Complete Wordpress Installation and Setup Tutorial
Wordpress is CMS (content manager system) or also called Blog publishing application. It is used for website maintance. You don’t have to have your own Wordpress installation, but it really save your time, which is many times more valuable. Many websites today are based on Wordpress, because it’s much easier to work with your website, it has support of community, which produce needed plugins. Plugin can extend your Wordpress’s functionality. There’s no need of programming knowledge in base. Of course, if you want to make your posts nicer, you have to know basics of HTML in minimum. In this article I’ll show you how to install your wordpress on your hosting and what plugins you should download.
If you still hadn’t your own hosting, read more about on Creating Powerful and Professional Website Advertisement.
Navigation
Wordpress Installation
Requirements
- Wordpress files
- using a Linux/Apache web server
- PHP 4.2 or higher is installed on the web server
- using MySql 4.0 or higher for a database
1. Download your copy of Wordpress
2. Unpack archive in your computer’s drive
3. Use FTP client to connect with your FTP
4. On your FTP account create a new folder for Wordpress files (For example, you can create folder in root named wordpress)
5. Copy Wordpress files into this folder
6. For all Wordpress files in directory set 755 permissions (enable executable for all files), by default it is 644 (without executable)
7. By default, in the Wordpress directory is file named wp-config-sample.php, rename it to wp-config.php
8. Create a new MySQL database. Open wp-config.php and find rows below and edit them with your data (edit only the blue ones)
define('DB_NAME', 'HERE_PUT_YOUR_DATABASE_NAME');
define('DB_USER', 'HERE_PUT_MYSQL_USERNAME');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'HERE_PUT_MYSQL_PASSWORD');
define('DB_HOST', 'HERE_PUT_NAME_OF THE_MYSQL_SERVER');
If you have set up permissions and edited wp-config.php, point your browser to: http://www.yourwebsite.com/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php
If you have done all well, these 3 pages will appear:
First,
Second,
Third,
The last problem is, that Wordpress runs from its directory by default. It means, that a visitor who want to access your blog have to enter this adress http://www.yourwebsite.com/wordpress/, that’s not very friendly, don’t you think? We need to change it into http://www.yourwebsite.com/.
Into Wordpress address type directory, where is your Wordpress located. Into Blog address type address, which will be used to access the URL in WordPress address field.
Then go to your Wordpress directory and copy index.php to root. Open copied index.php and find thiw row
*/require('./wp-blog-header.php');?>
replace with this
*/require('./wordpress/wp-blog-header.php');?>
Instead of “wordpress” directory type name of your wordpress folder and save the file.
Basic Setup and Plugins
If you have done all previous steps, you can continue with selection of you blog theme. Theme is a graphical face of your website and has high effect on first coming visitors. My advice is to look for less graphic, more elegant and clean graphical style. Something like you can see on my website.
Click on Appearance in Wordpress menu. In this window, you see available themes, what you can use. If you want to add new themes, you must download them from the Internet and whole directory put here
.../wp-content/themes/
After then you can login into WordPress and check out, that the new theme appears in selection. Then easily click activate under theme’s picture.
How to brightly choose good template you can read in Creating Powerful and Professional Website Advertisement.
How to Add Widgets to Sidebar
Click Appearance → Widgets
There you can select which widgets you want in the sidebars. The number and location of sidebars depends of selected theme. Sidebar 1 is mostly the right one and sidebar 2 the left one.
Just give it a try.
Let’s look at sidebar’s setup. There you can choose navigation and content managing stuff for your site.
This is the Sidebar window. Choose widget in selection on the left side, drag it and move it into Sidebar window.
Recommended items are Internal links (list of your articles), Tags, Search, Subsribtion and Categories.
You shouldn’t also forget to add your Twitter. If you haven’t implemented Twitter account’s overview into your homepage, use instead at least active Add-Me-Twitter button. Your visitors must have some way how to stay connect with your person.
Plugins – Backbone of your Wordpress Based Website
The most important part of Wordpress lies in possibility of adding plugins. Wordpress works dynamically. Variables aren’t hard coded. WP uses those, which are defined by added plugin. Everything you want on your side, you can find as a plugin in WordPress Plugin Directory (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/).
How to install a plugin?
Download plugin from WordPress Plugin Directory and unpack it here
.../wordpress/wp-content/plugins
After then log into your WordPress and move to Plugins option (picture above). Here you can select which plugin to activate, deactivate or delete.
I’ll demonstrate, which plugins are necessarily to use.
1. SEO plugin
You need to make your blog friendly for Search Engines. Instead of manually coding you could use plugin, which makes everything instead of you.
For this purpose, you can use plugin All in One SEO Pack.
2. META data
Next to SEO you should take care about your additional meta data. They could be requested from Blog directories, Google Webmaster Tools etc. For this purpose you can use
For this purpose, you can use plugin Meta Tag Manager.
3. Sitemap
Sitemap is a text file which contains all web addresses of your site. It helps search engines to find all your sites. It is important part of each website.
For this purpose, you can use plugin Google XML Sitemaps.
4. Internal linking structure aka Related posts
For internal linking structure you should use such plugin, which can create related posts. It is necessarilly to give visitors new ways how to leave your post – yup, jump to another of your posts.
For this purpose, you can use plugin WordPress Related Posts.
5. Social Bookmarks in posts
In present also very important. You must give your visitor some way, how to send post which he likes to a friend or to bookmark site. For this purpose are used Social Bookmarks. It is added at the end of each post and add possibility to show your article to the world.
For this purpose, you can use plugin Social Bookmarks.
6. Twitter
Twitter is also one of social networks, but it’s quite different. Create you own Twitter account and place Follow me button on Twitter into your homepage.
For this purpose you don’t have to have a plugin, but if you want dynamic twitter widget, try to look for some what will fit your page.
7. Monetize your site
If you are using Adsense for monetizing your site, then its recommeded to use some plugin, which will randomly add adsense ads into your posts. You can also add them into your sidebars by adding text widget and HTML code. Don’t forget, that on one site, there can be only 3 adsense ads. Do not brake this rule!
For this purpose, you can use plugin All in One Adsense and YPN.
8. Google Analytics
necessary equip of each webmaster. Tracking your visitors loyalty, better aim your ads and clear overview of visits.
For this purpose, you can use plugin Ultimate Google Analytics.
9. Favicon
Personalising your site is very important. Additionally to your photo, signs and personal-writing style you can add icon for your website. It is called favicon (favourite icon). Install this plugin Shockingly Simple Favicon and follow the instruction.
Well, that is for setup of your WordPress enough as far as I now. Stay tuned for more updates.
Cheers,
Jan.
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