dandelionblog.com

Now we’re ready to install Wordpress using Fantastic. Log into your Cpanel like you did in the last lesson. Your hosting provider will send you information on your user name and password for logging in. You’ll probably access your Cpanel at www.yourdomain.com/cpanel. (or use the information provided by your hosting company).

Here is your Cpanel. Look for the smiley face Fantastico icon. Click on it. (your Cpanel might look slightly different).

Click where it says New Installations. [Read more →]

Tags: Wordpress, Wordpress Setup Series // 2 Comments »

First, let’s set you up with email using the Cpanel on your new website. When you register for a website, they’ll send you information on how to log into your cpanel. The login page will probably be at www.yourdomain.com/cpanel/ (if they’ve given you different login information, use it.)

Your Cpanel will look similar to this. Cpanel can have different “skins” so it might look different, but it should have most of the same information in it.

On your cpanel, you’ll see a section like this. Click on the icon that says Email Accounts.

Fill in the information for your email account. Choose an email name. Choose a password. The form will show you how strong your password is. Remember your password! Type in your password again. Click on create.

Write down the information you filled in. We’ll use it when we set up Wordpress.

Prior Wordpress Setup Workshop Lessons:

Pre Wordpress Setup:

1) Setting up a domain and hosting.
2) Download Firefox for use in Modifying your themes.
3) Get an FTP program(optional)

Tags: Wordpress, Wordpress Setup Series // 2 Comments »

Okay, we’ve gotten our domain and webhosting. Now before we start to install Wordpress, let’s get set up with a free FTP program…a program that lets you transfer files from your computer to the server where you’ll have your blog.

We’re going to download FileZilla It’s simple and easy to use. Hey, it has a cool name, and it’s free. What more do you want from an FTP program?

Go here and click on the button circled in red. Save it to your computer. Unzip and install. Now you’re ready to be able to transfer files to your blog. We’ll use it later to transfer themes and plugins to your blog.

SKIP THIS NEXT STEP IF YOU’RE USING BLUEHOST OR ANOTHER HOST COMPANY THAT PROVIDES FANTASTICO

If you did as I suggested and got a web host with Fantastico, you can skip this next step. You really, REALLY want a webhost with Fantastico. But, if not, you’ll have to manually download and install Wordpress.

Go to the Wordpress site and download Wordpress.

The directions for manually installing Wordpress are here if you want to work through them now. After I finish our series on installing Wordpress and setting it up with Fantastico’s one click install, I’ll then add a post on manually installing Wordpress without Fantastico.

For those of you with a host with Fantastico, my next post will be on using Fantastico’s one click install for setting up your Wordpress Blog.

Tags: Wordpress, Wordpress Setup Series // 7 Comments »

My next suggestion for those of you wanting to set up your own Wordpress blog, is to download the Firefox browser and switch to it. Aside from the fact that Firefox renders web pages more accurately to web standards (Internet Explorer 5 & 6 are the worst offenders here), Firefox offers many other advantages:

1) Tabbed browsing. You can have more than one page open in a window. I use this all the time. I open a link on a page in another tab, while still staying on the page I’m reading. I can then go over later and read the new page.
2) Pop up blocking. Need I say more?
3) Better security and protection from spyware. (with Firefox on my Mac, I’ve NEVER gotten spyware. Knock on wood. Knock on wood again for good measure.)
4) Firefox offers search suggestions in their search bar. If you start typing something in, a drop down list appears for you to choose from. Or you can finish typing it in yourself. I have to say, I use this often for things I’m not sure how to spell!
[Read more →]

Tags: How to Blog, Wordpress, Wordpress Setup Series // 6 Comments »

So you decided you want to set up your own Wordpress blog. I’m going to take you through the steps, one by one over the next few weeks. The first step is deciding on a hosting service to host your blog. A reasonably priced hosting service is BlueHost. You can get web space for $6.95 a month and a free domain name. Don’t forget to check the box for privacy if you want to hide your personal information.

BlueHost uses Cpanel for the administration interface for your website. I find CPanel an easy interface to use. They also have Fantastico which basically has a one click install of Wordpress.

For more information about picking a domain name see this post.

I’m going to be setting up another blog here on Dandelion on a subdomain to show you the steps on setting up Wordpress, uploading a theme and setting it up. We’ll then add some plugins and you’ll be all set to go with your very own Wordpress Blog on your own website.

My next post will be about finding an FTP client to use to upload files to your blog. I’ll be discussing Filezilla, which is free and available for both Windows and Mac.

Tags: How to Blog, Wordpress, Wordpress Setup Series // 11 Comments »