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Getting Started with Wordpress Chapter 1 Getting Started with WordPress In This Chapter ▶ Signing up for a blog ▶ Familiarizing yourself with the Dashboard ▶ Understanding important options to set before you begin f you’re just starting out and don’t want to spend money Ipurchasing a domain name and hosting your site with a third-party web host, WordPress has a great solution for you. This book takes a complete look at the hosted service offered at WordPress, and in this chapter you discover how to create a free blog through this service. You also find out how to get your hosted blog up and running. Don’t confuse WordPress.com with the blogging software available for download at WordPress.org! Both were created and developed by the same folks, and they do have the same name; however, they are different varieties of WordPress. (Check out my book, WordPress For Dummies, 4th Edition, for information on installing and using the self-hosted version of WordPress.org.)COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 004_9781118379813-ch01.indd4_9781118379813-ch01.indd 3 55/11/12/11/12 111:011:01 AAMM 4 Launch a WordPress.com Blog In A Day For Dummies Creating a WordPress Account To create your WordPress user account, follow these steps: 1. In the address bar of your browser, enter the URL http://wordpress.com. 2. On the page that appears, click the Get Started Here button shown in Figure 1-1. Figure 1-1: On the WordPress main page, click the Get Started Here button. You’re taken to the WordPress signup page at http://wordpress.com/signup. 3. In the Blog Address text box, type the word you’ve chosen as your blog address. Whatever you enter here becomes the URL address of your blog. It must be at least four characters (letters and numbers only), and don’t worry about choosing the perfect address; you can change this later. You can use any blog address you want; however, if you choose a blog address that already exists, WordPress 004_9781118379813-ch01.indd4_9781118379813-ch01.indd 4 55/11/12/11/12 111:011:01 AAMM Chapter 1: Getting Started with WordPress 5 displays a message, as shown in Figure 1-2, that you need to pick a new one because duplicate blog addresses are not allowed. Keep in mind that search engines catalog your content based on your chosen URL, so it’s a good idea to use a domain name that relates well to your site’s content. Figure 1-2: WordPress does not allow duplicate blog addresses. 4. Select the suffix for your blog address. In the drop-down list to the right of the Blog Address text box, you have several options. One is free, and the others cost you $17 to $20/year. In Figure 1-3, I typed in lswblogg as my blog address and have chosen the WordPress suffix, which creates the full blog address of http://lswblogg.wordpress.com. However, WordPress gives me the option to purchase the available domain name lswblogg.com if I want to spend an additional $17. WordPress also makes the .net and .org suffixes available for purchase. For now, select the free wordpress.com suffix; you can always upgrade to a paid domain at a later time if you want. 004_9781118379813-ch01.indd4_9781118379813-ch01.indd 5 55/11/12/11/12 111:011:01 AAMM 6 Launch a WordPress.com Blog In A Day For Dummies Figure 1-3: Select the free WordPress suffix for your blog address. 5. In the Username text box, enter the name you want to use to log in to your blog from now until forever. Your username must be at least four characters in length with letters and numbers only. WordPress will automatically fill in the username box with a username that is the same as the blog address you entered in Step 4; however, you don’t have to use that one and can choose to type in your own, unique username. For security purposes, it is a good idea to have a username that’s different from your blog address because that makes it more difficult for anyone to guess what your username is. Your username cannot be changed for the blog you are creating right now. In the future, you can sign up for a new WordPress account with a new user- name; you can also start over with a new blog. 6. Enter a password of your choice, first in the Password text box and then again in the Confirm box. You use this password to log in to your new WordPress account. Choose and then type a password that you will remember, but not one that would be easy for any outside users to guess. Your password must be at least four characters in length. WordPress gives you 004_9781118379813-ch01.indd4_9781118379813-ch01.indd 6 55/11/12/11/12 111:011:01 AAMM Chapter 1: Getting Started with WordPress 7 a visual indicator of the strength of your password choice, with “strength” meaning how easy or difficult it is for someone to guess what your password is. 7. Enter your e-mail address in the E-mail Address text box. This address isn’t made public on your blog; rather, it’s used for communication between you and WordPress. You can change this address later in the General Settings section in your WordPress Dashboard. Be sure to use your primary e-mail address here because WordPress sends your login information to it; additionally, should you forget your password, you can ask WordPress to resend it, and it goes to the e-mail address you include in this step. 8. (Optional) Select the check box next to Follow Our Blog to Learn about New Themes, Features and Other News. This optional selection gives WordPress permission to send you e-mail updates (to the e-mail address you typed in Step 7) with news and updates about the WordPress service. 9. Select your preferred language. WordPress provides you with multiple languages to choose from. Click the What Language Will You be Blogging in? drop-down menu to select the language you plan to use when publishing the content on your blog. 10. Review upgrade options. WordPress has several upgrade options such as domain names, space upgrades, and custom design. During the signup process, WordPress offers a Value Bundle that provides you with upgraded features for $99, which you can add to your blog by clicking the Upgrade button in this step. For now, though, click the Create a Blog button to obtain a free blog, and you can learn more about the upgrades offered by WordPress in detail in Chapter 3. 11. Click the Create a Blog button. This completes the signup process, and a new page opens with a message that WordPress has sent you 004_9781118379813-ch01.indd4_9781118379813-ch01.indd 7 55/11/12/11/12 111:011:01 AAMM 8 Launch a WordPress.com Blog In A Day For Dummies an e-mail containing a link to activate your account. As you wait for that e-mail to arrive, take a moment to fill out the Update Your Profile! form on this page that invites you to update your profile. Enter your first name, last name, and a few sentences about yourself. Then click the Save Profile button. Later, you can choose to display your profile information on your blog, if you’d like. By clicking the Create a Blog button, you are also indicating that you fully agree to, and understand, the WordPress terms of service. If you’d like to read the fine print, you can find the terms of service at http://wordpress.com/tos. 12. Choose a theme and start blogging. The final signup step is where you can choose one of several themes (or template designs covered in Chapter 2) WordPress provides for your blog. Don’t worry about your choice here because, as you discover later in this book, you can come back and change your theme anytime you want to. For now, select the Twenty Eleven theme for your blog by clicking the Twenty Eleven thumbnail, as shown in Figure 1-4. Figure 1-4: Choose a theme and start blogging. 004_9781118379813-ch01.indd4_9781118379813-ch01.indd 8 55/11/12/11/12 111:011:01 AAMM Chapter 1: Getting Started with WordPress 9 13. Check your e-mail and click the Activate Blog link contained within it to activate your new WordPress blog. The Dashboard for your WordPress account loads in your browser window with a message welcoming you to WordPress. The Dashboard also displays a few helpful items to help you get started, including • A video entitled “Welcome to WordPress.com” • A link to the WordPress “Zero to Hero” article that gives you an introduction to WordPress: http://learn.wordpress.com • A link to the WordPress Support Forum: http://support.wordpress.com If you don’t want to see the Welcome box at the top of your Dashboard page any longer, click the Hide This Screen link in the bottom-right corner of the Welcome to WordPress box, as shown in Figure 1-5. Figure 1-5: The Welcome to WordPress box appears in your Dashboard when you first log in. 004_9781118379813-ch01.indd4_9781118379813-ch01.indd 9 55/11/12/11/12 111:011:01 AAMM 10 Launch a WordPress.com Blog In A Day For Dummies Your new blog is yours to use for the life of your blogging career on WordPress. You can log in to your blog any time by going to http://wordpress.com and filling in the login form, shown in the top-left corner of the WordPress website (refer to Figure 1-1), with your username and password.
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