If you have thought it would be too complicated to install a WordPress blog, think again. The new features in WordPress now make installing nice themes and tweaks to your blog a snap that will only take a few minutes.
HOW TO INSTALL YOUR BLOG
If you do not have a blog yet, simply go to the control panel at your site – generally www.YourSite.com/cpanel – click the Fantastico icon, and then click the option to install WordPress in a directory of your choice. Once the blog has been installed, you will want to go into your administrative panel, which is called a dashboard. The dashboard enables you to easily update the blog software, add plugins, and change the look of your blog. This is also where you add content in the form of new articles and posts.
HOW TO UPDATE YOUR BLOG SOFTWARE
Recent versions of the blogging software have allowed you to update the software with just one click within your dashboard, and to search, review and install plugins that will enhance the power of your WordPress blog.
HOW TO ADJUST THE APPEARANCE OF YOUR BLOG
This plugin capability has been enhanced in the June 2009 WordPress update. The new WordPress Version 2.8 offers an outstanding and super easy to use theme feature that is similar to the plugin feature. You specify what you want by searching for and viewing themes directly from the dashboard – for instance, a 3 column, blue and white layout. Select the theme that you like and WordPress will install it right from your dashboard. In the old days, you would have to look at different themes from the WordPress or other sites, download the theme, unzip it, then ftp it into your blog’s content area. This time consuming task has been simplified with the new WordPress release.
After your theme has been installed, you can go to the edit page function and modify the php pages if you want. The process is much easier with WordPress’ new color-coded theme editor. When you review PHP and stylesheet pages in the theme editor, the code is now numbered and colored, making the job thousands of times easier.
There are some awesome free themes available, including the magazine style themes that look like a professional publication. If you use these types of themes, you will be working with a plugin called Timthumb that will display your images as thumbnails on the front page and display larger versions within the blog post. Timthumb and magazine style WordPress themes are pretty easy to work with, but sometimes the documentation is not entirely clear because it assumes that you know things that you actually are not aware of. At Not Guru, you can find a step-by-step tutorial, replete with screen shots, which show you how to work with magazine style WordPress themes.
WORDPRESS IS NOW FASTER
Not only does the new WordPress software make your life easier in adjusting the appearance of your blog, but it runs a lot faster.
BLOGGING WILL IGNITE YOUR STAGNANT SITES
Installing a WordPress blog to your site is a great idea because if it is regularly updated, it will turn into a fantastic search engine traffic magnet. If they are updated on a consistent basis, new posts generally show up in the search engines within hours. There’s a way to make this process even faster and it is free. What you do is install what is called the SEO blog plugin. With the new plugin installation platform in WordPress, installing the blog traffic plugin takes only a few minutes and a couple mouse clicks from your dashboard. Once installed, the plugin will tweak your blog, have you install other traffic-pulling plugins, and optimize the search engine capabilities of your blog. As you tweak your blog using the SEO blog software, you can see your SEO grade, like 80% or 90% optimized. You will see a positive change in your blog’s performance once the SEO plugin is installed.
Because you will keep your web visitors happy with up-to-date content and the search engines constantly visiting your site, adding a blog is a powerful tool to add to your website. With the new WordPress platform, it has never been easier to install and maintain a blog. Blog installation tips, computer help and other practical guides are provided daily at the Not Guru blog.
