Build Your Author Platform. Carole Jelen

UPLOADING WORDPRESS

      FileZilla is a simple FTP client application that connects to your web host and uploads your WordPress files with just a few setup steps. When you signed up with your host, most likely you received information about uploading files to the host’s FTP server. Given its cross-platform character and its lack of cost, you might even find that your host has step-by-step instructions for setting up FTP with FileZilla.

      After downloading and installing FileZilla, follow these steps to set up the file transfer between your computer and your web host:

      1 Launch FileZilla.

      2 Go to File > Site Manager (or click the first icon on the left in the toolbar). A dialogue box appears.

      3 Click New Site to enter your information.

      4 Insert the connection information you received from your host. This includes the following:Host: This is usually the same as your domain name, with ftp in front, for example, ftp.myWPblog.com.Server Type: This should always be FTP.Logon Type: For your website, this should usually be set to Normal. You use anonymous FTP when you visit a software download site, where the keepers don’t really care who you are. The Normal setting requires a password to get to.User: Your host should give you a username to access your files. Type this here.Password: This is the place where you supply your password. It is usually identical to your site password.Your host might have you fill in the Account line, and you can add information in the Comments section.

      5 Click the Transfer Settings tab. Then select the Passive button. In passive mode, the client sets up all the data flow. This is more secure, especially if your firewall stops any data trying to pass through it from outside the network.

      6 Click the Advanced tab. Your host might want you to set a Default Remote Directory. This is the directory at the host server that appears when you log in. If you don’t set this option, you will likely enter a directory with your username at login time. You could set up a WordPress directory as the default, too. Similarly, you might want to set your local WordPress directory as the default local directory.

      7 Click Connect at the bottom of the screen. If your settings are entered correctly, you should now be connected to your host server, and you can upload files by dragging them on the screen from the source folder to the destination folder. (When you’re ready to disconnect from the server, press Ctrl+D in Windows, Command+D on a Mac.)

      8 Point the Local Site section of FileZilla to the location of the WordPress files on your own computer. Connect to your host (Remote Site) on the right side and navigate to the directory where you want to store WordPress. If you’re ready to transfer all the WordPress files, press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac) to select them; then drag them over to the right side to begin the transfer.

      Now you’re ready to install WordPress!

THE FAMOUS 5-MINUTE WORDPRESS INSTALLATION

      Let’s do the famous five-minute WordPress installation!

      1 Go to http://<yourdomainname>. If you did everything correctly in the last set of steps, you should see a mostly empty screen with a Create a Configuration File button. Click it.

      2 Some more introductory language appears, with a Let’s Go! button. Click that button.

      3 Enter the information we advised you to write down in the previous section:Database nameDatabase username (which should be the same as the database)The database user’s passwordThe database host (you shouldn’t have to change this from localhost)Table prefix (you can leave this as the default wp_)

      4 Click the Submit button. If all has gone well, you’ll see the “All right Sparky!” screen. If all has not gone well, you will get an error message. Most often it will complain about an “Error establishing a database connection.” If this happens, make sure that you entered the right information about your database. Remember these details about your database:The database name should be spelled exactly the same in the WordPress Installation Wizard as it is in phpMyAdmin. Spelling counts everywhere else, too!The database username should be the same as the database name.The database password is case-sensitive.The database host information is localhost.

      Get all of these items right, and you’ll be all right, Sparky! Note that when you are filling out this form in your browser, you are actually editing the WordPress configuration file, wp-config.php, so go through the steps carefully. Once you’ve got the database connection finished, now comes the fun part:

      1 Click the Run the Install button.

      2 Fill in the three items on this screen:Name your site. Since it’s on your computer, you can be as creative as you’d like, or you could just choose something as boring as “My Test Site.” You can change this anytime.Give WordPress an email address for communication purposes.Check the Allow My Blog to Appear in Search Engines Like Google and Technorati check box.

      3 Click the Install WordPress button. WordPress creates the admin user and generates an initial login password for that user. This user differs from the WordPress database user you created in the previous section in that you will be logging into this account on a regular basis to administer your WordPress settings. Write this default password down or copy it to the Clipboard or a text file. You will need it to log in the first time. This information is also emailed to the address you listed on the Install screen.

      4 Click the Login button. The standard WordPress login screen appears.

      5 Type in admin for the username and the generated password from Step 3. Leave the Remember Me box unchecked. The admin account should only be used when you have specific administrative changes to make to your blog. You’ll create a separate user account for your everyday content needs in a few minutes. Click the Login button.

      6 Your administrative dashboard appears. The first time you log in, WordPress reminds you that you used the autogenerated password and asks if you want to change it. The advantage of keeping the autogenerated password is that it is more secure, and using it makes it less likely that someone will steal your admin password and wreak havoc on your site. The disadvantage is that it’s usually harder to remember.

      The installation is complete. You’ve got a content management system! Celebrate!

Choose a Design Theme

      If you’re going to skip all the other aspects of setting up and installing your WordPress site, the one part you’ll likely want to have a hand in is probably the most fun, which is choosing your website’s design theme.

      WordPress and its amazing community of programmers makes it easy to define a standard look for your site. A theme uses a web standard called cascading style sheets (CSS) to define the general look and feel of your site, promoting consistency from page to page. Themes often provide additional functionality beyond just how your site looks, and an array of options to give you more control over your site’s appearance just by checking boxes or clicking buttons.

      WordPress includes a default theme with your installation and updates it every year. You’ll see the theme listed on your dashboard. Click the link to visit the Theme Management page. You should see a place to install new themes. On this page, you can access the WordPress Free Themes Directory and install new themes from among the thousands available. You can also find the theme directory at wordpress.org/extend/themes.

      Click the links at the top to view featured themes highlighted by WordPress developers, along with the newest or most recently updated themes. Use the search box to find themes you may have heard of or that have particular keywords in their theme descriptions. The Feature Filter lets you check a box to find a theme with a feature set you want to have.

      Once you find a theme