In this article, I will help you start your first WordPress Website. Before we do that, let me explain what WordPress can do for you. If you don’t know what a content management system (CMS) is, it can manage your content without editing files. Quite simply, it’s the best thing to ever happen to the way we manage our content. There are hundreds of thousands of websites on the web using WordPress as its content management system, and after I get done with you, you’ll have your very own, too.
Let’s first get past the idea of hiring a web designer because you don’t need one for this! The best things in life are free, as they say; knowledge is free, and lucky for you, WordPress is free, too. First, you should visit WordPress and download the latest version of WordPress. The download will be a ZIP archive; it will most likely be around two megabytes in size. Remember, it doesn’t install on your computer but on your web host. I’ll explain next what a web host is, so for now, all you want to do is download it.
Next, you will need to get hosting for your website. I would recommend something from Godaddy or 1and1 because they have good customer service and give you a free domain or free hosting with the purchase of one or the other. Ensure you get PHP Linux shared hosting because WordPress is written in a scripting language called PHP. Once you have your hosting and they’ve told you how to upload your files (FTP), tyou should set up a MySQL database so that WordPress can store all your content.
You will need your MySQL login details. Your login to your MySQL database will be provided to you from your host (user, pass, server, database name). You’re on your way to starting your very own WordPress Website. Fun times! Go ahead and unzip the contents of your WordPress ZIP (the one you downloaded from the WordPress.org website), and begin uploading the files through FTP software (your host can help you with that). After getting your files onto your site, you need to configure your WordPress installation. And when I say configure, WordPress will do almost all of the work for you.
WordPress makes it too easy to set up. When you access your website through a web browser, WordPress will immediately detect if it has been installed and give instructions on how to proceed. It will ask you for the MySQL database login, the title of your new website (blog title), and some other minor details. If you had trouble installing, backtrack to ensure you did everything right (and make sure you uploaded to the right folders!) Now you have WordPress installed! Excellent work! It’s time to get a little more technical because if you made it this far, I believe you can install a theme.
The best place to go for WordPress themes would be smashingmagazine.com. Their site may initially seem overwhelming, but you’ll get over it. Look at the right sidebar with many links, and scroll down to the end to look for WordPress themes. Click the number “1” next to “WordPress themes” to view their first Free Top Rated WordPress Themes. Browse through their themes until you find the one you like. All you need to do now is download their theme from the download link (to your hard drive) and then get your FTP software loaded again because it’s time to upload your theme!
In the FTP on your website, you will see a folder that says “wp-content.” Open that folder, then “themes,” and you will see two folders (default and classic). Go ahead and upload your theme’s folder to the “themes” folder so your newly downloaded theme appears next to the other folders. Once the theme is uploaded, all we have to do now is activate it in WordPress. Open your WordPress Admin and log in. On the left navigation, you will see lots of stuff, like Posts, Pages,
Tools, etc. Go ahead and click the “Appearance” button. Do you notice anything that looks familiar here? Ps the that’s me you downloaded? Clic. The “activate” link underneath the template’s thumbnail you uploaded will turn on your new WordPress theme. If everything goes right, you should now be able to see your new theme on your website!
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Alright! So far, you’ve learned how to download WordPress and install it…
It’s time to put some content into your theme!
WordPress makes it too easy to add content. Let’s add a new page called ‘Services.’ In the WordPress admin, click the “Pages” button. A new list will unfold under the Pages button; click “Add New.” Type in the title box: Services. And in the big box below it, type in some services you offer. You can put any details you want. Once you finish typing the page information, you should publish your post to be seen on your website. Click the “Publish” button, and WordPress will display a nice little box above your Title box saying it has successfully saved your page. Too Easy.
Before we continue, let me explain the differences between Posts, Pages, and Categories… Posts are generally used to accumulate articles on your website. If you were to add a new article to your site each day, which people would add comments to, then posts would be the right section to use. Pages are the more general “static” information on your site, such as your home page, about, contact, services, FAQ, etc. Categories are used to organize your posts. You can set up the “Bob’s Blog” category or “Mary’s Blog Spot” category and store posts in those categories. It’s handy for keeping track of all your content, so I highly recommend learning to use Categories.
It’s easy, let me explain…
To add “Categories,” click your admin’s “Posts” button. In the unfolding menu below that button, you will see the Categories link. Click on it, and then you will see more boxes asking you to input information. By default, WordPress comes with some test categories, posts, and pages; oddly enough, you can’t delete the categories, so the best thing to do is edit the first category item “uncategorized”.
Once you’ve created your new category, go back to the post you want to put in a category. On the right-hand side where the Publish button is, look below, and you will see some Check boxes of Categories for you to assign your post. I think you can figure out how to save, add, and edit things at this point.
