Setting Up Your First Blog with WordPress
The video below is the second in a series of video tutorials covering the (very) basics of blogging using WordPress.com and tweeting with Twitter. In Part II, we cover choosing a WordPress.com theme and writing your first post with the WordPress.com setup menus that appear after activation.
Part II: Choosing a Theme & Your First Post
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- After Activating your blog, you will be on the Welcome to WordPress.com! screen. Click the NEXT STEP button.
- Here WordPress offers you a chance to follow your friends via Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Click the NEXT STEP button.
- Set Up Your Blog. This screen allows you to change the name of your blog, add a tagline, and choose the language you’ll blog in. Click on NEXT STEP.
- Choose your blog’s design by selecting a Theme, staying with the free themes for now. Click on NEXT STEP.
- You can customize the theme you chose. For now, skip this step (you can do this later). Click the NEXT STEP button.
- Create your first post by typing your title and the text in the boxes provided on the screen. Click FINISH.
- Your blog post has been published, but the screen you see next is your Dashboard. To see your post on your blog, open a new tab or window in your browser.
- Type in the URL you gave your blog when you signed up (yourblogname.wordpress.com).
- Now that you are on your blog, you’ll see your first post, and a post WordPress has provided for you (titled Hello world!) to get you started.
- Click on EDIT to see how you can edit and update posts.
- Click on the ALL POSTS tab on the left side of your browser screen while you are in your Dashboard. You’ll see both posts that are now on your blog.
- Hover your mouse over the Hello world! post until it changes color and a menu appears below it.
- Choose TRASH to delete the default post.
In the next video, we will discuss the difference between Posts and Pages, learn how to create a Page, update the About Page provided by WordPress, and discuss the Dashboard.