WordPress.com

● Site hosting service featuring blogs and full sites designed with WordPress software.

● Free, premium and business plans available

● Custom domains can be used with premium and business plans.

WordPress.org

● Official site for downloadable WordPress software for independent hosting

● Supporting downloads include free themes and plugins for added functions

● Online documentation and forums for user assistance

Suggested Hosting Solutions

● WordPress.com – Free, premium and business accounts available

● ICDSoft.com – Linux hosting starting at $6 / month. VPS available for high performance requirements.

● WinHost.com – Windows hosting starting at $3.95 / month.

● Many hosting services offer quick installs of WordPress or it can be downloaded from WordPress.org

WordPress Setup

● Initial install really does take about five minutes!

– Choose folder on website (root folder, subfolder or subdomain)

– Create a MySQL database with full access user. Don't use the DB master user.

– Copy WordPress files to the chosen website folder. They can be downloaded from WordPress.org if not already available from your hosting service.

– Create wp-config.php file from wp-config-sample.php file, filling in DB name, user, user password and server name.

– Load wp-config.php in browser and follow prompts to enter site information

– Once installation is complete, login to WordPress control panel with wp-login.php.

– See a video of the installation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVvJL5wC03c

User Interface

● WordPress includes a full interface that enables the user to manage all aspects of the site

– Posts and static pages

– Design themes and plug-ins for added functionality

– Site navigation including menus and links

– User comments

– All aspects of site administration including users and settings

– The Theme Editor enables advanced users to edit the current theme and CSS in order to add custom scripts and fine-tune appearance

User Interface

Choosing a Theme

● Design themes can be applied quickly and can be previewed and downloaded from WordPress.org or from within the control panel.

● Over 2,700 themes available through WordPress.org, rated by user community and tagged for quick searches.

● Themes are categorized by color scheme, layout, subject and features

Simple Theme Installation

Blog Posts and Pages

● WordPress can be used as either a blogging tool, as a content management system for a standard website or any combination of the two.

● A static page can be selected as the front page with menus linking to other pages. A specific page can be designated for the blog roll.

● The content editor features both a WYSIWIG editor and a text editor with limited HTML markup.

● Pages and posts can be stored in draft mode or scheduled for future release.

● A revision history enables the user to track changes.

Easy Content Management

Plug-ins

● Specialized plug-ins designed by the community allow for extra functions including:

– Addition of meta tags to individual posts and pages for SEO

– Contact forms to route user contacts to e-mail

– Slideshows and photo galleries

– Audio and video players

– User surveys

– Administration and security enhancements

● Plug-ins are available from WordPress.org or through the site dashboard.

Plug-in Management