Understanding how your blog works
There is a lot of confusion that people have on how blogs work. It can be quite confusing to those that are new or have only used static html pages.
Now this does not apply to just a WordPress blog but to any site that is using dynamic content.
When you look at the source code of a page that is in a browser you are seeing the compilation of a lot of pieces not the actual code that is on your web server.
The vast majority of your actual content and settings are in the My SQL Database and do not actually reside on the files that you have uploaded to your server.
Here is an example. When you load the index page of your blog your theme is going to pull in a variety of pieces like the header, the content, the sidebar and the footer to name just a few. See the image below.
Look at that in relation to what you see when you do a view source in your browser which shows just the actual html that is being displayed on the page.
Now that big piece of the source code above here is not all of the html pulled from just the very first line of what resides on the server that is being called when you go to your home page.
For curiosity purposes I copied the source code to an editor and that one single line on the index.php page generates 147 lines of html code from what it is pulling from server files and data base table settings on this blog.
As you can see the vast majority of what ends up being displayed to a visitor resides in the data base not on the server code.
This means that when you add a post, edit settings and things like this you are not changing the actual code on the pages that are on the server but these settings are being saved and called from the database.
So understanding that the what you are changing in the dashboard is being changed in the database. When you change the settings in theme options (if your theme has them) or in the plugin settings those are all made in the database.
Hope this helps you to understand how your blog actually works and as always your questions and comments are welcomed.
About the author
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Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps |
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6 comments
Joel Osborne
Twitter: JoelOsborne
on January 26, 2010 at 12:20 am
Thanks Mike. I remember when I first started out, I was making static web sites and it took a long time for me to figure a lot of it out. But now with WordPress, I don’t really have to code much anymore, it sure does make it easier.
Joel Osborne´s last blog ..Power Start 2010 – Start The Year With A Bang
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Leslie West on January 26, 2010 at 6:11 am
It is interesting to see how the code pulls all this information to make a web page. However, I am glad I do not have to understand it in minute detail.
My concerns are editing templates to make subtle changes in sidebars, footers, headers etc.
Selecting a great template to display various types of ecommerce sites is important to me.
I have built a few small html sites and it is very tiring having to go and edit each page for a single change you have made ie a menu.
Leslie West´s last blog ..Peets Coffee, Coffee Wholeb Major Dcksn, 12-Ounce (6 Pack)
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Ron Barrett on January 26, 2010 at 7:41 am
Good information Mike…and from what I am learning about php, there is a lot you can ‘hide’ in case people are attempting to steal your source code (if you have a nice looking or popular blog)…
It’s amazing the difference that you see when you are working ‘under the hood’ compared to what you see when you view the source from the browser itself.
Keep up the good work.
Ron Barrett´s last blog ..Overcoming The Three Myths of List Building
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Fred Lotgering
Twitter: lotcon
on January 26, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Reason why Blogs are so popular is that you don’t have to look under the hood. No programming, no html required to run a blog. Probably why so many webmasters are jobless.
Fred Lotgering´s last blog .."Worry FREE" Niche Content Each and Every Month!
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Doug Champigny
Twitter: CaptnAffiliate
on January 28, 2010 at 2:09 am
Fascinating how different the two are, Mike – and it often makes me wonder how all that header info, like the archive links, affects SEO. When working in HTML or CSS, all of the extraneous information can be put under your content, making it easier for the spiders to know what the important copy is in your coding. Does all this extra material above your post mean that a static HTML page with the same content can rank higher in the SERPs?
Doug Champigny´s last blog ..7 Powerful Ways To Build Targeted Traffic And Build Opt-In Lists For Internet Marketing
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Andre Arnett on January 28, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Some good information Mike and after looking at it all I now have a headache.
I can see that there is a lot that is involved and to mess with that stuff and not know what you are doing can get you in trouble, speaking from experience. That is why I stay tuned to your blog because you provide helpful information. Thanks.
Andre Arnett´s last blog ..Why Do You Want OTOs, UpSells, Downsells And Backends
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