setting up a WordPress blog . . .

Link to PDF version of “Why Blog.”

WordPress is purportedly the easiest to use and it is the most popular right now.
You do not need new software. Blogs are a perfect example of “cloud computing,” which simply means using the internet to access software running on someone else’s hardware.

Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org:  

Wordpress.com is free. However, you end up with a clumsy url, i.e. yourname.wordpress.com. If future employees (or your family/friends) forget the wordpress portion of the name, they will not find you.
Wordpress.org requires that you have your own url and hosted web site. Here is a link to my favorite site for purchasing Web names and for hosting:

GoDaddy charges about $10 per year for reserving your chosen name and around $5 per month for hosting for their economy package. . . the site offers many add-ons for additional fees, but you do not need them. It also is set up so that you can download Wordpress from their site so that you have the appropriate paths and do not have to fuss around with codes (which are complicated to find and complicated to use).

Instructions follow, but it might be easier for you to go to one of the following: 

Online textual Instructions: www.wordpress.org or www.wordpress.com 

How-to Video for a WordPress Blog
Or, start here if you wish to do what I do to set up each blog  . . .  

  1. SITE NAME
    • Figure out what you are going to name your site. Anything with one word is probably gone, i.e. diamonds, books, health. Many two-word names are gone. If you have a “common” name, it is probably gone. Write down several ideas and versions of your name. This part may take you longer than it does to set up your blog. BIG TIP: No “dots,” “dashes,” or “underscores” in your chosen name. Absolutely no one remembers them.

  2. GO TO GODADDY.COM BY CLICKING HERE
    Of course, you can use who you want. But these instructions are specifically for GoDaddy. I have been using their services for 12 years. No complaints.

    • From GREEN bar on top, select Domains and Register from the drop down
    • Begin your search by following instructions (Enter a domain name)
    • When you find one that works for you (or several . . . they are about $10 each to reserve and you only need to pay hosting for one site), register that name for at least one year. You don’t need any extras. Just register the domain name for now and worry about extras later. An eMail account comes with each domain.
  3. STILL ON GODADDY – RESERVE HOSTING (2-24 hours)
    • Select Hosting from the control bar, then Web site hosting. Note, you can also use WordPress hosting, but I always go with the Web site hosting to reserve maximum flexibility. I use their defaults (i.e. Linux) and I generally pay for a year although GoDaddy will bill in three month increments.
    • Choose ECONOMY PLAN (if you grow beyond 10 GB, you can always add).
    • Click 3 (or 12 months), select ADD.
    • If you want to find out everything about their services, read the rest, however, I go to bottom and hit the grey NO THANKS bar to go to checkout.
    • You will receive eMail notification of your purchase.
  4. STILL ON GODADDY – SET UP HOSTING (2-24 hours)
    • Setup your account: GoDaddy is in Arizona, always there, and can help with this if you get confused (which is easy to do initially): 480 505 8877. (Note that they do not give specific support for blogs as it is an external “product” available through GoDaddy.)
    • Select Hosting/My Hosting Account
    • Click on “Manage Account” to the right of your new account
    • Click YOUR APPLICATIONS on top.
    • Click on Blogs on the Left.
    • Click on WordPress.
    • Click the INSTALL NOW orange button and follow instructions for name and password. This automatically sets up WordPress on your site.
  5. TO WORDPRESS:  YOU NOW HAVE A BASIC BLOG. YOU WILL WANT TO CHANGE ITS APPEARANCE
    • Note, I don’t think there’s a live person at WORDPRESS. As with all blogs, you are pretty much on your own. If you get stuck anywhere, just type the issue or error code into google.com . . . I promise you that someone has posted the answer.
    • Go to: http://YourSiteName.com/wordpress/wp-login.php and sign in with the Username and Password you selected when you downloaded your WordPress blog from GoDaddy.
    • This is the basic blog. You will probably want a new one. The easiest way is to select one from WordPress as it will be uploaded for you without having to use external software.
    • Select Appearance on Left/Add New Themes
    • Install Themes: Find Themes. This opens hundreds of tested themes that you can use. Find one you like and select “Upload” on top of the page.
    • Note: Many WordPress themes are available on the Web and you can also upload them after you have downloaded them to your hard drive. If you take a theme from the Web, MAKE SURE it is a WordPress theme.
    • Editor and Theme Files. I wouldn’t touch these unless you are familiar with HTML. These completely control the appearance of the page(s). One missing bracket and the page will not display. If you DO wish to change, say, the Styles (style.css, which controls colors, etc.), copy that code completely into a doc file and save the original. That way if you can’t repair it, you can always just put the original back online.
  6. YOUR WORDPRESS DASHBOARD
    • Click each of these to become familiar with what’s there. This gives you quite a bit of leeway in setting up your blog.
    • Settings: Check each section for features. Here you will add your blog title and Tagline. You can also post via eMail (which I have not done as I like more control over the page than that allows)
    • Links: You will probably want to delete all of the links there; most go back to some type of WordPress group/blog and there’s no reason to divert your audience.
    • Users: Set up your eMail address and title.
    • Posts/Categories
      • Add categories for your blog, i.e. Travel, Notes, Favorite Pubs, Career, Degrees
      • To add a new Post, click Add New and begin typing. There are lots of built-in codes for you to make it easy. If you know HTML, you can go into that section and tweak your work also. Save your work as a draft or Publish it immediately by hitting the Publish bar near the upper right.
      • Post Tags: Include anything of relevance to your post. If you are running a business from your blog, you will want to visit google.com/analytics and/or searchenginewatch.com to find the most searched words. These help with positioning and driving your market to you.
      • Upload images.
  7. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
    There is a lot to wade through. Worth reading:
    http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Lessons  where you will find WordPress for Beginners. Again, it looks overwhelming, but you won’t need to read all of it, you don’t need to know any of the complicated coding, etc.

    Mainly you will need to go to:

REFERENCES

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7:34 pm and is filed under All Things Internet, Careers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “setting up a WordPress blog . . .”

  1. Becki Milam Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 9:34 am

    Just a question what theme do you use? Is it a free theme? Did you hired someone to make that? My web log is http://www.wordpressrobot.com

    (Editor’s Note: This writer’s site is purely a sales site. It is not well-designed — in fact, it is not designed — it is built with the basic WordPress template. But it shows you whan can be done if you decide to go into Affiliate Marketing, which I highly recommend for an additional source of income WHICH WE ALL NEED RIGHT NOW, I’m sure. She gives an overview of “why blog” and has product for sale. Also, I have notes on Affiliate Marketing at http://www.ProsperInPajamas.com with a list of CDs and books to get you started.)

  2. Web Hosting Site Says:
    November 8th, 2009 at 10:56 pm

    I have been looking for a new host for a while now, I was thinking of using Godaddy but I have heard a lot of negitave things about them also, such a hard decission.

    (Editor’s Note: There are scores of negative comments about every Web Host, I’m sure. A quick search will turn up many. I love GoDaddy and recently switched my last (and largest) hosting account to them from another host a few weeks ago. y GoDaddy’s team is always there. Their 24/7 advertising means 24/7 advertising unlike some others . . . there is a local internet provider who claims he is available 24/7 — and he may be, but while he is technically “available,” meaning he is alive somewhere on this planet,” it takes him 24-48 hours to answer if it all. Anyway, this could continue but I highly recommend goDaddy for ease of site set up, reasonable prices, ease of conversations — they are in Arizona or something like that — and true 24/7 excellent service.)

  3. Jeffery Horton Says:
    June 1st, 2010 at 8:58 am

    You are a very smart person! :) I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you

Leave a Reply