Wordpress

Adding Content to a WordPress Blog

Once you’ve created your WordPress blog, you will need to add content to it. Chances are you have something brilliant to share with the world but just don’t know how to add it to your WordPress blog in a compelling, engaging and accurate way. Although uploading to WordPress may seem complicated at first, it’s like snapping your fingers once you get the hang of it.

Content that is posted to WordPress may be in the form of text, links, images or video. To get started, you will need to know how to access posts in the dashboard in order to create a new one.

Add a New Post

Once you’re logged in as the administrator of your WordPress blog, you will be able to view the dashboard panel on the left. At this point, you may either decide to create a new page or a post. A post will simply be added to the page that you have selected. If you run a traditional blog, it will in a linear fashion and posts will simply be added above the previous post on a single page. In order to add a new post hover over the posts option in order to reveal a menu. Click on Add New to create new post.

Edit the Post

WordPress has a WYSIWG editor which means that the manner in which you format within the editor will be the final product that will be displayed on the blog. You can also simply copy text from an Ms Word document into the editor.

Links

Links can be added to posts within the editor. Make note that the link option does not become visible until you have highlighted the text to be hyperlinked.

The next screen will ask for the URL that the text will create a path to along with a title. Click on Add Link in order to create a link within your blog post.

The link to existing content allows you to link to previous blog posts made to the blog.

Images

To add images to your content, click on the Add Media button. This will open up a window which will allow you to add all kinds of media into the blog post.

At this point, you can select from existing media that you had previously uploaded, add a link to an image on the internet or upload one from your computer.

Drag and drop the files into the window or click the Select files button in order to upload them to WordPress. Once uploaded, click on Insert into Post, in order to add the image to the post.

Adding a new Category in WordPress

WordPress is the best and most versatile CMS software available today. What has contributed to the success of WordPress is the ability of amateur bloggers and website owners to create their very own custom website with complete features allowing them to provide features and options that can rival those of professional websites.

One such feature is that of adding categories to WordPress. Making a category is an extremely useful method of grouping together related posts. Categories work similar to tags but work in a much broader sense and make it easier for search engines to find your content. Categories may be displayed on your WordPress blog either at the top or the bottom, depending upon the theme that has been selected. Categories are highly effective tools to organize your content on your blog and provide it with a certain structure.

The very first step is to log in to your WordPress site as Administrator and access the dashboard.

The most basic method of adding categories or assigning them to posts is to do it while you are creating the post. This method works best if you have been using the WordPress site for a while and already have a pre-established structure and hierarchy to your categories.

You can even add a new category straight from the panel at the right. For existing categories, you can simply select the one which is most relevant to your post by ticking the checkbox next to it.

In case you have uploaded multiple posts onto your blog or site and neglected to categorize it, you can do so at a later date. In this case, you will have to access categories through the dashboard. Hover over the Posts options to reveal a menu which will contain the Categories option.

Clicking on Categories will lead you to a page where you can add a name and description to a new category. Once you have completed the required information, you will click on the blue Add New Category button. Existing categories will be displayed in a panel on the right of the page.

You can always manage categories from the panel on the right. Hovering over the category will display multiple actions that you can take on the category. You can edit, delete or view the category in question.

Clicking on Edit will lead you to another page where you can modify the specifics of the category. Changes to the category will be applied throughout every post that you have added to the category.

How to Install WordPress Manually

WordPress is perhaps the most popular Content Management System available for use today. The versatility, flexibility and customizability of WordPress is what has made it the most popular blogging platform today. WordPress can be credited with providing the local blogger with a platform to voice their opinions without the need to gather any knowledge about HTML or Web design.

Although a WordPress blog can be created entirely online, some web or blog owners may want some more control over the content of their site. In that case, WordPress allows them to manually install WordPress on to their computers and make changes to the content as they would to a website.

Install WordPress Software

The very first thing that you need to do is to visit the WordPress website and download the latest version of their software. Make sure to go to WordPress.org rather than WordPress.com.

Once you’ve downloaded the WordPress kit, you will need to locate the package and extract it to a new folder.

Upload Files to Server

These files will then have to be uploaded to the web server. In order to upload the installation files you’ll have to use FTP (File Transfer protocols). This will have to be done using a client application such as cPanel or Filezilla. Upload files to the public_html folder if this WordPress installation will be the main one for the website. A subfolder may also be created in order to run the website partially.

Set up the MySQL Database

Select the MySQL Database wizard which will guide you through the entire procedure.

Once you’ve followed through the instructions by the wizard about how to create a MySQL database, you’ll be required to enter the name of the database, the username and the password. This information should be kept somewhere safe since it’ll be required at a later point during the installation. Make sure that the user has all privileges assigned to the database.

Begin Installation

Open up your internet browser and try to access the new domain that you have just created. If you see an error message on the screen s follows, you have successfully installed WordPress.

“There doesn’t seem to be a wp-config.php file. I need this before we can get started.”

Click the Create a Configuration File button in order to proceed to the next step.

Enter you Credentials

The next page should ask for the credentials that you were asked to remember or keep safe. These include your Database name, username, password, host and the table prefix. Hit the ‘Lets Go’ button to proceed.

Enter the credentials in the form that will be displayed on the next page and click Submit.

WordPress will then verify the settings and make sure that they are accurate. If the information has been correctly entered in the previous screen, you will be shown a confirmation screen. Click the Run the Install button.

The next page will ask you for user information, email address and the password that you will use to log in to your WordPress account. The privacy checkbox in the end is to make sure that the website is completely ready before it start showing up in search engine results/. This option may be changed at a future date upon completion of the site.

Once you’ve filled out the user information, simply click the Install WordPress button to finish the installation process.

You should now be able to see a cheeky success page upon completion. Click Log in to begin customizing your site.

Signing up for a Blog Hosting account with Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the best hosting option for bloggers out there. It offers an updated version of the popular cpanel, with very easy interface for billing, domains handling, database handling and installation of any Blogging application like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and many more.

Here is where you start. Add your information below. It offers free domain name along with hosting, so you don’t have to spend an extra $8-10 on the domain cost as well

Once you have entered your desired domain name, it takes you to the registration and billing screen. Let us look at the Registration part of the screen first. It requires your contact information.

You can select any of the packages offered by Bluehost depending on what your budget is and what your plans are. For longer durations, the cost per month is lower.

As you sign up, you are all set for the Cpanel and its use. We will discuss the setting up of a blog and installation of various Blogging Applications on another page.