Setting up a WordPress Blog

Getting Started

1. Go to http://wordpress.com and Click the orange GET STARTED HERE icon at the top left.

2. Choose a blog address and username-this will become your blog address, e.g., http://USERNAME.wordpress.com (They can be the same). As you write this, a window will pop up and ask if you want to purchase the blog address, choose no, that you just want the free address.

3. Choose password and complete your email information. TAKE A MOMENT NOW AND WRITE ALL THIS INFO DOWN SO THAT YOU HAVE A RECORD OF IT IN CASE YOU FORGET LATER!.

4. Hit the button that says “Sign up”. You will have to confirm your account with an e-mail address. While you are waiting for the confirmation to arrive, you can fill out your profile. Once you receive the e-mail, click on the link and it will bring you to your dashboard.

Customize your blog 

1. The link should bring you to your DASHBOARD (this is essentially your main menu for administration). If not, drag your cursor over the grey bar at the top of the screen over blog and choose “Dashboard”.

2. Once you are on the DASHBOARD, on the bottom left hand side click on APPEARANCE. You can now view the available free templates for WordPress and choose the one you like. You can always come back later and change this! By clicking on the image of a template you are interested in, a larger sample screen will appear. At the top right of the sample screen you can click the text ACTIVATE THIS TEMPLATE to choose it as your default or at the top left you can close the sample screen by clicking the black X.

3. After activation, you’ll see box at the top of screen that states: NEW THEME ACTIVATED. VIEW SITE.

4. Many of the blog templates are customizable. I cannot teach you everything during today’s workshop, but I promise the learning curve for customization is not too bad! For example, you can change the contents of your blog’s sidebar by clicking WIDGETS (white font) in the lower top menu. You can then click and drag any of the functions from the AVAILABLE WIDGETS menu at the bottom of the screen into the SIDEBAR section at the side of the screen. Some of these require further customization. Have fun exploring and don’t expect to learn everything at one! You can always come back and make changes later. NOTE: Some of the templates are not that easily customizable. In that case, you might want to forgo widgets on your next blog or choose a different template.

5. TEXT WIDGETS are blank spaces where you can insert photos or text into the sidebar of your blog. You can increase the number of text widgets by changing the number you’d like available for use (below the available widgets menu).

WRITING A BLOG POST

1. Let’s write our first blog posts now that we’ve registered and chosen our templates. On the top menu (shows when logged in) put curser over the word NEW and choose POST. This automatically opens your text editor for a new blog to post.

2. The editor is similar to an email editor. To view the additional editing options, click on the colorful box at the far right of your text editor. (NOTE: You’ll notice that by placing your cursor over any of the editor icons you can view a description of that icon.)

3. You can now either copy and paste writing from MS Word, or compose an original blog post. At this point, if the class is still working, then begin your homework. I highly recommend either composing it in Microsoft Word, saving as you work, and then copying and pasting it into your blog. You can compose write in the editor, but save often.

4. SAVE vs. PUBLISH: Choosing SAVE will not publish your entries or pages, but will save them in your dashboard. Use PUBLISH to both save something and post it directly to your blog.

CREATING PAGES

1. One of the advantages to using WordPress is that in addition to a blog-style page, we can also create additional blank, non-blog style pages!

2. Let’s create a new page: at the top of the screen, click on NEW and then PAGE. This section works the same as writing a post. Take a minute to write an “About Me” page with some info about yourself (this can be expanded later.

LET’S ADD IMAGES TO OUR POSTS!

1. First save an image from the internet (Google image is a good tool to find pictures). Always click through to the original image or it will just save a thumbnail. Use the file manager above your post editor where it says UPLOAD / INSERT and click on the first symbol. You use this manager the same way you would with adding attachments to emails. After you select your file, click INSERT.

PRIVACY SETTINGS

1. From your DASHBOARD, on the bottom left, click the little arrow next to settings and choose PRIVACY.

2. Choose either the top or middle option according to your preference. Do not choose the bottom option or other class members and myself will not be able to view your blog.

EXTRAS

1. If your blog has one, you can change the tagline under OPTIONS in the main menu.

2. You can create a list of links to other sites in the BLOGROLL section of the main menu.

3. You can EDIT any of your posts or pages using the MANAGE function in the main menu.

IMPORTANT – Once you are finished designing your blog, e-mail me your blog name ( www.———.wordpress.com ). This is important because otherwise I will not be able to grade your homework.