need help with WP

Hi there

I wrote a tutorial in setting up a Wordpress blog which is below, I hope you find it useful:


When creating a website people often opt for Wordpress because of its ready-to-use templates and its easy use. Here is my step by step tutorial to create a Wordpress site.

Step 1: Web Hosting
Good web hosting is essential for Wordpress. Consider a web host that has a cPanel, as it is easy to install Wordpress using Fantastico (a function in the cPanel).

Free web hosting is not recommended as Wordpress requires a database to work and even the best free web hosts have problems with this.

BlueHost web hosting is very much recommended in the field as they have cPanel and you can host unlimited domains on one hosting account. So you can have as many Wordpress blogs (websites) on one hosting account as you want for just $6.95 per month.

Unless your website is a really heavy one with tons of minute details an inexpensive hosting will do.

Step 2: Install Wordpress
Wordpress can be installed using the one-click WP installation feature with Fantastico in the cPanel. It is really easy and quick and tutorials are available online.

Step 3: Upload a Wordpress Template
Find a nice Wordpress theme for your website and just upload it to the wp-content/themes/ folder. Then activate it in the WP admin panel - in Presentation -> Themes.

Step 4: Modify the Theme
If you do not want comments and the "posted by... on..." displayed to make your website look like a blog, just delete the following from the index.php (and also delete the same in the files page.php and single.php - if there are these files):
• <?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?><?php edit_post_link(', Edit'); ?>
• <div class="comm"><?php comments_popup_link('Post Comment', 'Comments (1)', 'Comments (%)'); ?></div>

Note: Backup the files of your theme before editing it, so that you have the original files in case you do something wrong.

You might also like to edit some images of the theme like e.g. the header image. All this depends on what you want.

Lilach

I wrote a blog post a while back that answers some of your questions:

So You Want to Start Blogging | Internet Marketing and Web Strategy Development in Grand Rapids, MI

As to the other questions, the two types of WP blogs are hosted and stand-alone. Hosted sites are found on 'www.yoursite.wordpress.com' type of setup and you can get one for free at wordpress.com. The other type is stand-alone, where you install the WP blogging platform onto your site and your URL is your domain.

Do a search for 'free wordpress themes' and hundreds of results will help you out.

See this post:
Pulsed: Blogger vs. Wordpress.com Comparison Chart - 2010

On stand alone sites there are no limitations. On the Wordpress hosted sites, you'll have to look into their terms of service to answer that.

Say you sign up for Hostgator and buy a new domain name with namescheap.
elis.com
In namescheap you enter the nameservers:
NS1.HOSTGATOR.COM
NS2.HOSTGATOR.COM

Go to your hostgator account and add a new domain, elis.com
in you hostgator cpanel (manager) find a little blue smiley face called "fantasico"
Select wordpress on the left.
Add new install
Select domain location: maybe you'd like www.elis.com/blog or just elis.com.
Install, done.
copy name and password that you already set in install.
go to www.elis.com/wp-admin
manage your blog
Appearance is where you'll find themes, install new, you can search from there or just google "free wordpress themes"
You can have as many blogs on hostgator as you like for like 8 bucks a month.

The 2 types of WP blogs are the free ones and the cpanel hosted ones.
The free ones are very restrictive and not good for selling and may be shut down.
The cpanel hosted you are free to sell and promote anything you'd like (within the law) and however much you'd like. No Limits.

Everyone else is right; Fantastico inside of CPanel is the way to go when it comes to ease of install.

But I once tried installing a Wordpress script from "scratch" (without using Fantastico), and while it was a bit more complicated than just clicking a few links and typing where I wanted to put it, when you get a chance you might want to try downloading Wordpress from the web and installing from scratch. The instructions on the download website are very detailed and the process is not very hard. And if you have any questions, there are lots of Warriors here to help you

I say this because in following the instructions to install Wordpress from scratch, you will also learn a few things that will help you in the future to install other scripts that are NOT inside Fantastico. Once you learn the details of installing Wordpress from scratch having the confidence to install it will spill over and help you to install other scripts that are not very complicated to install. This will in turn save you from having to pay someone to install all of your scripts, saving you money and possibly time in the future. Installing simple scripts is a valuable skill to have that will help you to grow as an internet marketer.

You don't HAVE to. But it's something to consider.


EDIT: I'm not really advising to learn about installing scripts to save money, although you probably will. My comment is more about saving time. The turnaround time on a good script installer is usually short unless (s)he is busy. But even so, if you can do it, then why wait?

a) don't even think to set up a blog to be "monetized" at wordpress.COM - they will delete it instantly!

b) just download the script from wordpress.ORG and use it on your own domain/hosting.

c) with the WP version 3.x.x you can have many blogs with one single installation > read my free report

If you get hosting that has cpanel, like hostgator or hostmonster, to install a wordpress blog is simple. Just click on the blue smiley face icon called Fantastico and choose Wordpress and with a couple of clicks, it is installed. You can install "unlimited" blogs or sites on hostgator. Hostmonster has a 100 database limit.