Customizing and Using WordPress 101
Author: Mitch Keeler
I enjoy installing WordPress for people. Now I will leave it up to you to decide if that is really cool or really sad. Nevertheless, it provides a neat feeling. Maybe I get a buzz from knowing that this Web site could be the next big thing. Maybe I just like helping folks out. What people do not realize though is getting up and going with a WordPress blog is not that hard at all. Once you get the hang of it, you can get yourself up and going with a great looking Web site in under an hour.
Now the first thing you are going to want to do is visit WordPress.org and download the script itself. Personally, I find downloading the .zip version works best for me – but others might like the .tar.gz version as well. Once you get that downloaded onto your computer, you need to un-compress it and decide where you are going to put it.
Now you can drag and drop (using an FTP client) your WordPress files into your root directory if you want your new WordPress install to point at your domain.
If you want your blog to rest in a folder though, you can just rename the WordPress folder you uncompressed and upload the whole thing. That one is up to you.
How do you get it going? All you need to do is follow the Famous Five Minute Install. Those of you who might be unfamiliar with installing scripts on hosting accounts might want to look over the more detailed instructions too.
It is installed and running, now what? This is where the real fun is – because you can play around with customizing WordPress to suit your needs. The first thing you are going to need is a better theme than the defaults they give you. The best place to look for WordPress themes is the WordPress Theme Viewer. Pick one that you like, and drop it into your themes folder inside of WordPress. More help on themes can be found via WordPress’s Web site.
Now your blog looks nice, but how about adding a few features that are not built into the WordPress install? That is where plugins come into the picture. There are hundreds of plugins that will do hundreds of things. The best place to search for plugins is the WordPress Plugins Database.
As far as getting them installed – each one might have it’s own way of doing things. The best thing you can do is make sure you read the “Read Me” file that came with the plugin or check back at the Web site you got the plugin from. Most of them will just be dropped into your plugins folder inside of WordPress. For more help on installing plugins, you can check the WordPress Web site.
I have also put together my own favorite list of WordPress plugins to help get you started with some of the best ones available out there today.
The important thing to remember while doing this is there is nothing to be afraid of. Sure you might screw up during the install process a few times. You might have to go back and totally reinstall everything. As long as you are learning though – that is the key to it all. Who knows, maybe you will become the “WordPress Expert” among your friends.
With practice and time, you might even be able to tell me why it is so much fun too.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Great Article Mitch!
If you use the Basic or Business accounts here at Lunarpages, you can install Wordpress by doing this:
1. Sign in to CPanel
2. Click the Fantastico icon
3. Click on the Wordpress link in the left hand menu.
4. Click New Installation and follow instructions.
It’s a pretty simple process.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:46 am
That is too easy and helpful Todd, where is the fun in that? Haha… Good point though, Lunarpages does make it even easier!
January 8th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Yeah, it seems I’ve been getting a lot of requests for template designs for Wordpress. It’s a great CMS (Content Management System). Easy to use and set up.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Thanks Mitch! Another great (and helpful) article!
January 9th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I have used Wordpress on quite a few sites I have designed. It’s ease of use, not to mention it’s flexibility make it a great program. Heck, I even customized it for an online store I set up to emulate a CMS for news feeds and stories many years ago. Great article by the way, Mitch!!
January 10th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
A few plugins I use:
Mobile Plugin: http://www.socialdude.com/category/wordpress/
Alinks: makes links active on your site for keywords that you define. http://www.alinks.org/
January 11th, 2007 at 5:56 am
[...] + Read the Rest of Customizing and Using WordPress 101 at Lunartics! [...]
January 11th, 2007 at 7:06 am
Hi Mitch,
Great article. I think it can helpful to many online users if you create a wordpress 101 series. There are few things that the average non technical guy can do to customize wp and it will be extremely help to them if you show them how to do so. Here are few items of the top of my head: adding digg to each post, moving things around in the side bar, displaying author names or logon ids.
Khalid
January 11th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Thanks everybody for the nice comments!
Hey Khalid, I’ll see what I can come up with. :)
January 13th, 2007 at 6:12 am
Yup, Mitch not only gave me a hand with my WP install, he also helped me get set with my virtual private server here at Lunarpages as well. Thanks Mitch!
January 21st, 2007 at 10:47 pm
I love the article! But I was wondering if you could help me solve a problem… I used cpanel and fantastico to install my wordpress. Everything went fine with that…and i have it directed to my domain so that when you type in my domain address it goes to my blog. My problem is that I don’t know how to link my content pages so that they show up where my blog is. Sorry if this is confusing, any help is appreciated.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:24 am
Hey geekgurl, drop me an E-mail and I’ll see what I can do to help. mitch (at) mitchkeeler.com
April 6th, 2007 at 6:27 am
[...] Blogs are always a good idea, because there are so many directions you can do with it. You could make it personal with your own thoughts. You could make it professional, giving us “important news updates”. You could also use it to expand your base and talk about things you might not have thought to cover with your Web site before. Getting WordPress setup and going is no hard task either. [...]