Introduction
It was 2003 when I discovered the WordPress blogging software. Way back then (and in Internet years, that’s actually quite a lot of time), I used Movable Type as my blogging platform. My friend Chelle introduced me to the WordPress software. “Try it,” she said. “You’ll really like it.”
As a creature of habit, I felt reluctant to make the change. But I haven’t looked back. I’ve been with WordPress ever since.
WordPress started as a tool for blogging. Authors, students, parents, business owners, academics, journalists, hobbyists — you name it — use blogs as a matter of course. Over the past decade, WordPress has emerged as the premier content management system (CMS) available on the Internet. WordPress software currently powers 30 percent of the websites you see.
Today, WordPress is much more than a blogging tool. Individuals, organizations, and corporations are using WordPress to build their entire web presence. WordPress has grown into a valuable solution for everything from selling products on the Internet to running membership sites and blogging. Pretty much anything you think you can do with your website, you can accomplish with WordPress.
To a brand-new user, some aspects of WordPress can be a little bit intimidating. After you start using it, however, you begin to realize how intuitive, friendly, and extensible the software is.
This book presents an insightful look at WordPress. In the book, I cover managing and maintaining your WordPress-powered website through the use of plugins and themes, as well as using the intuitive WordPress Dashboard to manage your content. If you’re interested in taking a detailed look at the website-building tool provided by WordPress, you happen to have just the right book in your hands.
About This Book
This book covers all the important aspects of WordPress that new users need to know to use the software for their own websites. I cover the software package available at https://wordpress.org by highlighting important topics, such as these:
- Installing and setting up the software
- Navigating the WordPress Dashboard
- Finding and installing free themes to use on your WordPress website
- Using basic coding to design your own WordPress theme or modify the one you’re using
- Installing, activating, and managing WordPress plugins
- Choosing to use the multiple-site WordPress Network option to host a network of websites in your domain
- Migrating your existing website to WordPress (if you’re using a different platform, such as Drupal, Movable Type, or Expression Engine)
With WordPress, you can truly tailor a website to your own tastes and needs. Some of them are packaged with the WordPress software; others are third-party plugins and add-ons created by members of the WordPress user community. You need to invest only a little research, knowledge, and time to put together a site that suits your needs and gives your readers an exciting experience that keeps them coming back for more.
Foolish Assumptions
I’ll never know what assumptions you’ve made about me at this point, but I can tell you a few things that I already assume about you:
- You know what a computer is. You can turn it on, and you understand that if you spill coffee on your keyboard, you’ll have to run out and get a replacement.
- You understand how to connect to the Internet and know the basics of using a web browser to surf websites.
- You have a basic understanding of what websites and blogs are, and you’re interested in using WordPress to start your own. Or you already have a website, are already using WordPress, and want to understand the program better so that you can do more cool stuff and stop bugging your geeky best friend whenever you have a question about something. You already have a website on another platform and want to move your website to WordPress.
- You know what email is. You know what an email address is. You actually have an email address, and you send and receive email on a semiregular basis.
Icons Used in This Book
Icons emphasize a point to remember, a danger to be aware of, or information that I think you may find helpful. Those points are illustrated as such:
Tips are little bits of information that you may find useful.
I use this icon to point out dangerous situations.
All geeky stuff goes here. I don’t use this icon very often, but when I do, you’ll know that you’re about to encounter technical mumbo-jumbo.
When you see this icon, read the text next to it two or three times to brand it into your brain so that you remember whatever it is that I think you need to remember.
Beyond the Book
I’ve put a ton of information between the covers of this book, but at www.dummies.com you can find a Cheat Sheet that lists
- Where to find WordPress support online
- How to navigate the WordPress Dashboard
- How to locate a reliable web-hosting provider
When you arrive at www.dummies.com, type the book's title in the Search field to find the Cheat Sheet.
Where to Go from Here
This book is a veritable smorgasbord of WordPress information, ideas, concepts, tools, resources, and instruction. Some parts of the book may apply directly to what you want to do with your WordPress blog. Other parts may deal with topics that you’re only mildly curious about, so feel free to skim (or skip) those pages.
If you already have WordPress installed on your web server, for example, you can skip Chapter 3. If you aren’t interested in digging into the code of a WordPress template and don’t want to find out how to apply CSS or HTML to enhance your design, you can skip Chapters 9 through 12. If you have no interest in running more than one website with WordPress, you can skip Chapter 13.
I don’t intend for you to read this book from cover to cover (unless you’re my mother — then I won’t forgive you if you don’t). Rather, scan the table of contents and the index to find the information you need.
Long story short: Take what you need, and leave the rest.