Beginner’s Guide To Blogging With WordPress
Introduction
WordPress is designed to be simple to use, however it is also “feature-full”, so utilizing or even understanding all that WordPress is capable of can be a large and daunting task. In other words, the rich features of WordPress can sometimes mask its underlying simplicity. This guide is meant to reinforce the basics of using WordPress, push the complexities into the background, and enable beginners to focus solely on the simple task at hand – creating content. Much of this post will be a visual guide using screenshots of a brand new, self-hosted WordPress installation. Ready? Let’s go.
The Dashboard
When you first log into your blog’s admin (http://yoursite.com/wp-admin/), you are presented with your Dashboard. Unfortunately, there is so much on the Dashboard that a first-timer becomes immediately overwhelmed. So feel free to explore it later but for now, just concentrate on the key areas, and ignore the rest, as the screenshot shows below. Note that the upper section is intended as a newbie Help section. Once you’re comfortable, you can hide that section by clicking the “Dismiss this message” link.
Because a brand new install of WordPress comes with an example post and an example page already installed, you’ll notice that you have 1 post (with 1 sample comment) and 1 page listed in the Right Now section. You’ll also see that you have a menu in the left sidebar of things you can do here in your admin area. In that menu, you’ll see the word Posts. That’s the area you’ll use the most from now on, so let’s start there.
Hover your mouse over the Posts section of the menu. Notice that a flyout menu appears showing additional choices.
Here’s a quick look at what all the menus look like when expanded.
Posts
You’ll notice that the first two items listed under Posts are “Posts” and “Add New”. We’ll look at each one in turn. First, click on the Posts submenu item to open up the screen that lists all the posts that exist on your blog. Since this is a new installation, you’ll see only one listed: the Hello World! post. This screen shows a summary of the posts, listing the titles, authors, categories, tags, number of comments, and the date published or scheduled to be published.
If you hover your mouse over any post listing, a new set of links appear just under the post listing. These links let you either Edit a post, Quick Edit a post (which just lets you edit the data that shows here on this screen, such as author, category and tags, but not the post content itself), Trash (delete) the post, or View the post as a normal user sees it once published.
If you click the Edit link, you’ll see the entire Edit Post screen, which allows you to make whatever changes you want. Here’s a screenshot of the Edit Post screen. We’ll just glance at it and then move on to adding a new post, instead of studying the Edit Post screen in detail. (The Add New Post screen and Edit Post screens are basically identical).
Adding A New Post
Now, looking back at your menu to the left, instead of choosing Posts under the Posts menu, choose Add New instead. This will open up the Add New Post screen, which as you’ll see, looks just like the Edit Post screen, except that everything is blank, waiting for you to fill in the blanks.
In the screenshot below, I’ve numbered the main steps, from 1-7, to show you the areas you’ll be primarily concerned with when you create a new blog post. Each step is numbered approximately in the order that most people would normally fill out the areas of the screen, and is summarized at the bottom of the screenshot. I recommend printing this screenshot out and keeping it handy when you write your first few blog posts.
Now, let’s look at each step in more detail.
Step 1: Enter the title of your new blog post here. Your title should be interesting enough to make readers want to know more. Your title should also contain the most relevant phrase that you’d like this post to rank well for in the search engines, when that phrase is searched by users. Once you enter a title, your post gets assigned its permalink (the permanent URL link for this particular post and also known as the post “slug”), and is shown to you just under the title you typed. If you’ve chosen to use pretty permalinks, rather than the default ones, you’ll have the option to edit the permalink now or later if you wish.
I know I’ve just lost many of you, so bear with me for a second. You see, the default URL (also called a permalink) that WordPress assigns to a post is something like, “http://yoursite.com/?p=2938″. That’s not “pretty”, nor is it very helpful to a reader or a search engine to know what this URL is about. So WordPress allows you to use “pretty permalinks” if your host supports them (and most do). This would enable you to have a permalink such as “http://yoursite.com/hello-world/” instead of “http://yoursite.com/?p=2938″ for your Hello World! post. To tell WordPress to use pretty permalinks, and what kind to use, you’ll need to take a one-time-only extra step.
Open a new browser window, go into your admin in that new window, go to Settings in your menu, choose Permalinks, and select Post Name. This automatically fills in /%postname%/ in the blank space, causing WordPress to automatically use your post’s title as the permalink. You could choose other possible ways of making pretty permalinks, but that’s my favorite, so that’s what I recommend. Once you save that, you can close the window, and return to your post in the browser window you were working in before.
Now…back to our Add New Post screen…
Step 2: Notice that there are two tabs to the right of this area: Visual and HTML. Unless you are proficient in using HTML (the basic language of web pages), you’ll probably want to keep the Visual tab highlighted. The Visual editor lets you write in the way you’re used to writing in programs like Microsoft Word – using toolbar buttons to bold and italicize, for instance, and moving images and text around by dragging and dropping. If, however, you’d prefer to have stricter control by using HTML and you’re comfortable doing so, then choose the HTML tab instead.
Step 3: Regardless of which editor you choose, Visual or HTML, you’ll simply start typing the content of your post in the large blank area underneath. Use the toolbar buttons to bold, italicize, etc. as you go along.
Of course, most people like to include images within their posts, and you can do that in this same area. Notice just above the toolbar is an area that says Upload/Insert and is followed by a small icon.
Clicking that icon opens a popup window (which darkens the screen you’re using now underneath the popup window), allowing you to choose the image(s) you want to use in this post. The following screenshots will lead you through the process of choosing a file from your hard drive to upload and insert into your post, showing you the main sections you would see and manipulate when doing so.
Before you click the Insert Into Post button, you can decide if you want to change the title of the image, include a caption for the image, align the image to the left, right, or center of the paragraph, and whether you want to insert the full size image, or a smaller version (which WordPress creates automatically for you). Once you’ve decided on all that, just click the Insert Into Post button to insert the image where your cursor was in the post you were writing. (Alternately, you could just save the image by clicking Save All Changes so you could insert it later, or use it in a gallery later, but for now, let’s just assume you want to insert it right now into your post, so choose the Insert Into Post button to do so).
Once you’ve inserted an image, if you are using the Visual Editor, it will look something like this:
If you’re using the HTML editor, you’ll see the image code inserted like this:
Great! Now you can continue writing more of your post, or if you’re done, you can move on to the next step.
Step 4: Assign your post to a category. In a new WordPress install, only one category exists which is called “Uncategorized”. You’ll likely want to create your own categories and assign this post to something better than “Uncategorized”, so just click on the Add New Category link to create a new category. Once you’ve created it, this post will automatically be assigned to it. As time goes on, categories that you create will automatically appear in the list of Categories here, so in many cases, you won’t have to take the extra step of adding a new category. Instead, you’ll be able to simply check a box next to whichever category already exists that you want to assign a post to.
Step 5: Assign tags to your post. This step is definitely optional, but many people like to tag posts, so I show it here. Whereas posts belong to broad categories, there are many specific ways you might want to describe posts as well, and tags are a good way to do that. Think of it this way. If your post is about making chocolate chip cookies, the post might be in a broad category called Cookies, or Baking, but you might want to assign narrower tags to this particular post such as “chocolate chip”, “easy”, “yummy”, etc. You can either choose from tags you’ve created previously, which will be listed if there are any, or just type a list of tags, separated by commas, into the blank space, and click the Add button.
Step 6: At this point, it’s a good idea to click the Save Draft button, which will save your post, but not publish it yet. Once the save process is complete, click on the Preview button to see what it would look like if you published it.
If it doesn’t look quite right, or you decide to make any changes, you can continue making changes, clicking the Save Draft button, and clicking the Preview button until you’re happy with the result.
Step 7: Now that you’re happy with your post, it’s time to either Publish it right now, or Schedule it to be published at a later date and time.
If you want to publish it right now, just hit the Publish button and you’re done! If you want to schedule it to automatically publish itself at a later date/time, however, you’ll need to take an extra step.
Click the “Edit” link next to “Publish immediately”, to open a schedule form to input a date and time. Choose whatever date/time you wish to schedule the post to publish, and once you’ve done so, you’ll notice that the Publish button now says Schedule instead.
Just click the Schedule button, and your post will be scheduled to automatically publish at the date and time you specified. You’ll know it scheduled it because you’ll see something like this:
At this point, you’ve learned probably 90% of what you’ll be doing from now on. Here are a few other things you probably should know about, however.
On all of the admin screens, you’ll notice a little light gray tab in the upper right that says Screen Options. If you click that tab, it expands to show you other options you can utilize on that particular screen. Usually this consists of areas you can hide or show.
For example, on the Add New Post screen, if you open the Screen Options tab and uncheck Format, you’ll see that the Format section of the Add New Post screen disappears. Checking it again makes it reappear. These Screen Options give you more control over what you see in your admin area, so you might want to play with them a bit.
Finally, I thought it would be a good idea to just quickly go over some of the terminology used so you can quickly understand what people are talking about.
The Lingo of Blogging with WordPress
- What is a blog? WordPress defines a blog as “an abbreviated version of ‘weblog,’ which is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog features diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites, usually presented as a list of entries in reverse chronological order. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.” Articles are usually listed chronologically, with the newest on top, and are usually organized into categories.
- Am I writing a blog or am I writing a post? Though you’ll see people say it both ways, I think it’s most appropriate to say, “I’m writing a post”, when you are referring to adding a new post, rather than saying, “I’m writing a blog”. Technically, you’re writing a “blog post” (same as just “post”), which will be published to your blog. So the blog is the whole collection of individual posts, therefore, it’s more appropriate to say, “I’m writing a post” when you are creating an individual blog post.
- What’s the difference between a page and a post? Pages are for more static, “timeless” content such as your About Page, your Contact Me page, and other information that is unlikely to change very often. Adding pages is very similar to adding posts because you’ll give them titles, and content, insert images if appropriate, etc. But pages do not get included in the chronological listing of posts, nor are they associated with categories or tags. See WordPress’s explanation for more info.
- What is a widget? A widget allows you to add content to sidebars easily, and move them around by dragging and dropping them in your sidebar’s widget admin area.
- What is a plugin? Plugins are bits of code that allow us to do more with WordPress than allowed by an “out of the box” installation. There are thousands of plugins that let us do all sorts of great things with WordPress. For more information, see WordPress’s guide.
- What is a sidebar? A sidebar is typically a narrow vertical column to the left or right of your blog’s main content area which lists things such as your menu, blog categories, etc. Widgets are often used to easily add and manage content within your sidebar(s).
Summary
Of course, there is a lot more you can and should learn about WordPress and blogging, but sometimes it’s best to have a place to start, without trying to fill your head with a thousand and one different things. Once you’re comfortable with this “starting place”, you can move on to explore all the great things WordPress is capable of. When you’re ready for that next step, you may want to read the sections of Getting Started With WordPress on the WordPress.org site. Some of the information will be things you’ve already learned here. Much of it will be new and interesting, so have fun learning it.
I hope you’ve found this first-step guide helpful. If so, please share it with others who are just learning how to blog with WordPress.
| Beginner’s Guide To Blogging With WordPress | |
 | Introduction WordPress is designed to be simple to use, however it is also “feature-full”, so utilizing or even understanding all that WordPress is capable of can be a large and daunting task. In other words, the rich features of WordPress can sometimes mask its underlying simplicity. This guide is meant to reinforce the basics of [...] |
121 Responses to “Beginner’s Guide To Blogging With WordPress”
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[...] details. Never in my life have I seen a blog post that contains as much information as I found in Beginner’s Guide to Blogging with WordPress. Not only that, I hear she’s a wiz with Facebook, [...]
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[...] post: Beginner's Guide To Blogging With WordPress | DazzlinDonna Author: admin on April 11, 2011 Category: Guide Tags: a-large-and, daunting-task-, [...]
I am an eBusiness Coach, Web Developer, Internet Marketer, SEO, Inbound Marketing Consultant, and General Web Geek, making my living from home.
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Hi Donna, nice walk through. I seem to get a lot of questions about permalink structure and scheduling posts. Thanks for giving such clear instructions!
Ileane recently posted..Facebook Fan Page Photos Tutorial
Hope it helps a few, Ileane. I know every first-timer I’ve helped has thought that the vast array of options and links on the dashboard and other admin pages was just overwhelming, so I I figured it would be helpful to show them just the few things they needed to concentrate on first. They can get to everything else once they are a little more comfortable.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
I like to methodically go through each option. When I hit one that makes no sense whatsoever, I google it (so sorry, Google, it’s both an honor and a curse to have become so ubiquitous as to be a verb, isn’t it?) But I think most people would prefer your methodical and very clear approach – this is great, Donna.
Holly Jahangiri recently posted..Walking Down the Avenue
Well, you’re far from a beginner, Holly, so your curiosity is understandable!
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Very detalied post you have here Donna.
If I was a biginner its was very handy for me.
Thank you for your willingness to help others Donna!
Hey Donna!!
Thanks! This info really helps anyone who is new to blogging.
Also, I learned a lot from you.
Rizwan Sultan recently posted..Crohn\’s Diet
This is a well-illustrated guide Donna. Thank you for providing this guide, we are able to utilized WordPress easily.I’m really guide I found this post, this helps a lot.
Hi Donna,
This is one of the most comprehensive WordPress guides I have ever come across. WordPress is really the best blogging platform for me. I started with Blogger and soon moved to WordPress when I realized its power.
Glad you liked it, Nail. What a cool name. Nail.
And yes, WP is soo much better than blogger.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
wow, what a detailed guide! Could easily be turned into an ebook and sold for 47$
Andy Bailey recently posted..Applications for Premium CommentLuv Beta Testers is open! (for 7 days only)
LOL, probably so!
Donna recently posted..Am I The Only Person Who Despises reCAPTCHA?
Donna,
Wow! This guide is great. I wish I had something so clear and strait-forward to check out when i was first trying to learn wordpress.
Bravo,
Steve
Steve Scott recently posted..Does Your Affiliate Marketing Strategy Suck?
Thanks, Steve. Be sure to pass it on to anyone you know who is just starting with wp.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
I might need these instructions for the past month. But reading this article still helps me a lot. Getting understand what and how do those blogging things work.
Ha, this is perfect! I only wish I’d seen this a little earlier, as I’m helping a friend build her first WordPress site, and this would have answered all her early questions.
I especially love the screenshot with “Ignore For Now” — that’s so true, and so helpful for overwhelmed beginners. Will bookmark this for other friends.
Caroline recently posted..Finally, a Tea Infuser That Actually Works
Hi Donna very comprehensive well done! I love WordPress and I do think overall it is very simple but it can be daunting for newbies. I think having all of the menus on the left can give the impression that it’s a hard system to use but the reality is that most of them you never touch.
Dan Web Design recently posted..My top 3 SEO strategies and how I implement them
Yep, Dan, I wish there were various versions of the dashboard, similar to how there’s the Kitchen Sink button on the Visual Editor toolbar that only shows all the extra options if clicked. Would be cool if the dashboard and side menu was sparse on the first install, with Intermediate and Advanced buttons that would open additional features. Maybe one day.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Yeah that would be cool. I’ve started work in a theme framework that will capture all of the general settings in a wizard style theme options area which I’m hoping will be a good option for new users.
I find no matter what the system, people just get daunted when they first log in and they aren’t stepped through what they have to do.
Dan recently posted..Twitter hacks for lazy people
Nice introduction to how to blog with WordPress for beginners.
In your opinion,
what is the best permalinks structure for SEO purpose?
Thanks !
Erik Emanuelli recently posted..40 Ways to Make more Money
I’m fond of the simple /%postname%/ permalink structure (which is not what I use on this blog, btw, but that’s a holdover from a previous structure that I don’t want to bother changing). Performance is hurt a bit by beginning the structure with a non-numeric such as the post name or category, so if performance is a big deal to you, then start with a number. Something like /%post_id%/%postname%/ works well in that situation. I’m pretty sure the WP developers will eventually solve the performance hit problem, so I’m happy to deal with the slight hit until then, rather than stick an ugly number in front. Up to you though.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Great tips for starting a wordpress blog. I started a wordpress blog at the start of this year and I have had a few problems with posts but your well explained process has sorted them out.
Event Photographer recently posted..Event photography
Glad the post helped!
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
This article is awesome! I love tutorial style blogs that are done right. Your graphic editing is funny and on point. A great beginner guide.
Thanks, Pete!
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Thanks Donna for sharing, excellent walk through. I would have included something about SEO or an SEO plugin that you recommend there. I understand though that any more info in there would be too much, I would still follow-up this blog with another one on SEO tips, plugins or techniques you have tried just to have a full minimum WP blogging covered
And I agree with you on the Permalink, I too use /%postname%/ this should be more than enough IMO. Installing an SEO plugin IMO is a must too.
Mohamed Osam recently posted..Integrate Social Media into Your Blog for Added Boost
Hi Donna!
I am new here to your blog but I am grateful that I found this cause I have some questions about wordpress.
Is there a way to post and make the date a day before?
For example you post in September 17 but you want to make September 10.
Flexispy Reviews recently posted..Flexispy iPhone Review
Just edit the Published Date in the edit screen.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
What a patient way to discuss the basics of WordPress blogging. I love how you discuss the features one by one. Very useful and a wonderful read, thanks!
I just stumbled on this and am so thrilled to have found such an exhaustive explanation – with screenshots – for starting with wordpress. As a person who has made her living online for a decade, I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who ask me how to get started with their own blog. I’ll now refer them to your patient explanation.
Great! Glad I can help you help your friends.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
I am a blogger platform user and your article helps me know more about WP. I have this thoughts to try WP also but I have to search more if it’s really worth my time trying. Actually, in my view, they have SOME similar features.
vhien recently posted..Pediatricians warn parents of dangers of boxing
Hi Donna,
This is a concise and thorough rundown of how to get started with the basics. I am very impressed with your layout and how well it flows. It is also very each to understand. Thanks. Sally
Sally Brown recently posted..A Poem To Brighten Your Day!
I am willing to star blogging with WordPress. Form this post i come to clear much more and i got new info related to WordPress. thanks to share.
Hey Donna! I’ve got a bunch of wordpress resources too, but nothing this comprehensive! and with pretty pictures too :] I’m gonna send people here next time they ask for a longer guide than the ones I’ve got lol. I guess I wrongly assume everyone knows how to use the internet.
Johnny Optimo recently posted..Creating your first website
Hey Johnny, happy to supply the longer guide with pretty pictures.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
This are great guides Donna. I am a teacher and I will share your post to my students. With this I can save time explaining WordPress Setup.
Good thing I visited your blog.
Blackberry Tracker recently posted..BlackBerry Tracker Video
Wow Donna,
Super useful post for WordPress newbies. I think Andy is right about the eBook idea. If you produced a handful of these, you could package them into a little guide to be sold or maybe given away to build a list of WordPress newbies.
Ted recently posted..Bloggers Must Network or Die
Thank you for a great guide to WordPress.
I am just getting to grips to everything WordPress can do and have picked up some tips from here that I had not been aware of before.
charlotte recently posted..Top eBooks September 2011
Great visual explanation Donna! I was new to wordpress just a few months ago, but have already gotten a handle on it! I did find it a bit more overwhelming at first, but now I am doing all kinds of things with it! There are a lot of nice themes out there to get you started visually too. This is a great guide for beginners and will send this link to all my friends that are afraid of wordpress!
Christie recently posted..Little Rue Sample Sale: Tea Collection Baby
Great post. It is really nice seeing a step by step guide about how to blog through wordpress. Thanks a million times !!
Faizan recently posted..Blog-O-Folio Theme : Portfolio Theme with a Difference
This is quite a detailed guide indeed for beginners with WordPress. My main issue is with widgets, unlike with Blogger, it is hard to position or create a new tabs or buttons for the widget so that it will appear the way you want to on the main page, it is still one long learning process for me. And I noticed that in your sample the dashboard contained the plug-in option, the plug-in option only appears if you are using a premium WordPress site but does not appear on the free account. Thanks for posting this, very informative.
donna young recently posted..Business Travel Tips: Travel Perks for You and Your Company
True, any time I speak about WordPress, I’m referring to the self-hosted kind, not wordpress.com. My readers are generally solo entrepreneurs or small business people who are looking to earn money from their websites, and wordpress.com makes that next to impossible. There are other reasons I don’t like wordpress.com, such as the fact that they set the rules, not you. I prefer to be in control of my site, but of course, with wordpress.com, it’s not even your own site. So, yes, wordpress.com comes with a lot of limitations, so if I say something about WordPress that isn’t true for wordpress.com users, that’s something I can’t really do anything about.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Really an easy guide to become master in wordpress. A newbie would save it for quick reference.
Hi Donna,
Good basics- will definitely help those just starting out. Having been thru several posts myself, I’ve lately been wondering if I will be better served by changing up my site’s theme so it’s more friendly to multiple pages, as opposed to just a line of post titles on the right-hand column.
Any suggestions off the top of your head?
Many thanks!
Michael
Thanks Donna for this easy to follow breakdown of WordPress. Even though I have used wordpress for about a year now I have learned some new techniques and tips to improve my blog. I really appreciate it and every beginner should review this tutorial before they engage in WordPress to fully understand it.
Lee recently posted..Weight Loss Health Diet Alternative
Thank u Donna. I had hard time with wordpress but now I am confident that I can do it on my own again. It looks complicated but you made it simple and easy to use.
Frank @ solar power for the home
We just added a Word Press blog to our website. There are so many features it makes it kind of overwhelming to someone new to blogging.
Mike McGill recently posted..Don’t Freak Out Over Gold & Silver Prices – Buy Instead!
I really love the simplicity to wordpress and I couldn’t imagine using anything else on my blog.
Hi,
It is important to optimize your blog for SEO if you are trying to drive traffic. You have given very good advice to getting WordPress set up. I need help cahnging themes. I always seem to mess something up.
Thanks,
Jim
Jim Calaman recently posted..Buying the Perfect Pear Shaped Engagement Ring
It’s great to see somebody actually put together a post like this. when I was starting off with WordPress, I had to figure it out all for myself and I really wished that there was a simple straight forward post like this. All I could ever find was complicated posts about SEO and Adsense positioning, which I was not interested in at the time!
Robert recently posted..Mitchell Allen Interview – We Blog Better Contestant
Hi Donna
Thanks for the great tutorial it is very simple and well explained, I really love WordPress because it is the best blogging platform anyone can use.
Salah Messaoud recently posted..How to Stay Motivated to Blog
Hi,
Wordpress is the ticket. I wish I had your tutorials when I started. I learned most of my information by trial and error. The range of plugins is incredible and keeps growing everyday. I’ve almost got too many plugins on my blogs but it is fun to experiment with different ones.
Thanks,
Jim
Jim Calaman recently posted..Lowering Your Cholesterol
Great information! WordPress is really an easy platform plus Google loves it. =)
WordPress is by far the way to go for creating websites and blogs. I started my first wordpress site 3 years ago and have been addicted ever since. 60+ websites created so far.
I would recommend though that after the wordpress learning curve is over that one of the best investment anyone can make is a premium theme they just allow you to do so much more that the free themes can’t. Learn the basics first though before you plop down money for a premium theme though.
Chicago Builder recently posted..Commercial Remodeling Stain Project In Lansing
Hi Donna, thanks for the detailed guide.I think this is very important because a lot of people don’t no all the things about WordPress. Job well done.
kim recently posted..My Arowana Is Not Eating No Matter What I Do !!!
great blog..personally i like to methodically go through each option. When I hit one that makes no sense whatsoever, I google it i do though think most people would prefer your methodical and very clear approach.
greata blog Donna, i`m new to all this and you have helped me loads..thanks
I’m bookmarking this guide for return visits… lots of good info to take in. Have you considered or done a post on WP mistakes to avoid?
Kevin recently posted..Is it time to buy a Home in Nampa Idaho?
great blog…I like the simplicity of wordpress and I couldn’t imagine using anything else on my blog.do others feel the same?
This is very helpful for me coz I’m a beginner in website creation and article writing…Thanks for sharing it….
Ricci Sionil recently posted..Electrician Whetstone London
Awesome guide for WordPress newbie like me!
I found it very easy to follow and I really like how you removed all unnecessary information. Thanks a lot!
good, easy to follow, helpful blog..
WordPress is fantastic for creating websites and blogs.
thanku very much, you have explained it all very clearly and in great detail, i hope i can write a blog as good as yours one day
Hi Donna. I’m happy to see a kind person like you sharing your expertise with WordPress newbie out there. Keep it up. Hope to see more from you.
Mazin recently posted..Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Giveaway
very helpful blog, if only i had access to your tutorials when I started. I learnt the hard way, by trial and error. this blog will definately help a lot of people
a lovely, well-illustrated guide Donna. , you have helped us toutilize WordPress nice and easily.
This is a great guide to WordPress! Wish I had seen this before when I first started using WP… It was a bit of a struggle! I have had a few friends of mine ask me to help them with their WordPress websites, I might just forward them on to this!
great post, you give the best help and advice, i think everybeginner should read this if theyre wanting to know how to blog with WordPress
Hi Donna,
I’m making the rounds checking on dofollow and CommentLuv status to update my many lists of collaborators. I’m finding that many aren’t what they think they are either since they upgraded to CommentLuv Premium or because they recently updated WordPress and that changed them from dofollow to nofollow for some reason.
Right now I’m seeing your name field as dofollow with no keywords and your CommentLuv field as nofollow. Is that correct and what you intended? I’m prioritizing my lists by which fields are dofollow and want to ensure I get you in the right place.
The priority order is:
1) Keywords and CommentLuv dofollow
2) Keywords Dofollow CommentLuv nofollow
3) CommentLuv Dofollow keywords nofollow
4) CommentLuv Dofollow no keywords
Please let me know which of those is where you fit? Thank you so much.
Gail Gardner recently posted..Twitter for Business: How to Geo Target Twitter for Small Business Local Social Media #smallbusiness
I believe I fall somewhere in between, with cluv field being dofollow after x number of comments. But yes, I don’t have keywords enabled.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Thanks Donna,
I have a number of wordpress sites and found your article very helpful. I couldnt agree more with the tip on permalinks. Using the custom structure is very important
Hampton Bay recently posted..Hampton Bay Ceiling Fans For Style And Function
Thanks for the info. I wish I would have found this article when I first started using word press as a content management system. It would have saved a lot of time due to trial and error. I like what you are doing to help out beginners such as myself.
Lee recently posted..Paying Off Student Loans
great post,it is a well-illustrated guide Donna. youve answered a lot of questions i had about wordpress
Thanks for giving us a guide it help a lot to all beginners in blogging..Nice post.
Gabriel Gutierrez recently posted..Is Starting Up An Online Business Worth The Risk?
That’s a brilliant place for learning basic WordPress I have no idea for CMS and now I am able to set up and manage the blog after reading it.
Rizwan Sultan recently posted..motivation blog
This guide is great! I consider myself a WordPress guru, but I learned new things reading it!!
Manuel Marino recently posted..Learn To Play the Drums: What All Beginners Should Know About
thanku so much for this really helpful post,have learnt a lot from you
great post,I had hard time with wordpress in the past, you have helped me to see that its quite simple and easy once you have a better understanding,thanks a lot
Hi Donna,
Thanks so much for the great post. I was wondering, what is the most important plug in someone can have on their new blog? Happy New Year. John
John J Callanan recently posted..Livethesource Top Distributors-Nano Vitamin D3 Booster
Not sure there’s any one most “important” plugin, but here are two I strongly recommend:
1. Table of Contents Creator – here’s why: http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/usability/draw-visitors-in-dont-push-them-away/
2. CommentLuv Premium – here’s why: http://www.dazzlindonna.com/blog/making-money-online/site-ideas/wordpress/just-how-enticing-are-you/
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
hi donna, thanks for share beginner guide for wordpress, now i can learning the wordpress cms for my blog later.
Ban Terbaik di Indonesia GT Radial recently posted..Sundul Gan – Ban Terbaik Di Indonesia GT Radial
WordPress certainly never fails to amaze me and, whilst portrayed by many in the design profession as a blogging platform, is in my opinion a great CMS. Delve deeper into the template files and you can, with a little knowledge, modify headers, footers, page layouts, post layouts, add your own menus, remove sidebars, change commenting system and, if you’re brave, start messing around with SEO on it….. 6 months of playing with the system and I have sites with over 30,000 pages between them, Alexa rankings in the top half million globally and in excess of 700 visitors per day. I would never have achieved that with standard html static pages, so your post is certainly on the ball here.
excellent, comprehensive WordPress guide, WordPress is the best blogging platform to start from, i recommend it to everyone
Really helpful!
This post is amazing for me. I started my wordpres site 2 months back.I have reading many tutorials to learn and keep my site updated.This post really work for me with proper screenshots.
Thanks.keep good work
this is a terrific post,with an exhaustive explanation and great screen shots too,this is sooooo valuable for anyone starting with wordpress
Oh great! I just love it when tutorials have pictures! With video tutorials, it too had for me to go back and check if did everything right.
Thanks for this.
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Hi,
oh i agree with you…. WP is sooo much better than blogger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i start in july with a blogspot and a WP blog for learning, and i can say… WP is a great thing!!!
The plugins are great. u cane make what you want. But on blogger you have no possibility for your own optimizing and that’s it`s sad.
Now Santa had a great present for me… two domains, my own domains, and now i can test all WP Plugins. i read so many great sites about them, and now i can test it all. Thanks to Santa and thanks a lot for your all. it`s great that your share your informations and tips!!!
Wish you a nice evening from Germany. Sandy
p.s i`m not a bot.. but my english is not good. sorry.
Sandy recently posted..Singles treffen im Kochkurs
Donna, you’ve created a great tutorial for WordPress blog users. I’m not even a beginner and I sometimes feel overwhelmed going into the dashboard.
I just install WordPress on my new work from home Moncton blog and have 3.3.1 which now lets me see the menus on the left without the need to click to open each section. That speeds things up and is something else I love about WP.
I know where I’ll be pointing my readers for a great guide for WordPress.
Work From Home Moncton recently posted..5 Work From Home Moncton Blog Writing Tips
Yep, of course, that’s the problem with taking screenshots. A newer version is bound to come along that makes it obsolete. Hopefully, it’s still close enough to not be confusing. Eventually though, I’ll probably have to update the post and screenshot as new versions mean more changes.
Donna recently posted..5 Futuristic Ideas for Decorating your Home Office
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
From a marketing perspective, WordPress is one of the easiest platforms to you. I find that they are straight forward and very user friendly.
Most of my clients prefer WP since it is much easier to get a word press site up and running, not to mention it saves a ton of money.
Hi Donna, Good day to you. Love the post, One quick suggestion would be to improve the quality of the images and put this entire post in a PDF and distribute it to your subscribers or readers.
Eddie Gear recently posted..Search Engine Optimization For Blogs
Hi Donna, I wish I had seen this post when I first started using WP. I think this would be especially useful to users of Blogger, as there is a steep learning curve when making the change. I’m going to write a quick article on my Blogger site and link back here. I think a lot of my readers will benefit from this.
Frank Bowes recently posted..Zombie Fungus Infects Ants and Other Insects
Wow Donna,
I have purchased ebooks on this that were a lot less detailed and easy to follow when I first started out, an excellent share
Cheers – Jay
Jay recently posted..Cookie Clearing Help
Wish I’d read this a few months ago, it has taken me a while to get to grips with it all. Thanks for the info.
Matt Kinsella recently posted..Work Life Balance
wordpress seems easy but it is not if you dig and want a real professional blog.
only lately I’ve been successful at redesigning my blog, so if you want to check…
what I’ve done (I write it because I had an increase in visitors, so you may find it interesting):
I changed the header, added my photo, added a random painting image appearing in the top bar…
..also, added big image buttons for featured articles and featured categories, and a dynamic list with latest articles
Manuel Marino recently posted..Online Guitar Lessons
Thanks for the tour on WP. I’ve learn the basics and you know I’m not a code geek so it’s easier for me to understand this now.
Levi Nash recently posted..TN traffic fatalities declined in 2011
Hi Donna, I love this guide, it’s amazing. I love the pictures because I’m very visual
, very thanks for your effort.
Melanie recently posted..Three Keys to the most unforgettable date
Oh, I enjoy the tour! This is good to all beginners in WordPress and definitely great! Thanks for the information Donna!
Juliana recently posted..Pivot Doors for a grand entrance..
Thanks for the tutorial. This will come handy as i try to teach my friend set up his ownn WordPress site. If you can provide tutorials also on how to setup plugins for WordPress, it will be highly appreciated.
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Great guide. Very detailed and informative. Even though I consider myself fairly proficient with WordPress I learned some useful stuff here
A very detailed guide for the features of wordpress. I love commenting on wordpress blogs. I just like the way they are built and structured.Lots of hard work involved in creating this!
Hi Donna,
Where was this post when I started my blog last year?
I knew nothing about WordPress when I started my blog and spent many hours searching the web endlessly looking for answers.
It looks like you spent a lot of time on this post. Wow!
Justin Mazza recently posted..Unresolved Trauma – You Need to Let It Go
Hey Donna, that is really a very helpful post.The best thing is that you have explained everything in such great detail.
devesh recently posted..How To Go To An Interview Tips
Hey thanks for the post, wordpress is really a great platform for working from home by blogging.
deep recently posted..Protecting Children On The Internet With .kid Domain
I love WP, because when you got the hang of it you can do great things. From a simple blog to full CMS website. Great step-by-step tutorial, wish I would have read this a couple of months ago, before starting my WordPress site/blog.
Excellent tutorial Donna! I appreciate all the effort that you went too.
Are you planning on creating one for Magento? That’s the real CMS that i seem to have a problem with!
Hey Donna! Great post!
I was wondering if you have problems placing links on the images?
I wanted to put a link back to the same post on the image (i don’t want to have the image link on it). But when I save the post, the link is still doesn’t change.
Thanks!
Addie recently posted..Article Writing: 4 Things Your Readers Want To Tell You
I’ve noticed that too. I’ve just put my own a href code around it using the HTML tab.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Thank you very much for this information , I am new to the whol web site making theme and I have read a lot about creating blogs an how it can greatly improve my standings with the major search engines.
But none seem to give an detailed explanation on how to get started with it all, thank you.
Hey, Donna! Great article! The images really help understand better. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this Donna. I’ve only recently migrated my blogger blogger blog to WP and yes I’m finding the change a little intimidating, your post tells me everything I need to know simply.
excellent share. It is really helpful .One point is that you shared too much images on one page so it will load on your server isnt it?
Tushar recently posted..Why I blacklisted in the Akismet Database and How I Recover my email and URL from that
Very easy to use guide, Donna. I’m sure persons who use WordPress as beginners should benefit immensely.
Ryan recently posted..Luxury Ski Homes Market Report
Hi Donna, nice walk through guide that you have come up. This is certainly going to help a newbie to get started with WordPress properly. I am certainly going to bookmark this and refer my social media contacts to this post whenever any one asks me how to start blogging using wordpress
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Hi thanx for this article.Wordpress is best platform for blogging & u explain it in very easy step to learn.
thnx again.
Sonali recently posted..Art Auction Houses in India – Art Investment in India with Buy Art in India
A very simple yet detailed info for a newbie like me to start blogging with wordpress. Thanks
Janice recently posted..Tattooed Eyebrows
Still fairly new to WordPress and running a blog so this was definitely helpful. Thank you Donna.
Hey, Donna!
Thanks for the great post! Very comprehensive yet concise. Upon exploring, I also found out that you can upload multiple media files at the same time and you can access it later on when you create another post through the “Media Library” tab.
Btw, I liked the way you put screenshots. It’s easier to understand what you we’re saying.
I certainly could have done with something like this when I first started using WordPress almost 4 years ago, I think it was one of the best movies I ever made opting for WordPress, I’ve never looked back
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