Make sure you have the latest version of WordPress. It’s insanely easy to update your WordPress software and plugins right in your WP admin area, something I really appreciate as a web designer/developer using the software for myself and a lot of clients. Such a time saver (which trickles down to a money saver for my clients!!)

• Add Lightbox (better Lightbox 2 functionality) http://mdkart.fr/blog/plugin-add-lightbox-pour-wordpress/
• TinyMCE Advanced (better HTML editor – it even stops WP from removing your line breaks and paragraphs) http://www.laptoptips.ca/projects/tinymce-advanced/
• All in One SEO Pack by http://semperfiwebdesign.com/
• Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator by http://www.arnebrachhold.de/redir/sitemap-home/
• Lightbox 2 by http://www.m3nt0r.de/blog/lightbox-wordpress-plugin/
• My Link Order by http://geekyweekly.com/mylinkorder
• Ultimate Google Analytics: http://www.oratransplant.nl/uga/
• Feedburner Feedsmith by Google
• Post Sticky by http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/
• Post Rating by http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/
• Random Quotes: http://www.zombierobot.com/wp-quotes/
• Widgetize Random Quotes: http://ifacethoughts.net/2006/08/24/random-quote-widget-for-wordpress/

This tutorial assumes you use WordPress for your entire website (for your website pages and your blog). It also assumes absolutely no knowledge of WordPress.

Did I leave something out? Email me and let me know.

Your new website

Once your website is live and you have your admin information (username and password), you’re ready to go!

To make any changes to your website, you have to first login into the administration panel.

You can remember your administration panel address by going to your domain name + wp-admin – such as www.mywebsite.com/wp-admin/

Logging In

On this page you will see a place to enter your username and password, with a log in button.

The Dashboard

Log in, and you’ll be taken to your main admin area, called the “Dashboard” (click image to view full size)

This tutorial will concentrate only on “Pages” and Posts” – can you see these words to the left in the image above?

Pages

First we’ll work with your website’s pages. Click on the “Pages” button and a short menu will show right below it -

If you want to edit an existing page, click on “Edit”. If you want to add a new page, click on “Add New”. You’ll see a page like this (if it’s an existing page, there will be text in the boxes) (click image to view full size) -

Simply type in the title for the page (if the title is already filled in, it doesn’t need to be modified).

You can add a wide variety of information to your website pages. In the Page Content area, you can type in text and using the editor tools (the little buttons above the box), you can format your text to look how you want. You can make lists, bold text, links and more. Remember to make it readable – your website visitors won’t stay if they can’t read it easily.

Adding a Photo/Image

(skip this part if your page doesn’t need a photo)
If your page needs a photo, first click on the place where you want your photo to show, then find the text that says “Upload/Insert” – it has 4 images next to it. The first image is to “add an image” – just click on it. You’ll see this -

Click on the “Select Files” button. A window will show to allow you to find the image or photo on your computer. Find the file, and click on the “Open” button.

The next page you see will let you change the size and placement of your image. (click image to view full size)

If it’s a large image, for Size, choose “thumbnail” or “medium” and in the Link URL, click on the button that says “File URL” – this will create a smaller image of your photo AND link it to the big photo for you! If you’d like to change the placement of the image, maybe to the left or right of the text on the page, you can do so with Alignment.

Make sure to select “Insert into Post” (not “Save all changes”) and the image will be placed right where you clicked.

Hit Publish, and your page is now live! You can visit the main page of your website and find your link.

Posts

Ready to make a post to your blog?

Click on Posts and a short meu will show below it -

Simply select “Add New” and you’ll be taken to a page very similar to the one used to add or edit a Page. (click image to view full size)

Enter your blog post title and content the same as for a Page, but this time, you can add tags and assign your post to a post category. Click on Publish and your new post will show on your blog!

Disable the ability for anyone to register unless you need it. It’s under Settings>General>Membership – deselect the “Anyone can register” box.

Enable comment moderation. Find this under Settings>Discussion>Before a comment appears – select “An administrator must always approve the comment”.

On the same Discussion Settings page, scroll down to your Comment Blacklist. These are words that trigger WordPress to automatically mark a comment as spam, which means you don’t have to deal with them. When you start getting spam, read them (but don’t click on the links!) and find words that normal visitors won’t add. IP addresses can be marked as spam too, if you find multiple comments from the same IP, add them. These words can vary, but look for words that you don’t really want on your blog and add them.

Don’t bother adding words to “Comment Moderation” since you’re already moderating comments. Once a week, visit the spam comment section (via your Dashboard) and scroll through to make sure no real comments got through.

If you don’t want to have to physically moderate your comments, try a plugin!

Anti-Spam Plugins:

Aksimet - Already installed on most self-hosted WordPress installations, but you need a code called a WordPress.com API to use it. To get the API, sign up at www.wordpress.com, but there’s no need to make a blog unless you want to (you have the option to select “just a username please”). Once you’re signed up, visit your Dashboard, view your profile and at the top will be the WordPress.com API code. Go back to your blog, activate Aksimet and add the code where instructed.

WP-SpamFree Anti-Spam

I have a few “preferred” plugins for WordPress…most are recommended for anyone’s blog. You can install any of these onto your blog by using an FTP client like FileZilla and uploading them into you plugins folder (wp-content>plugins), or inquire about having me install them for you (Update your blog to the latest -2.7- version and you can install plugins right in your admin plugin area!). After installation, just go to your WP admin area, go to the Plugin page and activate them. Some plugins require additional settings modified, make sure to read the documentation that comes with them.