Primary Objectives:
- Get a Domain Account and domain name
- Setup WordPress using “Quick Install”
- First Post
- Deciding between using Pages or Posts
- Creating Categories
- Setting up a main menu
- Deciding on a Theme
- To allow comments or not
- adding media/pics
- Other Questions
1) Get a domain account:
~$60/year with most major providers. Domain Names are only about $15/year
- wordpress.org/hosting
- godaddy.com
- hostgator.com
- bluehost.com
Most of these providers (and just about everyone else) should include WordPress Support or Install tools to make it super easy to install WordPress.
Other things to keep in mind when picking a domain name
- Just type it into a browser to see if it is available
- Beware of domain frontrunning (where you search for a domain using their tool and go back later to purchase it, only to find out someone else has it and wants to sell it for more)
- Keep keywords in mind, but don’t make it too hard to remember
- If you want more than one website, many can be hosted under one account using Add-On domains, Separate WordPress Admins for each one, just purchase additional domain names for each site.
2) Setup WordPress using “Quick Install”.
demonstration here using previously setup subdomain…
Control Panel (cPanel) > Quick Install,
Can check auto updates
Once WP is installed, change PW immediately!
Other host providers may vary…
previously I used Fantastico, which also worked well from my experience.
3) First Post
- demonstration here, note the welcome page that is already created
- quick overview of content editor (Mini-Word Editor)
4) Deciding between using Pages or Posts
- Pages if you want a simple web presence (5 or 6 main pages that will remain fairly consistent)
- Posts if you want to constantly write articles about a certain topic or topics
- Posts if you want users to be able to post comments, encourage discussion (you can allow comments for a page, but this is not common)
- You can edit either (Post or pages) at any time, so don’t think you HAVE to use posts if you want to edit/append information
5) Creating Categories
- Think keywords or main subjects of interest
- demonstration
6) Setting up a main menu
- can be done using post categories or pages
- demonstration
- list of links (for linking to other web sites)
7) Deciding on a Theme (Layout)
- There are a few installed for you by default
- There are literally thousands of Themes available for free
- Consider responsive design – will adjust to different sized screens or devices
- You can switch themes really easily/quickly
- You can still change colors/backgrounds etc. using options for a theme, so don’t pick a theme just because you like a color/texture/featured image
8) To allow comments or not
- Can lead to spam, which can be dealt with using Akismet (0 – 120$ per year)
- Good to encourage discussion/interaction.
- If you are just using the site as a web presence, you probably don’t want this feature on all pages
- You can choose to allow comments on some posts, and not allow them on others.
9) Using media
- Single photos
- Galleries – NextGen is most popular, many features. Example:
- Video (test this first) embed youtube
10) Other Questions
- 15 WordPress Beginner Questions
- Social Media Integration – Some themes have this by default
- Adding other Admin users – If you want other people to help you manage the site
- popular plugins – e-commerce, sliders
Ampersand Presentation Setup Notes:
blue cord laptop to TV (Source button – set to PC)
Laptop Settings > Control Panel > Hardware > Display > Connect to a Projector > Extend (the desktop, keeping my laptop screen private, but allowing a new display window for public viewing)