INTRODUCTION TO WORDPRESS

About WordPress The free service that we will use from WordPress is often used as blogging software – very little knowledge of html required to use it Can also be used as a content management system for websites (which is how we are going to use it) We will use the hosted version from wordpress.comwordpress.com If you were doing this “for real” you would download the software from wordpress.org to the server where your web site is hosted – Most major ISPs will offer WordPress as part of standard virtual server packages – This software has more flexibility than the hosted version that we will use – You can use your own domain name (but you will not be doing that for this project)

Signing up for WordPress The FREE service that we will use from WordPress Go to wordpress.comwordpress.com – simple steps Name your blog Choose a theme Explore the Dashboard

*Name your “blog” This will also be its URL – keep it professional. It doesn’t matter what your username is at this point, as you will be creating another instance of your “blog” when you build your web project site, which will use your business name. *You may need a few tries to get the URL you want *You will be sent an activation to the address you specified When it arrives, activate your account

Click My Blog or My Sites (the screen may look different from this)

Then click Dashboard (important step)

Getting to the Wordpress Dashboard The interface may differ from these screenshots as you have set up a new account. You may have to click on a “WordPress Admin” link to get to your Dashboard Let me know if you have a problem getting to the Dashboard See next slide a shot of the Dashboard

Once you are at the Dashboard you can manage your website. We will look at these options in detail Explore these buttons – they give you all the options to manage your website / blog Posts Appearance Users Tools Settings

Select the Appearance button, then select Themes.

Select your Theme Explore and select a theme that fits your business, your target market, and your web site goals (choose a free one for this assignment) My example used the Edin Theme. This is a “responsive” theme that automatically adjusts for viewing on a monitor, a tablet, or a smartphone screen. Remember that each theme will provide different layouts, menu options, widget options etc

Activating your theme When you have decided on the theme you want, make sure that you have Activated it Then go to Appearance > Theme Options and / or Appearance > Customize to explore and select layout and other options (these vary by theme) Look at the layout for your site (from the theme you have chosen) – you will use this layout for the wireframe diagrams in your web project plan. Some themes provide several different layout options. Look at the suggested header / featured image sizes – you will need to include these in your plan

Some of the customization options for the Edin theme

SEE THE NEXT SET OF SLIDES FOR STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE WORDPRESS TO BUILD A WEBSITE (RATHER THAN A BLOG)