Blogging with WordPress for ABSOLUTE beginners

When I started with WordPress, I was very familiar with lots of technical stuff (HTML & CSS, if you’re interested). However, I still found it incredibly challenging, despite the so-called five minute install. (N.B. Yes, the install can take five minutes, but sometimes it doesn’t - depends if you encounter problems or not…).

‘Blogging with WordPress for ABSOLUTE beginners’ is part of the ‘Bright Resources‘ series, which I update as necessary. This article has was selected as *the* WordPress for beginners guide, by Max Power, in the first response to Lorelle’s Blogging Challenge.

Please do send me questions and links to help add value for you & other visitors.

Making blogging easy for you

Blogging could be so much easier than that and it should be! There are some helpful resources out there, some in plain English, some not. I’ve brought together some of the best articles for you, let me know what you think of them.

Jump to:

• What it is Self-publishing online - much more than just an online journal
• Why do it Reach lots of people, share information, interact…
• How to start Just do it! Use WordPress in conjunction with the recommended resources, all free
• When to get started Now.

What it is

What is blogging?

Blogging has evolved to mean much more than diary entries. Blogging is easy, almost instant, publishing of content to a website, where every entry is preserved in a database and is therefore categorisable and searchable. Content can be photographs, recipes, restaurant reviews, or anything digitally storable on a computer that you can categorise… The true power of the blog comes from its interactivity with visitors and other blogs.

elise.com: What is blogging? Excellent article, very highly recommended.

Useful links: BBC Webwise, Ask Bruce: What is blogging ?, Weblogs: History & perspective, Wikipedia: Blog

What is WordPress?

The best platform for creating, publishing and managing your blog. Oh, and it’s free! All Things Bright uses WordPress. (Not to be confused with WordPress.com, which is both a) not free an b) not as good).

Why to do it

Why blog?

Small question, with big answers…! The short answer is to reach more people. Whatever you’re interested in doing — connecting with people who share your hobbies, selling stuff, converting people to a particular point of view, advertising your products or services, gossip etc. — blogging is an increasingly popular and effective way of doing it, if you do it right. So, how do you that? Keep reading.

How to get started: Just start!

Start as a professional, even if you’re still an amateur

By which I mean, don’t use Blogger!

I recommend getting a blog with your own domain name (e.g. www.yourname.com, not www.yourname.blogspot.com). Don’t start by joining Blogger (free blogging service, owned by Google) to try out blogging. Why not? Because if/when you become successful with blogging, you’re liable to really regret it.

Of the 80 bloggers who responded to the Problogger challenge If I had to start my blog again…, the vast majority regretted not using their own domain for their blog. The other most common regret was not starting earlier.

Tubetorial has excellent, easy-to-understand, professional, free video tutorials to explain lots of aspects of how to be an online success, including mastering WordPress. Get started with Why WordPress and How It Works and continue by exploring more on WordPress & other topics.

When to start

Don’t wait; do it now! If you have any questions, I will help you. If you need hosting, I will help you. If you don’t know where to buy a domain name, I will help you. Email me.

If you still don’t want to start a proper blog now, but would like to test the waters, Squidoo is good to start with. I recommend it for a) just starting out, b) bringing disparate information together, and c) as an accompaniment to a site or blog. However, you really can’t beat an actual blog.

Squidoo gives you lots of the functionality of blogs, but only in small doses. This means you don’t get overwhelmed, but you’re also less likely to get completely attached to it and less likely to resist changing to a blog when the time is right for you. See my Feminism UK lens for an example.