Feeling like a WordPress dummy? You’re not.

Give me 15 seconds of your time and I can prove it.

STEP ONE: Open your web browser (these instructions work for FireFox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, and Opera).

STEP TWO: Navigate to your website, or to any website if you don’t have one yet.

STEP THREE: Right-click (or ctrl-click on a Mac) anyplace on the page that is NOT a link. Select “View Page Source” from the right-click menu.

The page of code that opens is what your website really looks like.

See, you’re not a dummy – this stuff IS complicated.

That said, with intermediate HTML/CSS skills, much of this gobbledygook becomes intelligible. It is perfectly OK if you don’t want to learn HTML. You don’t have to learn code to manage your website, any more than you have to be an auto mechanic to drive a car. There are human-friendly interfaces available to manage every aspect of your site, and friendly humans like me to lend a helping hand when you get stuck.

If you are interested in learning HTML, you will find that it’s no more complicated than a thousand other things we do in life, from following a recipe to driving a car. But don’t expect yourself to be a pro before you’ve taken a single lesson, and don’t let anyone else expect that from you either.