How to install WordPress

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series WordPress 101

The first step to installing WordPress is to find a web host for your domain. These days, finding one is not that difficult. And web hosting is really very inexpensive, with some webhosts throwing in bonuses like free Adwords and other vouchers, even more valuable than the cost of hosting.

Setting up WordPress


When you sign up for webhosting, you’ll get a CPanel login from your host. Your CPanel control panel gives you an array of web management tools, one of which is WordPress.

It’s really a couple of clicks to install a new WordPress package on your new domain. You can install WordPress either in your domain root or in a separate folder under your root like yourdomain.ext/blog/.

You enter your WP admin username and password, which of course you should remember.

Once confirmed by your Cpanel that WP is installed, you’ll then log in to WordPress admin area at yourdomain.ext/wp-admin/ (or yourdomain.ext/blog/wp-admin/ if installed in a folder) with the username and password you just created, and you go straight in to the WordPress dashboard.

That’s all there is in installing WordPress.

NOTE: You can of course manually install WordPress using an FTP client. This means, you need to set up an FTP account in your CPanel and also, you need to set up a WP database, again using the Cpanel. You will be better off using the automatic installation. Installing WP via FTP is also very time consuming.

Get familiar with the dashboard

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series WordPress 101

Once successfully logged in to your WordPress Dashboard, administrative panel or control centre, there are a few things you need to do to get the full functionality of WordPress.

But first, you need to familiarise yourself with the controls or menus you have on the left panel. Most of the menus are collapsible. On the screenshot, Posts is collapsed to show the menus under it.

I have been using WordPress for a number of years now, but from time to time I still get lost trying to locate the command I need.

You will get familiarised with the control menus as you go along, but if you want to get on the fast track, spend a few minutes exploring the left panel control panel. Prior knowledge of what that left panel has in store will come very very handy.

How to set up your theme

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series WordPress 101

The next thing I suggest is for you to get hold of a nice theme for your site.

There are hundreds of professional-looking free themes on the web. But before going outside, have a look first of what you already have.

With WP3.0, a standard Twenty Ten theme is built in. The theme is very powerful and it has been built by the team of Automattic, the same people behind WordPress.

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How to post content to your site

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series WordPress 101

Why not get on posting your content now? It’s why you set up a blog site, isn’t it? To communicate, to share your ideas, to sell something, to rally people behind your cause, or for whatever reason you want to run website.

How do you post your material to your site?

If you know how to compose and send an email, then you already know how to post material to your site. You have a subject or title and you have the body of your message.

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The “Posts” window: Tabs and Toolbar

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series WordPress 101

Going back to earlier entry, you would have noticed the Posts window has two tabs, Visual and HTML.

You can use either tab. The Visual tab is something like a “WYSIWYG” (What you see is what you get) Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.