WordPress Made Easy
An Illustrated Guide to Creating Your Own WordPress Blog
(Figure 1 Moore, Index: Calobee Doodles, 2011)
Table of Contents
I.
What is WordPress? ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1
II.
Sign Up and Register Your Blog ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
III.
Set Up Your Site.................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
IV. Customizing Your Blog ...................................................................................................................................................................... 9
V.
The My Blogs Screen....................................................................................................................................................................... 11
VI. The Dashboard ................................................................................................................................................................................ 13
VII. Creating a Post................................................................................................................................................................................ 15
VIII. Adding Links to Posts....................................................................................................................................................................... 21
IX. Adding Media: Photos, Video & Audio ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Bibliography............................................................................................................................................................................................. 31
1
I. What is WordPress?
W
ordPress is a free online application that allows users to create a blog quickly and easily. A blog is a
stylized website that features frequently updated content. (Awan, 2011) Users can add text, images,
videos, links, and connect with other social media sites.
A WordPress blog is created by choosing a template, and then entering text and other content. The content
can be updated and modified by accessing the online Dashboard, which acts as the control panel for the
blog.
Users can comment on other sites, tag sites they enjoy, or use the Press This function to import content from
other external sites. WordPress features an extensive support menu, a forum to post questions, and a glossary of
terms commonly used on WordPress sites.
Although this instruction manual will provide the basic instructions to create a free Word Press site, users have an
option to upgrade to a paid membership. The table below displays the features each membership offers.
WordPress
WordPress Premium
Free Blog
Free Blog
WordPress.com Domain
Custom Domain
Basic Customization
Advanced Customization
2
3GB Storage
13GB Storage
Advertisements
No Ads
Support Forum
Technical Support
(WordPress Plans, 2014)
3
II. Sign Up and Register Your Blog
T
he first step to having a website on WordPress is to register your information and the name of your site on
WordPress. Go to the WordPress.com home page and press the “Get Started” button.
Figure 2 - Orange "Get Started" Button (WordPress)
The signup page will appear. Enter your email address, username, password, and choose a name for
your blog or website. If that name is already chosen, you will be prompted to choose another. The URL for
your site will be [email protected].
4
Figure 3 - Initial Sign Up Form (WordPress)
5
III. Set Up Your Site
O
nce you have created a username, password, and site name, you will be guided through a series of
option windows that will set up the basic layout of your site.
On the page below, you have the option to change the tagline. This is the line beneath the title of the site that
describes what the site is about. Make sure you update this line, otherwise its description will remain A fine
WordPress.com site. If you do not want to have a tagline, delete the text and leave this line blank.
Once you have entered the information on each page, select the Next Step button on the lower right hand
corner to move to the next page.
6
Figure 4 An option window in WordPress (WordPress)
Choose a theme or template for your site from the options provided. Themes can be changed and
modified using the Dashboard. It’s better to start with a basic theme until you become more
experienced with changing and updating your site. For this document, the theme used (Figure 6) is
Zoren.
7
Figure 5 Themes in WordPress (WordPress)
8
Figure 6 Zoren Theme
9
IV. Customizing Your Blog
O
nce a theme is chosen, the blog can be customized in various ways. To get started, review the option
pane on the right hand side of the screen:
Figure 7 Customization Panel
10
In this example, the option to change the color scheme of the theme is provided. Other options are:
providing a background image, changing the site title, and changing the header. WordPress allows you
to change customization options, just like themes. Click the “Close” button to finish customizing.
11
V. The My Blogs Screen
T
he My Blogs screen is a directory page of the different menu options in WordPress. From here you can
access the site Dashboard, create and edit posts, customize, create more blogs, and upgrade to a paid
account. This screen is also the location of settings such as account and billing information.
12
Figure 8 My Blogs screen
13
VI. The Dashboard
T
he Dashboard screen is the nervous center of any WordPress blog. It contains all the options of the My Blogs
screen, but has many other features as well. For a new blogger, a welcome menu screen will appear with
various links to tutorials, other features, and a video tour.
Figure 9 Dashboard
An added benefit of the Dashboard screen is that the screen has a unique administrator link personalized
to your blog. The link can be bookmarked for quick access to modify items in the blog.
14
15
VII.
Creating a Post
There are three “P”s to follow when creating a post in WordPress. (SiteGround)



Post Title
Post Content
Publish
Start by accessing the posting button on the Dashboard. Go to Posts > Add New
Figure 10 Posts Menu
16
In the Enter Title field, enter a title for your post. The title will appear as the heading for your post. Move
the cursor to the content field and begin typing your first post.
Figure 11 Title and Content Fields
There are two options for entering text, the Visual and Text buttons, which appear on the right side of the
screen. To format a post in WYSIWYG, select the Visual button. To format in HTML, select the Text button.
Once the post is complete, edit the post using the formatting options such as bold, and editing tools such
as the spell checker.
17
Spell Checker
WYSIWYG and
HTML
formatting
buttons
Bold
Figure 12 Formatting Options
When the document has been formatted with style options, and spell checked, the entry can be
published to your site. Scroll down to the panel below the content window. Here there are several
options to publish content.
18
Figure 13 Publish Panel




Save Draft – Allows a draft to be saved to work on at a later time.
Visibility – This option controls whether a post in public or private.
Preview – Provides a view of the post as it will look on the site.
Publish/Publish Immediately – The Publish button will post content to the site
immediately. The Publish Immediately option allows you to set a specific time and
date to post. (Hartin, 2013)
19
Figure 14 A published post. (Howard, 2014)
20
To edit, delete, or view a list of all posts, click the Posts button to return to the Dashboard screen.
Figure 15 Posts Listed On Dashboard
21
VIII. Adding Links to Posts
Links are a great way to direct readers to other websites, encourage web traffic, and create a relationship with other
bloggers. The most common link is the text link, where highlighted text is clicked on and will redirect the reader to
location. This can be another website, blog or personal file or document. Text links are easily recognized by most
individuals using the Internet now and are easier to use than providing lengthy URLs.
Using the new post as an example (Figure 14), a text link will redirect the reader to the WordPress blog Calobee Doodles
(Figure 1).
22
Click on the Edit link in the post. This will bring up the editing screen.
23
24
Create text in the content panel. In this example, a link will be created to the Calobee Doodles site.
25
Select the text to be used as a link.
Highlight the text.
26
27
28
29
30
IX. Adding Media: Photos, Video & Audio
31
Bibliography
Awan, H. A. (2011, 11). 5 Major Differences Between A Blog And Website. Retrieved from My Blogger Tricks:
http://www.mybloggertricks.com/2011/11/5-major-differences-between-blog-and.html
Hartin, A. (2013, December 27). Easy WP guide. Retrieved from Easy WP guide: http://easywpguide.com/wordpressmanual/saving-and-publishing-content/
Howard, N. V. (2014, 04 13). My First Post: Nona Howard.com. Retrieved from NonaHoward.com:
http://nonahoward.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=6&action=edit
Moore, C. (2011). Index: Calobee Doodles. Retrieved from Calobee Doodles: http://www.calobeedoodles.com
SiteGround. (n.d.). Create a WordPress Post. Retrieved from SiteGround:
http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/wordpress/new-wordpress-post.htm
WordPress. (n.d.). Choose a theme. Retrieved from WordPress: http://www.wordpress.com
WordPress. (n.d.). Get started with WordPress.com. Retrieved from WordPress:
https://signup.wordpress.com/signup/?ref=mediumassbluebottom
WordPress Plans. (2014, March/April). Retrieved from WordPress.com: http://store.wordpress.com/plans/
WordPress. (n.d.). Set Up Your Blog. Retrieved from WordPress: http://www.wordpress.com
WordPress. (n.d.). Themes. Retrieved from WordPress: http://theme.wordpress.com/themes/zoren/
32
B
Blog, 1
C
Calobee Doodles, 1
W
WordPress, 1
blog, 3
control panel, 3
Dashboard, 3
paid membership, 3
Press This, 3
sign up, 3
upgrade, 3