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How do I use…WordPress?
WordPress is an open-source blogging software that allows users to create a website withrelatively little technical expertise. A blog (or web log) allows administrators to create postsgiving updates on thoughts, events, etc. WordPress features large community of programmersand developers have built plug-ins, widgets and other customizable features that allow anyone todevelop a unique website in an infinite variety of ways. The Public Humanities Toolbox exploitsthe various capacities of WordPress—its simple interface, its customizability—as the framework around which to build an engaging website for the small cultural heritage organization. Whether your interest is in building a basic “bulletin board” of announcements or in creating aninteractive social network, we believe WordPress offers the depth and breadth of communicationtools to extend your organizational reach.WordPress offers two options for building a website. The first and simplest option is to start afree blog that will be hosted atwww.wordpress.com (see “Fast and Easy WordPress” below). The second option, which entails more steps and a higher degree of technical know-how, allowsmuch greater versatility for the look and features of your website; although you have to set it upon a third-party server—explained below!—this option fromwww.wordpress.orgis free; featuresa straight-forward, intuitive design; easy set-up and management tools; and an extensive andresponsive “Help” community. We explain this option in the section “Bigger and Better WordPress” below.We have set upThe Public Humanities Toolboxwebsite using “Fast and Easy WordPress.” Wealso built the siteArt+Historyfor a student project in Brown University’s public humanities program using only the features described in “Fast and Easy WordPress.”
 Fast and Easy WordPress
1.Go to Wordpress.com.2.Sign up for a blog. You will need a working email address (we recommend you use thesame account you’ve set up for all the various applications we explain in the Handbook).3.Choose a name for your blog. This will set up the address of your blog ashttp://yournamehere.wordpress.com. Because you have chosen the “Fast and Easy”WordPress option, your address is not an independent domain name, hence the inclusionof “wordpress.com” at the end of the address. That ending indicates the server where the blog is hosted.4.Select administrators and other site management tools. (You can add additional folkslater.) Also indicate whether you want the site to be open to the public or only accessibleto invited readers. Initially, as you develop the site, we recommend the latter. This wayyou can keep your “construction mess” out of view of the general public. When your siteis ready to launch to the wider public, you can change the settings to allow all membersof the general public to find you.
 
5.Go to “My Dashboard.” All of the basic tools are arrayed for you at My Dashboard,including a tally of the most recent posts, comments, and site visits. Start creating your  blog by selecting how it will look from among the various templates (“Appearance”) andthe pages and posts you want to create.6.A page is a separate tab within your blog. You can enable or disable the commentsfeatures of pages. Think of pages as organizational tools to explain different aspects of your organization, such as “Exhibits,” “Education,” “Collections,” etc. Although it issimple to change text or images of pages, we recommend you think of pages as relativelystatic pieces of information. Pages will automatically appear in alphabetical order unlessyou manually change the ordering.7.Posts appear as entries on a blog. Posts appear in reverse chronological order, the mostrecent posts at the top. You can enable or disable the comments features for posts. Weencourage you to use posts as a way to post announcements, topics of discussion, etc. Wehighly recommend enabling comments on posts so that can garner feedback from andengage your online community. If you find some posts offensive, as the administrator you can delete them.8.You can embed images, sound files, short movies, etc. in posts or pages. (See “Bigger and Better WordPress” below.) As you will read elsewhere in the Handbook, you canalso embed Flickr, Google M0aps, and Scribd documents in your blog. These options areexplained in those sections.
 Bigger and Better WordPress
This WordPress option requires you to have your own server and domain name. So, rather thanhaving your website hosted by WordPress (http://yournamehere.wordpress.com
 
), you host it(www.yournamehere.org). For instructions on how to set up a server and domain name, seeAppendix I: WordPress Grunt Work. The instructions below detail how to install WordPress onyour own server. We set up our demonstration project,Uncovering Westport, using Bigger andBetter WordPress.Registering a domain name and buying server space is relatively inexpensive. Our server,Bluehost, rents space for $6.95/month; if you register a domain name through them, total cost is$10/month. GoDaddy, another popular domain registration site, offers domain names for $9.99/year. If you do not have your own server space, we recommend getting a package deal.The best values will be about $100/year for server and domain name. See Appendix I:WordPress Grunt Work for more information.
1.Install File Protocol Transfer software.
File Protocol Transfer (FTP) allows you to transfer files from your computer to your hostserver. You can find a variety of FTP applications; we like free, open-sourceFilezilla.Filezilla works for both Macs and PCs. It allows you to drag and drop files from onelocation to another without understanding complicated programming language.
 
2.Download the basic software.
Go towww.wordpress.org. Download the current version of the software (as of January2009, that’s WordPress 2.7). This will download a .zip file to your computer; werecommend downloading it to your desktop for the time being.WordPress offers excellent andeasy-to-follow instructionsfor installing the softwareafter you have downloaded it to your desktop. Find the section “Installing WordPress”and really pay attention to “The Famous Five Minute Installation.” Here you will find step-by-step instructions to install WordPress on your host server.
3.Copy WordPress to Your Server.
Detailed instructions for copying WordPress to your server can be found in Appendix I:WordPress Grunt Work. We’ve also explained some of the best plug-ins available toBigger and Better Wordpress users in Appendix II: Plug-Ins and Recommendations.
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