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Journals by EmailThe following is a guest post by Norman Mann, a writer for Web Host Gear, a Web hosting guide site. He writes on the topics of blogging tips and online marketing.
WordPress is a powerful blogging tool with many customizable options. From the moment you log into the dashboard, you have many choices of how to configure your blog. How you configure these settings will affect how you experience WordPress and how readers experience your blog.
Themes
One of the first things you should consider doing is visiting the Appearances menu to choose a theme. Theme variations on WordPress include sidebars on the right or left, fixed or flexible width layouts, customizable menus, customizable headers, and multiple columns. The first impression visitors get of your blog is the layout, so it’s important to pick something appropriate to your content and the audience you expect to draw.
Settings
Once you have a theme in place that is to your liking, click through the Settings menu. Here you can set your blog title, time zone, the time and date format for posts, and comment moderation preferences. These are all basic settings that should be configured before you begin using your blog.
Widgets
After setting up the basics, you may want to look at the Widgets that WordPress has to offer. Widgets are add-ons that appear in the sidebar of your blog and can enhance its layout. Adding a list of blogs you follow, sharing relevant links, incorporating your Twitter feed, and allowing users to search your blog are just a few of the things that can be done with Widgets. Like the theme, which Widgets you choose may depend on the content and intended audience of your blog. Drag the Widgets you wish to use into the Sidebar section to activate them and access configuration options.
Profile & Settings
How you experience your blog is just as important as how your readers do, so make sure to configure your personal settings. Pick a color scheme for your dashboard, enable and customize proofreading options for posts and pages, and make sure your basic account details are correct. And don’t forget to update your profile settings, as well, to choose what information to share when people view your WordPress profile.
Pages
A WordPress Page is a static page used for pertinent or unchanging information. For example, if your blog is for a business, you may wish to set up a page with information about your company. This type of content remains applicable over time and is something you want your readers to have easy access to. Creating a page for such information allows it to stand alone rather than getting lost in your post archives.
Tools
If you want to import content from your previous web hosting provider that you blogged on and wish to host it elsewhere, the Tools menu is the place to go. From here you can also export your existing WordPress posts for use as backup or import a previous WordPress backup into your new blog.
Plugins
WordPress gains even more options through hundreds of available plugins. Add, activate, and upgrade plugins on the Plugins page. For suggestions on plugins to start with, see Nicholas Cardot’s “The 15 Best WordPress Plugins to Use in 2010.”
Security
Now that you have your blog configured, you want to keep it secure. Make sure your password contains a strong combination of upper- and lower-case letters, as well as numbers. If at some point you have to access your blog from an unsecure network such as public wi-fi, consider resetting your password the next time your have access to a secure connection. Never share your password with anyone for any reason, especially via electronic means such as e-mail.
The WordPress blogging tool is easy to configure and offers a variety of options for new and seasoned bloggers alike. Once you’ve completed the setup, you’ll be ready to share your blog with potential readers all over the web.
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