In the previous section I taught you how to install a Wordpress Blog. In this section I will teach you how to set it up and use it so that you can then post (write and publish) your articles, create links, create categories and so on.

Begin by logging into your wordpress blog, if you have logged out of it since viewing the previous section, by taking your web browser to the Administrator URL: http://www.yourwebsite.com/wordpress/wp-admin/. Doing so will take you to the Administrator Login web page where you then need to enter your User Name & Password before clicking on the LOGIN button.

Fig 5.0  Enter your user name and password before clicking on the LOGIN button to continue

After clicking on the LOGIN button you will be shown the main page, called the Dashboard. This is where you can edit the settings, create categories for your posts (articles), create links to your favourite websites/blogs and so on. The first thing to do though is Change Your Password. The password that wordpress created for you, the one you are currently logged in with, is computer generated and generally difficult to remember. Wordpress warns you of this in the way of a red message box (below). It advises you to click on the PROFILE link, which I advise too. So begin by clicking on that link to continue.

Fig 5.1  Click on the PROFILE (YES) link to change your personal preferences, such as your Password.

When you arrive on your Profile page one of the first things to do, ONLY If You Understand HTML, is to tick the setting called DISABLE THE VISUAL EDITOR WHEN WRITING under the heading Personal Options. This will disable the built-in Visual Editor, which helps non-programmers to format their article writing (post). It basically fills in HTML code for you, behind the scenes, but sometimes does not give you the formatting power of true html coding. Hence one reason why you would want to disable it. On the other hand. If you are not a HTML programmer and/or do not need anything too fancy in your article writing then just leave that setting unticked, so that the visual editor will remain switched on. The rest of the profile page is about you (name and contact info), your website and the ability to create a new password. When you have finished updating your profile, with a new password, click on the UPDATE button to continue (not shown here).

Fig 5.2  Tick the setting called DISABLE THE VISUAL EDITOR WHEN WRITING to disable the Visual Editor - ONLY If You Understand HTML

After updating your profile the next thing you might want to do is Create A Post. Or put another way. Write some text (i.e. an article) and then Publish it (broadcast it live on the internet) - Creating a post is roughly the same as creating an email. Before creating a post though you should think about creating Categories for your posts. This will not only allow you to organise your articles, which in turn makes your blog even better to navigate around, but it also gives you the opportunity to create some keywords (make your blog well known for a certain topic for example).

Begin by clicking on the POST menu title, to the left of the dashboard, to see the expandable/collapsable menu-items (Edit, Add, Post and Categories). It is the CATEGORIES menu-item that you need to click on first. It will display the Categories page (Fig 5.4).

Fig 5.3  Click on the CATEGORIES menu-item to continue

Fig 5.4  Give the category a name and ignore the category slug

Fig 5.5  Click on the ADD CATEGORY button to continue

On the Categories page the first item to fill in is the CATEGORY NAME edit box (Fig 5.4 above). Choose a meaningful name for your category because it is mentioned throughout the blog, where applicable. In this example I have given it the name MySQL Database, which means I can post many articles under that title. In other words. Do not make your category name too article specific, make it topic specific instead.

The next item, CATEGORY SLUG, can be ignored. It is meant for those occasions when you want to change the default path name (url) given to your new category by wordpress for a more friendly path name. For example. I chose MySQL Database for the category name and wordpress gave it a default slug (url) called mysql-database (all lowercase). If I am not happy with that default slug I can edit it to sqldb or simply database for example. Or put another way. If the category url represents http://www.websitecreationhelp.com/category/mysql-database/ by default, the category slug would change it to http://www.websitecreationhelp.com/category/sqldb/ for example. As said. Ignore the category slug because it goes to a deeper level, for programmers.

Scrolling down the page you will see the CATEGORY PARENT drop-down menu (Fig 5.5 above). This allows you to link a new category (i.e. Apples) to an existing category (i.e. Fruit), which then makes that existing category (Fruit) the parent category for the new category (Apples). Therefore, the new category is now a sub-category. So you could create three new sub-categories (i.e. Strawberries, Apples and Grapes) that are linked to an existing, parent, category (i.e. Fruit).

The DESCRIPTION edit box allows you to give a description to your new category. Once you have filled in the category elements click on the ADD CATEGORY button to continue (Fig 5.5 above). When the category has been created the next thing to do is Create A Post for it. Continue by selecting the ADD NEW menu-item under the POST menu.

Fig 5.6  Click on the ADD NEW menu-item to create a new post (article)

As you can see, above, the category MySQL Database has been created with the description I gave it and the default category slug of mysql-database that wordpress gave it. Clicking on the ADD NEW menu-item allows you to easily create an article (post) that you can then put inside any category of your choosing. Simply give your post a Title, write your Article Text inside the main writing area (ARTICLE edit box) and then click on the PUBLISH button (to the right, underneath the Publish section) to continue. This is the simplest way to write an article (post).

Fig 5.7  Give your article a Title, write the article text inside the ARTICLE edit box and then click on the PUBLISH button to continue

If you want to do a little more with your article before publishing it (making it live on the internet) scroll down the page for more options. One of the options is the ability to publish your article inside many categories, simply by putting a tick next to each required category. Another option is to TAG (index) each article with keywords. Any articles with the same tags are linked (categorized) together. Simply type your tag(s) into the ADD NEW TAG edit box, separating each tag (keyword) with a comma, before clicking on the ADD button.

The Excerpts option is for those occasions whereby a quick summary is preferred, when hovering over a link for example, but requires a tweak in the Index.php file because this option is not switched on by default.

The Trackback option allows you to notify other non-wordpress (non-pingback) blogs when you have linked back to them in one of your articles for example. Simply enter the URL of each non-wordpress (non-pingback) blog that you have linked back to into the TRACKBACK edit box, separating each url with a comma, and then click on the PUBLISH button as normal. The trackback technology will then notify each of those blogs about your linkage. If you have linked back to another wordpress (pingback) blog you do not need to do anything at all. Leave the TRACKBACK edit box empty because when you PUBLISH your article those wordpress (pingback) blogs will automatically be notified of your linkage, using the pingback technology. Basically. There are two main linkage technologies out there, trackback and pingback. Just like file formats the blog industries cannot decide on using one technology. And who loses? You!.....the confused user/blogger. Anyway. Do not worry too much about the technologies. Just link to whatever blog you want to regardless.

Fig 5.8  Put a tick next to each category you require your article (post) to be published in before clicking on the PUBLISH button

To delete one or more posts (article) you must first click on the POST menu, on the menu title POST. This will give you an overview of all your posts. Hover over the title of a post to bring up its options links (Edit, Quick Edit, Delete and View) and then click on the DELETE link. A message requester will then appear asking you if you are sure you want to delete that post. Click on OK or CANCEL to continue.

Fig 5.9  Hover over the title of a post to bring up its options links and then click on the DELETE link to delete the post

To delete more than one post put a tick next to each post you want deleting, select DELETE from the ACTIONS (Bulk Actions, Edit or Delete) drop-down menu and then click on the APPLY button. A message requester will then appear asking you if you are sure you want to delete the selected posts. Click on OK or CANCEL to continue.

Now that you know how to create, publish and delete posts (articles) the next thing to do is manage their comments. Whenever you publish a post someone is entitled to comment on what has been said in that post. This can lead to people swearing, spamming and so on, destroying your blog experience and its reputation. Fortunately. No one can just post a comment without your permission. They have to wait for your approval of their comment. Unfortunately though. Whilst waiting for their comment to be approved their comment Title for example will remain on your blog as is. Meaning. If a comment title says YOU STUPID **** it will remain in view for everyone to see. Therefore. You have to monitor and maintain your blog comments at all times.

Fig 5.10  Oh Dear! Someone is trying to put trashy comments on this blog




Fig 5.11  You should delete this comment before it is seen by the millions!

To delete one or more comments you must first click on the COMMENTS menu, underneath the POST menu. This will give you an overview of all your comments. Hover over the title of a comment to bring up its options links (Approve, Spam, Delete, Edit, Quick Edit and Reply) and then click on the DELETE link. A message requester will then appear asking you if you are sure you want to delete that comment. Click on OK or CANCEL to continue.

To delete more than one comment put a tick next to each comment you want deleting, select DELETE from the ACTIONS (Bulk Actions, Unapprove, Approve, Mark As Spam or Delete) drop-down menu and then click on the APPLY button. A message requester will then appear asking you if you are sure you want to delete the selected comments. Click on OK or CANCEL to continue.

As well as creating posts (articles) you can also create Pages. These are aimed at being static. For example. Most blog templates come with an ABOUT page so you can tell people about yourself, but sometimes you want another page that has nothing to do with ABOUT. You may need an INSTRUCTIONS page or GUIDELINES page. Regardless of this though, to create a static page first click on the PAGES menu, underneath the POST menu, and then click on its ADD NEW menu-item. From there. Enter your Page Title and Page Text before clicking on the PUBLISH button to publish your page.

Fig 5.12  Enter your Page Title and Page Text before clicking on the PUBLISH button to publish your page

In the above example I am creating a page called About John that will be placed next to the About page by default. However. If I want the About John page to be a sub-page of the About page I could select ABOUT in the PARENT drop-down menu, in the Attributes section, before clicking on the PUBLISH button. This would give the effect that ABOUT is a parent page and ABOUT JOHN is a sub-page when displayed under the Pages heading in the blog. All sub-pages would be indented (moved slightly) to the right of the ABOUT page.

If you scroll down the PAGES page you will see other options, such as whether or not to allow comments for this About John page. And whether or not to allow pingbacks (linking to this page - see Trackback/Pingback above). Simply untick any options you do not wish to use or do not wish to allow before clicking on the PUBLISH button. As said. The Parent drop-down menu can be used to create sub-pages or single pages (Main Page - No Parent).

The ADD LINKS section allows you to add a list of your favourite website / blog links to your blogroll. Blogroll is just the category title for your favourites list. Click on the LINKS menu, under the POST menu, and then click on the ADD NEW menu-item to begin adding a new link to your blogroll.

Fig 5.13  Enter the details of the website/blog that you want adding to your blogroll (favourites list)

The LINKS section is quite straight forward to fill in. Entering the bare minimum details (Name, Web Address, Description) and then clicking on the ADD LINK button will be sufficient enough to get the link added to the category called blogroll. If you want to create more categories for your link simply click on the LINK CATEGORIES menu-item, underneath the LINKS menu, or click on the ADD NEW CATEGORY link underneath the Categories section. When you have created more than one category (i.e. Favourites and Gold) you can put a tick next to each category you want your link to go inside. So ticking Gold and Blogroll for example would put your new link inside those categories but not inside the Favourites category.

Other options further down the LINK section include the ability to dictate how a link is opened when clicked on (i.e. in the same window/tab), the relationship between links (i.e. friend, family, romantic) and advanced options such as RSS Address. For standard links just follow the above example and advice. And for advanced features simply read the documentation belonging to those features/options.

If you require an image, or other piece of media, in your post (article) you should click on the MEDIA menu, underneath the POST menu, and then click on the ADD NEW menu-item to begin the import (upload) process. From there. Click on the SELECT FILES button to browse for a piece of media, fill in the Caption and Description for it (if need be) and then click on the SAVE ALL CHANGES button to continue.

Fig 5.14  Upload your media file, fill in a caption/description for it (if need be) and then click on the SAVE ALL CHANGES button to continue

To insert that media file into your post, create a post as normal and then click on one of the Media (Image, Video, Audio, Media) buttons next to the UPLOAD/INSERT heading (above the Article Text edit box, below the Add New Post edit box) to bring up the Media Insert requester. In this example I am inserting an image into a post, therefore the media insert requester is titled ADD AN IMAGE. It gives you three main import/upload options. FROM COMPUTER, FROM URL and from MEDIA LIBRARY. I chose MEDIA LIBRARY because the image I want to use has already been imported/uploaded into the media library. So from there I had clicked on the SHOW link, next to the image, to show the available image options (i.e. Description, Size and Alignment). After clicking on the LEFT Alignment option I then clicked on the INSERT INTO POST button to have the image inserted into my post.

Fig 5.15  Edit your options, if need be, and then click on the INSERT INTO POST button to continue

With the image now inside my post (below) I can continue with the article text. One thing to note here is that I can see the image because I have the Visual Editor switched ON (see Profile Page - Paragraph after Fig 5.1 above). If I had it switched off all I would see is the HTML code that represents the inserted image. With the visual editor switched on I can switch between the HTML code and the Visual Appearance any time by simply clicking on the VISUAL tab or HTML tab.

< img src="http://www.websitecreationhelp.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/john.png" alt="John White" title="John White" width="115" height="141" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-18" />

Fig 5.16  Switch ON the Visual Editor so that you can see inserted Images as well as their HTML code by clicking between tabs

The above has outlined and exampled many of the basic features of Wordpress, enough to get you started with blogging. In the next section I will show you how to change the appearance (Theme) of your wordpress blog to something more attractive than the default blue theme.

All HTM, CSS, PHP and MySQL files in the websitecreationhelp.com folder and its sub-folders are (c) John White, 2009. All Rights Reserved.    Email: John