyclopedia also relies heavily on PHP for its back end operations, content management, and user interactions.
- Tumblr: This microblogging and social networking platform employs PHP to power its vast network of user-generated content and social interactions. We’re actually in the process of migrating Tumblr’s backend to run on WordPress; if you’re interested in being a part of this exciting project, leave your information here.
- Slack: This widely-used team collaboration and communication platform utilizes PHP for its back-end operations, real-time messaging, and API integrations.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless other examples of well-known web staples that exist in part because of PHP.
Other abilities of PHP
Up until this point, we’ve mostly talked about PHP in the context of creating and outputting HTML markup; however, the programming language is involved in a lot more that you probably take advantage of on a daily basis:
- Form Processing: PHP can process and validate data submitted by users via forms. It’s also capable of performing actions such as storing data in a database, sending email notifications, or generating dynamic responses based on user input. Plus, it comes with encryption to keep the submitted data safe.
- User Authentication: It can also handle user authentication by verifying login credentials. PHP allows you to implement user registration and login/logout functionality, and it can control access to different areas of your website or application. For example: user roles.
- Session Management: PHP can also manage user sessions, store session data, and track user activity. Among other things, this allows you to save user preferences. PHP can also set cookies and receive cookie data.
- File Manipulation: The programming language provides a wide range of functions for file manipulation, such as reading and writing files, uploading files from forms, creating directories, and modifying file permissions. This comes in handy for managing files on the server through other applications (like WordPress).
- Email Handling: PHP comes with functions to send emails from a server. This allows you to build features like contact forms, email notifications, and automated email responses.
- Third-Party Communication: With PHP you can interact with external APIs and web services. It makes it possible to integrate with other applications, retrieve data from remote servers, and perform actions like posting to social media platforms.
What is PHP? It is the web’s backbone
If you’re an everyday WordPress user or non-developer, you probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how much of your online experience is possible thanks to the humble PHP. However, the more you dive into this topic, the more you’ll realize how much you rely on it.
Who knew an open source solution was at the heart of what makes the World Wide Web tick? From the largest content management system in the world to well-known web entities, so much of what we take for granted exists because of it.
There are good reasons why it’s so widespread; from its powerful capabilities over its wide support system to ongoing development and support, there is a lot that speaks for PHP as the go-to solution for web projects.
Since it’s also beginner friendly, learning some PHP skills is definitely a good place to start if you want to dive deeper into the technical aspects of WordPress and web development.
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Ian Stewart to Lead WordPress.com – WordPress.com News
We are pleased to announce that Ian Stewart (blog, LinkedIn, GitHub, X) has been chosen to lead end-to-end customer experience for WordPress.com as its Artistic Director and product lead.
In a nod to LVMH’s organizational structure, Ian will lead in the style of a maison head, ensuring that every part of WordPress.com remains the best managed WordPress experience available. He has been a part of the WordPress.com team for over 14 years, and we’re excited to see what changes he will implement on WordPress.com in this new role.
“I got involved with WordPress after growing tired of using Blogger for my personal blog,” Ian says. “This quickly led to the demise of my regular blogging habits as I spent most of my time messing around with my theme…My fooling around with WordPress themes quickly became a delightful obsession as I tried to publicly figure out what I thought about them.”
We’re grateful for your obsession with WordPress, Ian, and we certainly know the feeling.
Please join us in welcoming Ian in his new role.
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Automattic sends WP Engine its own cease-and-desist over WordPress trademark infringement
The brouhaha in the WordPress community looks likely to escalate into a legal battle around trademarks.
Just a day after WordPress hosting service WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist notice to Automattic asking its CEO to stop publicly trashing WP Engine, now Automattic has sent its own cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, saying the latter has infringed several trademarks like WordPress and WooCommerce.
This comes after Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic and co-creator of WordPress, last week criticized WP Engine for profiteering off the open source WordPress project, calling it a “cancer to WordPress,” and accused the company of contributing very little to the community.
In its letter dated Monday, Automattic alleged that WP Engine has built a business of over $400 million in revenue based on unauthorized use of its WordPress trademark, which Automattic claims it has the exclusive commercial rights for from the WordPress Foundation. Automattic also said WP Engine has misled consumers into believing that there is a direct affiliation between the two companies.
“Your unauthorized use of our Client’s trademarks infringes on their rights and dilutes their famous and well-known marks. Negative reviews and comments regarding WP Engine and its offerings are imputed to our Client, thereby tarnishing our Client’s brands, harming their reputation, and damaging the goodwill our Client has established in its marks,” the letter read.
“Your unauthorized use of our Client’s intellectual property has enabled WP Engine to compete with our Client unfairly, and has led to unjust enrichment and undue profits,” it added.
Automattic is also demanding compensation for the profits made by WP Engine by using its trademarks and said that if WP Engine doesn’t amicably resolve the matter, the company has the right to file a civil injunction case.
For context, here’s a good summary of the WordPress community by my colleague Paul Sawers:
WordPress powers more than 40% of the web, and while any individual or company is free to take the open source project and run a website themselves, a number of businesses have sprung up to sell hosting services and technical expertise off the back of it. These include Automattic, which Mullenweg set up in 2005 to monetize the project he’d created two years earlier; and WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting provider that has raised nearly $300 million in funding over its 14-year history, the bulk of which came via a $250 million investment from private equity firm Silver Lake in 2018.
In the cease-and-desist letter WP Engine sent to Automattic on Monday, the company defended its right to use the “WordPress” trademark under fair use laws. The company added that Automattic has “a profound misunderstanding of both trademark law and WordPress Foundation’s trademark policy.”
It also said Mullenweg demanded WP Engine pay Automattic “a significant percentage of its gross revenues — tens of millions of dollars in fact — on an ongoing basis” for a license to use trademarks like “WordPress.”
“When his outrageous financial demands were not met, Mr. Mullenweg carried out his threats by making repeated false claims disparaging WP Engine to its employees, its customers, and the world,” WP Engine’s letter said.
Notably, Automattic’s letter doesn’t mention Mullenweg’s remarks about WP Engine.
In the last week, Mullenweg has accused WP Engine of not contributing enough to the community and offering “a cheap knock-off” version of WordPress. WP Engine pushed back against this characterization and called out Mullenweg for launching a smear campaign against the company, saying it has already affected some of its business.
This might be the start of a long legal tussle between the two entities. A lot of folks also pointed out that this battle might be harmful for providers offering specialized WordPress hosting.
Earlier today, WordPress Foundation changed its Trademark Policy page, and it now calls out WP Engine, alleging the hosting service has confused users.
“The abbreviation ‘WP’ is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress,” the updated page reads.
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