What is WordPress?

Straight from the horse’s mouth – WordPress.org:

WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

In other words, WordPress is a software you install on a web server that allows you to easily push information to the web. WordPress can be used as a blog OR a regular website. The WordPress software gives you access to the following:

• Thousands of free third-party plugins that help you make your site even more awesome. (Twitter feeds, contact forms, calendar etc) Plugins can be added from within the interface with no code knowledge whatsoever.
• Thousands of free themes to change the appearance of your site. There area also dozens of premium theme websites that provide professional designs at affordable pricing. Free themes can be added from within your WP console.
• Online access to edit your website instead from anywhere in the worldof relying on your church geek who uses proprietary software to update your web presence. You can also add other users to add/edit content.
• Easy learning curve – if you can create a document in Microsoft Word, you can add/edit content on a WordPress site. WP contains a WYSIWYG console that gives you a visual before your data ever gets published.
• One of the most mature and widely used platforms. This means there are tons of articles and support forums to find answers to your questions.
• Content and design separation so you can easily change the look of your site without re-entering content.

To boil everything down, WordPress is one of the easiest ways for you to quickly set up your website with no fuss.

How to Install WordPress

Installing WordPress manually can be quite a task for someone who has no experience with FTP, databases, and PHP config files. There are no worries if the previous sentence sent your brain whirling. Most hosting providers have a one-click solution to install WordPress automatically. That means you don’t have to learn anything technical to get the job done. Here’s a list of popular hosts and their tutorials on how to install WordPress.

• Hosts that use cPanel
  • Host Gator
  • A2Hosting
  • InMotion Hosting
  • Host Monster
  • Green Geeks
  • If your host uses cPanel but is not listed here, find the Fantastico button to install WordPress easily
• MediaTemple
• GoDaddy
• More tutorials on installing WP manually and upgrading current installs

Learn about WordPress

There are many great ways to learn about WordPress. You can learn as a user, administrator, or a developer. Here are some great resources:

• WordPress TV – Hundreds of great screencasts
• Book: Digging Into WordPress – An extremely comprehensive book about everything WordPress
• Official WordPress Starter Docs
• WordPress – Overview
• How to login to WP Dashboard
• How to Activate Your Theme
• How to write a Post
• How to write a Page
• How to Add New Users
• How to Moderate Comments
• How to use Widgets
• How to use the Links feature
• Using the Media Library
• Using the WP Gallery Feature
• How to Become a WordPress Developer

Premium Theme Providers

• WooThemes
• UpThemes
• Elegant Themes
• Studiopress
• Theme Forest
• MOJO Themes

Easy Steps From Scratch

1. Purchase a domain through web host.
2. Order a Linux hosting account.
3. Login to your hosting control panel and find the Fantastico button or a button to add applications.
4. Install WordPress to your root directory. http://yourdomain.com/  not http://yourdomain.com/blog
5. Go to: http://yourdomain.com/wp-login.php and use the credentials given to you during the installation process.
6. Make your WordPress site awesome.

You don’t have to be a techie to get this done. Just follow these simple steps and you’re on your way. I hope this helps you get a better understanding of the WordPress platform and how it can make your organization a success on the internet.

It’s Easy To Install and Learn WordPress is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Install WordPress

• Install WordPress – I used a subdomain (http://team.mydomain.com)  Most hosting companies have a One-Click application installer so you don’t have to mess with setting up a database or ugly FTP interfaces.   All you have to do is fill out a simple form where you want WordPress installed, give it a few minutes, and viola, it’s up-and-running.

Install the P2 Theme

• Log in to the admin interface (http://team.mydomain.com/wp-admin/) and go to Appearance->Add New Themes
• Search for “P2″ in the search box and install the theme.
• Activate the theme under Appearance->Themes
• If you have problems, download the theme files to your computer and upload them to your WP directory using an FTP client.

Make your WordPress Private

• You probably don’t want the world reading your posts, so let’s make your WordPress private.  Go to Plugins->Add New
• Search for Private WordPress and install the plugin (Install button is to the right of the search results table)
• Make sure Private WordPress is activated under Plugins->Installed

Setup Your Preferences

• Go to Settings->General and give your portal a name and description.
• Go to Settings->Reading and enter the number of posts you want to appear on each page under: “Blog pages show at most”
• Go to Settings->Discussion and enable threaded nested comments (Choose how many levels you desire – this is basically how many levels down people can comment on other’s comments)
  • To keep non-users from commenting, check “Users must be registered and logged in to comment”
  • Un-check “An administrator must always approve the comment” and “Comment author must have a previously approved comment

Force Posted Links to Open In New Pages

• Go to Plugins->Add New and search for “Target Blank In Posts And Comments”
• Install and activate this plugin.  The functions will work automatically without any additional settings.

Add Your Team Members

• Go to Users->Add New  Create profiles for your team members.  Assign them the role of author so they can only edit their own posts.  To assign a moderator, give them a role of administrator, or editor.
• Team members can have their own personalized user icon by registering the same email address in their profile at: http://gravatar.com  This is a universally recognized avatar that will work on any site they use the registered email address on.

Install Additional Features

• Try installing other plugins for added functionality.
• Allow users to be notified of additional comments with the plugin “Subscribe To Comments”
• There are dozens of YouTube plugins that allow users to embed videos right in their posts.

Set Up Your Own Twitter-like Communication Portal is a post from: Mister Nifty

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