Wordpress beginners

Kezz · 09-02-2009, 05:20 AM

I've noticed a tonne of questions popping up all over the place about Wordpress, and I've mentioned before that I plan to put together some screencasts showing everyone how to use it.

So far I just haven't been able to find the time unfortunately, but to get you all going I thought I'd at least assemble some of the existing videos that are already out there, so you can use this as a "Getting started" guide for Wordpress.

These videos reflect my own process for setting up new Wordpress sites, with the absolute essentials covered. There are some other things I do often as well, but these are the steps that get followed every time.

Some of these are a little old, but I've found the best ones available, and they should still give you enough of a start to understand what to do.

Hope this is helpful to everyone trying to setup their first Wordpress sites!

Install Wordpress

* Install with Fantastico:

YouTube - MEWEBHOST - Wordpress Tutorial - How To...

* Install manually, through cPanel:

YouTube - How to Install WordPress 2.7 through...

Setup SEF permalinks:

YouTube - How to setup permalinks in wordpress

Activate Akismet (block spam comments):

YouTube - How To Setup Akismet In Wordpress

Install plugins:

YouTube - How To Easily Search For And Install...

Plugins I personally install as a "must have" each time:

All-In-One SEO
- allows you to optimize your entire blog for search engines - WordPress › All in One SEO Pack WordPress Plugins

Google (XML) Sitemaps
- creates a Google friendly XML sitemap of your site - Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress

MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer
- prevents you from inadvertantly putting out an excess of pings and being marked a ‘ping spammer’ - WordPress › MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer WordPress Plugins

Install new theme:

* Install a theme in 2.8

YouTube - WordPress 2.8 - How To Install Themes...

* Install a theme in 2.7

YouTube - How to Install a WordPress Theme or...

Configure All In One SEO:

YouTube - Proper Configuration Of The "All In One...

Configure Google XML Sitemaps:

YouTube - Google XML Sitemaps And What To Do With...

Configure MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer (annoying music, sorry, was the only one):

YouTube - mcbigboy's SEO Blog Plug-In...

I do plan to get around to putting together some up to the minute material, but hopefully this helps in the meantime.

acedalright · 09-02-2009, 06:49 AM

Good work Kezza mate it's posts like this that make the forum still worth while.

Now if everyone could just add a little value, imagine what we would all learn?

Cheers mate!

Kezz · 09-02-2009, 06:56 AM

Aww, thanks mate! Appreciation like that makes posting help worthwhile for me!

Gonna have to thank you back

KaylaB · 09-14-2009, 11:33 AM

Hi Kezz,

These are great videos. Now if only I knew about them last year when I started they would have saved me a lot of time. I learned the hard way!

Jenb · 09-14-2009, 12:06 PM

I'm setting up my first Wordpress site, starting today. I will be using these, so thank you so much for posting them here, much appreciated!

Kezz · 09-14-2009, 06:17 PM

Hey folks, you're welcome!

Kevin AKA Hubcap · 09-14-2009, 08:12 PM

Hi Kezz

Great videos. If I may suggest a few topics; how about how to change a header (along with a theme that lends itself to customization), how to strip a page of unwanted items such as recent posts etc. and hot to make a custom template.

As I said earlier, great videos and thanks.

Kevin

Kezz · 09-14-2009, 10:54 PM

I'm actually about to start recording some training videos for a free training center, so thanks for the suggestions on topics.

So by a theme that lends itself to customization, you mean some videos showing you how to actually go about customizing such a theme? Do you have any specific themes in mind that you'd like to see training videos on?

And by stripping a page of recent posts, do you mean removing a recent posts widget from the sidebar, or do you mean having your wordpress site behave as a static website rather than a blog?

zapseo · 09-14-2009, 11:06 PM

Please, please install Wordpress 2.8.4 -- thank you!

Your hosting company may not have upgraded cpanel/fantastico to install 2.8.4 -- but it is VERY SIMPLE to install Wordpress outside of cpanel/fantastico.

There has been an explosion of hacker attacks attacking weaknesses in wordpress versions prior to 2.8.4.

Here are the "5 minute (manual) instructions" from Wordpress.org

Installing WordPress WordPress Codex

I am, of course, available for wordpress installs and upgrades to 2.8.4 for a nominal fee.

Live JoyFully!

Judy

dubhlinn · 09-14-2009, 11:07 PM

Thank you Kess these are very helpful.

Kezz · 09-14-2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dubhlinn

Thank you Kess these are very helpful.

You're welcome

pcpupil · 09-15-2009, 12:05 AM

I found this site and i just used it to put up my first wordpress site.
Im new so it was a big help.And i am not affiliated with it in anyway.
Just thought i would postit here if im allowed.
[building killer websites dot com].
Its for wordpress and has a free ebook.

Kezz · 09-15-2009, 12:16 AM

Looks like a pretty good site! I did notice that the ebook is $27 though. Did you manage to pick it free somehow?

pcpupil · 09-15-2009, 12:19 AM

I have the ebook,but i didnt pay for it.Ill go check back at the site and see how i did it.
Maybe its free if you sighn up on his list.Ill go now and then get back right away.
Matt

lazavas · 09-15-2009, 12:20 AM

thank u thank u thank u fellow aussie!

pcpupil · 09-15-2009, 12:25 AM

Well crap.He must have started charging for it or something.Also spmeone can go here and check his blog.Just use his main site then use right slash[/blog].
He has everything posted so ya dont even need the ebook.
The other thing would be for someone to join his list and see if ya get the ebook for free.I cant,because im already on his list.
Maybe ill try again with my gmail account.
Matt

maab · 09-15-2009, 02:18 AM

Thanks for the great videos....I find this stuff quite confusing sometimes...watching videos is so much easier than reading

lazavas · 09-15-2009, 03:04 AM

hey guys

i have a question, how do i remove the login link on the right hand side? does that make sense? so when visitors come to my site they cant see it? hope that makes sense, and what is the latest adsense plugin? the one im using is shylock which im assuming is older as the ads arent showing up on my site after i added the adsense code, cheers

lazavas · 09-15-2009, 03:11 AM

i bought a domain when Michael Jackson passed away to set up a tribute site, ive been working on it today, now please go easy on me as im still just learning wordpress, and this is early stages of the site, can u give me some feedback please people? Michael Jackson Tribute Site

pcpupil · 09-15-2009, 03:12 AM

Well i tried with my gmail account and only recieved the 5 free themes.
He must have only had it free for a while when he was collecting his list.
Anyway,Kezz has done a fantastic job of posting the videos.Between her vids and the site i suggested there should be more than enough info to please everyones tastes.
Remember to check out the blog,thats where theres a lot of step by step with pics,ect...
Matt

Sophist · 09-22-2009, 04:45 PM

Great tutorials Kezz. That's some very valuable material material that Im sure will make everybody's lives much easier.

I'll be pm'ing you shortly.

Cheers.

jacktb · 09-22-2009, 04:55 PM

Good tutorials indeed.

Kezz, can you include a video about upgrading to a new wordpress version?

kudo's and thanks!

Aitor Astobieta · 09-22-2009, 05:44 PM

Incredible!

You know how much some people will pay for that material you have posted on Wordpress?

Thank you so much!

09-02-2009, 06:49 AM	#2
acedalright The Electric Eccentric Join Date: May 2009 Location: On Top Of Spaghetti All Covered In Cheese Posts: 344 Thanks: 10 Thanked 25 Times in 24 Posts Social Networking	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Good work Kezza mate it's posts like this that make the forum still worth while. Now if everyone could just add a little value, imagine what we would all learn? Cheers mate!
	Articles Worth Reading

09-02-2009, 06:56 AM	#3
Kezz Kezz Bracey War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,291 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 323 Thanked 596 Times in 291 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Aww, thanks mate! Appreciation like that makes posting help worthwhile for me! Gonna have to thank you back
	Get your AAA Starter LOCAL theme FREE with the Website Weaver. Point & Click WordPress Theme Creation - Beginner Friendly, Expert Ready, WYSIWYG Theme Editor. Quickly & Easily Create Any Type Of WordPress Theme. No Experience Required.

09-14-2009, 11:33 AM	#4
KaylaB Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 82 Thanks: 6 Thanked 13 Times in 10 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Hi Kezz, These are great videos. Now if only I knew about them last year when I started they would have saved me a lot of time. I learned the hard way!

09-14-2009, 12:06 PM	#5
Jenb HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 194 Thanks: 8 Thanked 20 Times in 19 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide I'm setting up my first Wordpress site, starting today. I will be using these, so thank you so much for posting them here, much appreciated!

09-14-2009, 06:17 PM	#6
Kezz Kezz Bracey War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,291 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 323 Thanked 596 Times in 291 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Hey folks, you're welcome!
	Get your AAA Starter LOCAL theme FREE with the Website Weaver. Point & Click WordPress Theme Creation - Beginner Friendly, Expert Ready, WYSIWYG Theme Editor. Quickly & Easily Create Any Type Of WordPress Theme. No Experience Required.

09-14-2009, 08:12 PM	#7
Kevin AKA Hubcap Flyin' Low & Slow War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 1,189 Thanks: 56 Thanked 177 Times in 132 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Hi Kezz Great videos. If I may suggest a few topics; how about how to change a header (along with a theme that lends itself to customization), how to strip a page of unwanted items such as recent posts etc. and hot to make a custom template. As I said earlier, great videos and thanks. Kevin
	Make Money With Web Video Even If You Don't Have A Video Camera --->Click Here For My Free Report<---

09-14-2009, 10:54 PM	#8
Kezz Kezz Bracey War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,291 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 323 Thanked 596 Times in 291 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide I'm actually about to start recording some training videos for a free training center, so thanks for the suggestions on topics. So by a theme that lends itself to customization, you mean some videos showing you how to actually go about customizing such a theme? Do you have any specific themes in mind that you'd like to see training videos on? And by stripping a page of recent posts, do you mean removing a recent posts widget from the sidebar, or do you mean having your wordpress site behave as a static website rather than a blog?
	Get your AAA Starter LOCAL theme FREE with the Website Weaver. Point & Click WordPress Theme Creation - Beginner Friendly, Expert Ready, WYSIWYG Theme Editor. Quickly & Easily Create Any Type Of WordPress Theme. No Experience Required.

09-14-2009, 11:06 PM	#9
zapseo Judy K - WSOTD Copywriter War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Jose (Silicon Valley), CA , USA. Posts: 4,617 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 151 Thanked 238 Times in 162 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Please, please install Wordpress 2.8.4 -- thank you! Your hosting company may not have upgraded cpanel/fantastico to install 2.8.4 -- but it is VERY SIMPLE to install Wordpress outside of cpanel/fantastico. There has been an explosion of hacker attacks attacking weaknesses in wordpress versions prior to 2.8.4. Here are the "5 minute (manual) instructions" from Wordpress.org Installing WordPress WordPress Codex I am, of course, available for wordpress installs and upgrades to 2.8.4 for a nominal fee. Live JoyFully! Judy
	WSOTD Copy ... check the last usernote... ==> Kick Your Sales Copy Into High Gear -- "like having your own copywriting course" -- April Coggins Get Free 33 Amazing Marketing Reports by $250K+ marketers @@ Tweet Me! @@

09-14-2009, 11:07 PM	#10
dubhlinn In the Cube Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 109 Thanks: 7 Thanked 8 Times in 8 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Thank you Kess these are very helpful.

09-15-2009, 12:05 AM	#12
pcpupil HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Superstition Mountains Posts: 480 Thanks: 52 Thanked 40 Times in 36 Posts Social Networking	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide I found this site and i just used it to put up my first wordpress site. Im new so it was a big help.And i am not affiliated with it in anyway. Just thought i would postit here if im allowed. [building killer websites dot com]. Its for wordpress and has a free ebook.
	I will be your Digital Assistance for cheap.PM me. I Write Unique Articles-Pm for info- Wind and Solar energy info

09-15-2009, 12:16 AM	#13
Kezz Kezz Bracey War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,291 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 323 Thanked 596 Times in 291 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Looks like a pretty good site! I did notice that the ebook is $27 though. Did you manage to pick it free somehow?
	Get your AAA Starter LOCAL theme FREE with the Website Weaver. Point & Click WordPress Theme Creation - Beginner Friendly, Expert Ready, WYSIWYG Theme Editor. Quickly & Easily Create Any Type Of WordPress Theme. No Experience Required.

09-15-2009, 12:19 AM	#14
pcpupil HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Superstition Mountains Posts: 480 Thanks: 52 Thanked 40 Times in 36 Posts Social Networking	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide I have the ebook,but i didnt pay for it.Ill go check back at the site and see how i did it. Maybe its free if you sighn up on his list.Ill go now and then get back right away. Matt
	I will be your Digital Assistance for cheap.PM me. I Write Unique Articles-Pm for info- Wind and Solar energy info

09-15-2009, 12:20 AM	#15
lazavas Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , Australia. Posts: 600 Thanks: 59 Thanked 26 Times in 20 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide thank u thank u thank u fellow aussie!

09-15-2009, 12:25 AM	#16
pcpupil HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Superstition Mountains Posts: 480 Thanks: 52 Thanked 40 Times in 36 Posts Social Networking	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Well crap.He must have started charging for it or something.Also spmeone can go here and check his blog.Just use his main site then use right slash[/blog]. He has everything posted so ya dont even need the ebook. The other thing would be for someone to join his list and see if ya get the ebook for free.I cant,because im already on his list. Maybe ill try again with my gmail account. Matt
	I will be your Digital Assistance for cheap.PM me. I Write Unique Articles-Pm for info- Wind and Solar energy info

09-15-2009, 02:18 AM	#17
maab Active Warrior Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Australia Posts: 78 Thanks: 8 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Thanks for the great videos....I find this stuff quite confusing sometimes...watching videos is so much easier than reading

09-15-2009, 03:04 AM	#18
lazavas Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , Australia. Posts: 600 Thanks: 59 Thanked 26 Times in 20 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide hey guys i have a question, how do i remove the login link on the right hand side? does that make sense? so when visitors come to my site they cant see it? hope that makes sense, and what is the latest adsense plugin? the one im using is shylock which im assuming is older as the ads arent showing up on my site after i added the adsense code, cheers

09-15-2009, 03:11 AM	#19
lazavas Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , Australia. Posts: 600 Thanks: 59 Thanked 26 Times in 20 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide i bought a domain when Michael Jackson passed away to set up a tribute site, ive been working on it today, now please go easy on me as im still just learning wordpress, and this is early stages of the site, can u give me some feedback please people? Michael Jackson Tribute Site

09-15-2009, 03:12 AM	#20
pcpupil HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Superstition Mountains Posts: 480 Thanks: 52 Thanked 40 Times in 36 Posts Social Networking	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Well i tried with my gmail account and only recieved the 5 free themes. He must have only had it free for a while when he was collecting his list. Anyway,Kezz has done a fantastic job of posting the videos.Between her vids and the site i suggested there should be more than enough info to please everyones tastes. Remember to check out the blog,thats where theres a lot of step by step with pics,ect... Matt
	I will be your Digital Assistance for cheap.PM me. I Write Unique Articles-Pm for info- Wind and Solar energy info

09-22-2009, 04:45 PM	#21
Sophist Dissoi Logoi Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Gotham, NYC Posts: 54 Thanks: 1 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Great tutorials Kezz. That's some very valuable material material that Im sure will make everybody's lives much easier. I'll be pm'ing you shortly. Cheers.

09-22-2009, 04:55 PM	#22
jacktb Warrior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 7 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Good tutorials indeed. Kezz, can you include a video about upgrading to a new wordpress version? kudo's and thanks!
	Laser Toner Cartridges - Reliable replacement HP Toners & other printer supplies.

09-22-2009, 05:44 PM	#23
Aitor Astobieta Mind over Matter War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 193 Thanks: 45 Thanked 41 Times in 29 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Wordpress beginners - here you go, a getting started guide Incredible! You know how much some people will pay for that material you have posted on Wordpress? Thank you so much!