HOW TO SET UP A WEBSITE

Why use WordPress? Nearly half of the websites on the Internet are running on the WordPress website platform It’s totally free with lots of layouts to choose from It’s extremely beginner-friendly with plugins which can enable you to add contact forms, subscription forms and image galleries WordPress is used by Facebook, eBay, McAfee, Mozilla, Reuters, CNN, Google Ventures and even NASA. It’s mobile and tablet friendly There’s a huge support community so you can easily find help if needed

Choose a Domain name and web hosting for your website To get a new website online you need to get two things: A domain name (a web address like yoursitename.com) Hosting (a service that connects your site to the Internet) The WordPress platform itself is free but a domain name and hosting will cost you a minimal amount Owning your own domain name looks far more professional than having your site on someone else’s domain (like yourbusiness.freewebsite.com) Having your own hosting will also make sure your website loads quickly and won’t go down for hours at a time.

Where do I get a domain name and hosting? WordPress recommend as a web hosting and domain registrar. They are affordable and have good customer service. When you get a domain name, you’ll also get a personal account which is more professional than a generic Gmail or Yahoo

Set up your WordPress website Once you have bought your domain name and set up your hosting, you will need to install WordPress. Almost every reliable and well-established hosting company has an integrated 1-click-installation for WordPress. Once you have installed WordPress and have your login details, you will need to select a theme for the website. Log onto your WordPress dashboard Access free themes Click on the theme you think you’ll like Click ‘Try and Customize’

To give your website a Title Go to Settings Go to General Enter name in Site Title box

Adding content and creating new pages Create a new page To create a new page, click ‘Pages’ and then ‘add new’ You will find a screen that looks a lot like you see in Microsoft Word. Add text, images and more to build the page you want, then save it when finished. Adding pages to the menu Save any changes you’ve made to the page by clicking ‘Update’ Click on ‘Menus’ down the left hand side column Click on the pencil icon on the right hand side and select the page you want added to that menu item Press ‘OK’

To make your ‘Home’ page a static page To make your home page appear as soon as anyone visits the site you will need to do the following: Select ‘Appearance’ and then ‘Customize’ Select ‘Static Front Page’ at the bottom of the list and complete the form

To attach a PDF Select the page on which you want to add the document Select the ‘Add media’ button on the left hand side Select required PDF file and press ‘insert’ Press the ‘Update’ button

Customizations and Tweaks Changing your title and tabline Select ‘Settings’ and then ‘general’ and fill out the form Disabling comments for posts and pages WordPress automatically puts a blog on their themes which need to be removed if only a website is needed. To shut comments permanently off on WordPress pages: Select ‘Settings’ and then ‘Discussion’. Untick ‘Allow people to post comments on new articles’ Editing Sidebar Most WordPress themes have a sidebar on the right hand side. If you want to remove the sidebar or edit out items you don’t need like ‘Categories’, ‘Meta’ and ‘Archives’ which are usually pointless: Select ‘Portfolio’ and then ‘Appearance’ and then Widgets. The above can now be removed. To remove double line spacing, press shift and return.

More information on setting up a WordPress website can be found at