How to Create a Wordpress Site

1. How to Create a Wordpress Site • This presentation was submitted to fulfill the first assignment in ENC 3242, Technical Communication for Majors, at USF Sarasota-Manatee, by student Alissa Jones in September 2011. • For additional information, please consult the instructions at www.wordpress.com. • To send a message to Alissa, please use the ENC 3242 Blackboard message board or send it to T. E. Roberts, Instructor [thorsdag (at) comcast.net] and I will forward it to her.

2. Go to http://wordpress.com and click the orange button on the left that says “Get started here.”

3. Create a blog address relative to the topic you plan on blogging about. For example, if your blog will cover the medical industry in your area consider a blog address like “tampamedicalnews.wordpress.com.” You also have the option to create a .com, .net, or .org domain for $17 per year.

4. Create your own username or allow Wordpress to prefill this field with your blog address.

5. Type a password for your account into both password fields. Wordpress will display a security level based on your password’s complexity, with “strong” meaning a very secure password.

6. Blog alerts like comments and blog traffic updates will be sent to the email address you supply in the “E-mail Address” field.

7. Before creating your blog read the Terms of Service by clicking the “fascinating terms of service” link at the bottom of the page.

8. Submit the form by clicking the orange “Sign up” button.

9. On this new page Wordpress will prompt you to check the email you supplied for your blog’s activation link. From this page you may update your blog profile with some basic information until that email is delivered.

10. When the email from Wordpress arrives, click the second link to activate your blog.

11. The email link sends you to your blog’s Dashboard.From the Dashboard you are able to create new posts.

12. Under the “Right Now” section on your Dashboard click “Post” to access a list of existing entries.

13. This page displays one existing blog post. Click on “Hello world!” to access and edit this post.

14. After reading this entry, click the link that says “Move to Trash” in the upper right column to delete it. This post will remain on your blog for readers to see until it is deleted.

15. If you clicked “Move to Trash” the post has been deleted and your list of posts will now be blank. To write your first blog post click “Add New” in the upper left corner of the page under “Posts.”

16. Title Insert media Text Tools From this “Add New Post” page you can create your posts. First create a title and enter it into the very top text box. The entirety of your post can be written in the larger text box. Above this main text box you can insert photos, audio, video, polls, and other media. You can also use text tools like bold and italicize to style your blog posts. Main text box

17. On the right side of your blog entry in the “Publish” column you can modify your post further by adjusting visibility to public, password protected or private. You can choose the date you want the post published or you can choose to publish immediately. If you need to finish the blog at another time click the “Save Draft” button at the top of the column.

18. If you want feedback from others click “Request Feedback” in the “Writing Helper” section. Enter the email addresses of the friends, colleagues and associates who you want to receive feedback from and then click “Send Requests” to share your post. Note: This feature will not work once a post has been published.

19. In the “Post Tags” column at the bottom of the page include some one-word tags separated with commas. These tags should be concise, pertinent words to describe your post and bring appropriate traffic to your blog. Click the “Add” button to save your tags.

20. You can arrange blog entries by category to keep your entries organized. In the “Categories” column click the “Add New Category” link.

21. Type in the name of your new category and click the “Add New Category” button at the bottom of the column.

22. Click the checkbox next to the category title to add your post to that category.

23. Click the blue “Publish” button on the right side of the page to publish your entry. Wordpress will now redirect you to the entry’s URL.

24. You have now posted your first blog. You may now return to your Dashboard and create a new entry.