an introduction to

What’s Your R.O.I. Today?

 You’ll Learn…
What Wordpress is
How it goes beyond blogging
How you can get it today - for FREE
Writing posts and pages
Basic ways to customize Wordpress
Embedding video
Part One
What is it?
Wordpress huh?

 Wordpress.com is a free blog site

Anyone can sign up
Blog about anything - within reason
Limited ability to customize = FAIL
 Wordpress.org is free blogging software
Thousands of custom themes
Thousands of plugins
You can do anything
Who Uses Wordpress?

+ 22 Million more Websites

 Part Two
More than a blog
Beyond Blogging
 Wordpress does more because…
Themes - customize appearance/layout
Plugins - add functionality
 Both available at Wordpress.org/extend
 Freebies will get the job done, but there
are some that cost $$$.

 BUT before we dive into the glitter and

pizzazz…
Part Three
Installation
Let’s Install Wordpress

 You need:
1. Hosting account (your storage space)
 Cpanel & Fantastico make Wordpress a breeze!
 I recommend HostGator.com
2. Domain name (e.g. ILoveWordpress.com)
 I recommend 1and1.com
3. Wordpress software
 Fantastico will download this for you
Setting Up Hosting/Domain

 It’s easy, so we won’t cover it in depth

 Buy hosting
 Buy domain name
 Link domain name to hosting account
Change your domains DNS settings to match
your hosting account (24 hour wait)
Here’s an easy guide if you need help:
 http://faq.1and1.com/domains/dns_settings/index.html
Finally, Installing Wordpress

 Log in to your hosting account Cpanel

Usually at www.yourdomain.com/cpanel

 Scroll down until you see Fantastico

 Click it!
Fantastico
 Fantastico quickly installs Wordpress to save you
hassle
 Click “Wordpress”
 Click “New Installation”
 Select domain name from drop-down menu
 Type admin name, password, nickname, email
 Click “Install Wordpress”
 Now, Click “Finish installation”
Boom! Finished

 Now, enter your website URL and check

out your Wordpress blog:
 Part Four
Writing posts and pages
Managing Wordpress

 Dashboard is found at:

www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin
 Log in to add posts, change settings,
activate themes and plugins
 You can also change code (html, css, php)
This isn’t required, but can be fun later
Writing Posts
 In the dashboard, Expand “Posts” on left
 Click “Add New”
 Now you can add a title, tags, and write a new
post
 Toolbar allows formatting, like bold, italics,
color, and much more.
 Click “Publish” to finish your post
 Click “Save Draft” to save post for later
Writing Pages
 In the dashboard, Expand “Pages” on left
 Click “Add New”
 Now you can add a title and write a new page
 Toolbar allows formatting, like bold, italics,
color, and much more.
 Click “Publish” to finish your page
 Click “Save Draft” to save page for later
Post vs. Page

 What’s the difference?

A post shows up in your “feed”
 For instance, your main page might show the last 10
posts you made
A page does not do this
 Pages can be used for special sections, like About
Me, Contact Information, etc.
 Part Five
Making it your own
Themes

 Change the appearance of your site

 Available at Wordpress.org/extend/themes
More cool themes:
 http://www.noupe.com/wordpress/15-high-quality-free-premium-
wordpress-27-themes.html

 Found one? Download it.

 Next, upload it to your hosting account
Uploading Themes
 Return to Cpanel (yourdomain.com/cpanel)
 Click “File Manager”
 Click “Go”
 On the left, expand these folders
Public_html -> yourdomain.com -> wp-content
-> themes
 Click “Upload”
 Browse for your theme, select it, and it
automatically uploads for you
Uploading Themes cont.

 Return to file folder view

 Select your theme file
 Click “Extract”
 On the pop-up window, Click “Extract
File”
 Click “Close”
Uploading Themes cont.

 Now return to your Wordpress dashboard

www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin
 Click “Appearance”
 Click your theme to preview it
 Click “Activate” in the upper right corner
 Your new theme is ready. Visit your URL
to check it out.
Plugins

 Add functionality to your site

Plugins for video, creating forms, adding
analytic tools, 5-star ratings, etc.
 Available at Wordpress.org/extend/plugins
 Installation may vary for certain plugins
 Found one? Download it.
 Next, upload it to your hosting account
Uploading Plugins
 Return to Cpanel (yourdomain.com/cpanel)
 Click “File Manager”
 Click “Go”
 On the left, expand these folders
Public_html -> yourdomain.com -> wp-content
-> plugins
 Click “Upload”
 Browse for your plugin, select it, and it
automatically uploads for you
Uploading Plugins cont.

 Return to file folder view

 Select your plugin file
 Click “Extract”
 On the pop-up window, Click “Extract
File”
 Click “Close”
Uploading Plugins cont.

 Now return to your Wordpress dashboard

www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin
 Click “Plugins”
 Scroll to find your new plugin
 Click “Activate” on the upper right side
 Your new plugin is ready. You may need
to adjust the plugins settings.
 Always read FAQ/Installation for plugins
 Review
What have we learned?
Review

 Did you learn…

What Wordpress is?
How it goes beyond blogging?
How you can get it today - for FREE?
Writing posts and pages?
Basic ways to customize Wordpress?
Embedding video?