Launching a WordPress Blog Ebook
Pat Geary and I have written a Free Launching a WordPress Ebook which is suitable for those using their own domains and subdomains. We cover how to set up WordPress on your server and what settings and preferences are needed. Not only that we make sure SEO features are implemented so your blogging experiance starts off the right way.
Free Launching a WordPress Blog Ebook
- Getting started with a WordPress Blog
- Requirements for Installing WordPress – Before you get started make sure your host gives you the tools you need. One host that we know of who does not is 1and1 UK Home packages. Did you read to the bottom of the page?
- Installing Database -
- Download WordPress
- Configure wp-config-sample file – Did you read the instructions all of the way through? Did you rename the file?
- Configure a FTP Client – If you are already using an ftp client that works, it is not necessary to download FileZilla. Use the one you are comfortable with, but make sure if you’re using another ftp client to set it to ASCII.
- Installing WordPress –
- Setting up WordPress – Did you read to the bottom of the page? Do not try and install a new theme yet. Work with the default one until you have finished setting up.
Options Permalinks – If your url looks like http://your-domain.com/hello-world.php rather than http://your-domain.com/?p123 you followed the instructions. Ready for the next step? - Configure WordPress Categories – Did you follow all of the instructions to the bottom of the page? Don’t worry; you can add more categories later.
- Setting WordPress Preferences – Read it all!
- Installing WordPress Themes – Now you are finally here. Read it all to the very bottom. It will take you longer to decide on choosing a theme than anything else. Once you have installed the theme, take the time to check how it looks in the various browsers, does it have a horizontal scroll? Does it validate? Do you know enough to tweak it until it works like it is supposed to or would you be better off choosing another one?
- Creating SEO Titles in WordPress – Did you follow all of the steps? Did you read to the BOTTOM of the page? Does your page title look like it is supposed to?
- Disable NoFollow Attribute in WordPress – If you don’t read to the very bottom, you will miss the bit about writing posts. After all, that is what your blog is for.
- WordPress Essentials
- WordPress Plugins
- Akismet Plugin – If you don’t want to be plagued by spam, read and configure this plugin.
- Sitemap Plugin – Read all the way to the bottom or you will end up with the word category beside all of your categories.
- WordPress Database Backup – An easy way to backup your database.
- WordPress Ready Contact Form – Do you want your readers to be able to contact you? Then you need a form for them to use. Don’t skip this part.
- How Trackback and Pingback works in WordPress Learn how they work, how to use them and when to use them.
- Moving a WordPress Blog – More advanced but someday you may want to move from a sub-domain to a domain all its own.
- Upgrading WordPress Program – Read and implement carefully, WordPress regularly updates and improves the program, so be ready with the instructions at hand.
- WordPress API – You will need this for configuring your Akismet Spam Plugin.
- WordPress Tips
- WordPress Plugins
- Desktop Blogging Clients - These are more advanced topics for you to explore, if you find you don’t like the WordPress interface to post your blogs, these desktop blogging clients are a safe alternative.
- Windows Live Writer
- Setting Up Windows Live Writer
- BlogDesk
- Installing BlogDesk
- BlogDesk Configuration
- Creating Posts in BlogDesk
- Inserting Images in Posts
- Publishing with BlogDesk
- BlogDesk Options
- BlogDesk Extras
Enhance your business and start blogging The Right Way.
Tina Clarke, Microsoft MVP - FrontPage & Pat Geary, Microsoft MVP - FrontPage Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved
Stumble it!
December 1st, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Hi
Just read your ebook and think the information is superb for anybody wanting to set up a blog. In fact it’s one of the best I have seen.
I cannot find any reference as to your policy on referring others to see the information. Can the ebook be made available on our own websites for instance?
Regards
Chris
December 2nd, 2007 at 4:59 am
Hi Chris
Glad you like the ebook. Pat and I don’t mind if you link to the page I have on my site or she has on her’s. We don’t allow others to have the file on their sites as it would be too numerous to keep up with informing everyone of any updated ebook and we would not the control over those sites on how it is displayed or even updated which is why we have decided that linking is the better option for us. Thank you for asking though. Tina
January 5th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Great book!!!
January 7th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Thanks that’s very helpful. I installed WP automatically in cPanel on my web host and I had a heck of a lot of minor editing to do. Thanks again for the ebook.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:30 am
I have been a frequent visitor of this blog for some time now, so I thought it would be a good idea to leave you with my thanks.
Regards,
Jim Mirkalami
February 24th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
At the first time, I didn’t like to use wp for blogging. But all changed when I found so many tutorials and references about WP. Some understoodable, but some not. Here, Finally I found about “How Trackback and Pingback works in WordPress” topic… helps me a lot. Many Thanks for the ebook.. Great success to you
April 8th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Thats a impressive e-book. Very handy … worth reading :).
April 9th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I’ve read your ebook. I thought it’s a best free wordpress ebook
April 15th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Good work, I have been using Wordpress for a while now but I still able to find some useful tips from your blog. Keep it up !!
May 19th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Just finished reading version 1.3 and liked it enough to come after version 1.4, even though it is very directed at beginners.
I studied your post on your results with your eBook vs your Blog series on Twitter and would like to point out that I personally would never have found you without your eBook … I Googled Wordpress eBooks and downloaded a pile of ebooks when I decided to kick my blogs up a notch … yours is class and free … I would never have waded through the 30 million plus hits for Wordpress blogs to find yours.
So the eBook may be worth the trouble even though it might not seem so if you just look at the stats. Try an eBook on Twitter and report the results, maybe ?
Added you to my read list. Thanks.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hello ,
fist of all im so thankfull. I have tought im a wordpress semi pro. but lol ur free ebook is great stuff. ím german, my english isnt well, but i have understand ur book. and i like bookmarking ur information. does u have more free ebooks like this great?
best regards
Liedhafte Dichtung from germany
May 21st, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Hi Patsan
I’m a bit confused about your post i don’t have anything on twitter as far as i know can you point me to what you are thinking of? Don’t really know what twitter is about either.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Hi Liedhafte
i have free expression web ebooks but that is the only word press ebook we will do another at some point but it will probably be next year some time. However there will be new expression web ebooks coming up for expression web 2, the first one being a setting up expression web 2 which should be available in the next few weeks.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Looks like a very indepth ebook….gonna download it now. Thanks for providing it. I will definitely recommend it if I like it.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Great ebook, this is helpful!
June 12th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Tina, Great book ! Why - ok, because it light and fresh. Good stuff for newbies ! Good job !
June 13th, 2008 at 8:36 am
wow! nice article. thanks for sharing
June 14th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I found this thread thinking it was about actually turning your word press posts into ebooks. ebooks can be a great way to build back links …I was looking for some software that would go through a WP book and turn it into one…
June 18th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Unique eBooks: http://jinxmart.com/ebooks-c-14.html
June 27th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Thank you for this really great ebook. You put in a monster lot of work. I look forward to read it in more detail since I only skimmed so far.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Thanks for the e-book, excellent read. I must admit the friendly SEO section where you talk about the Optimal Title Plugin was something I didn’t know. Hats off to you
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:59 am
Wow, Thanks for the very complete ebook! Just what I was looking for! This book saves me a lot of time figuring some things out by myself, thank you!
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Web Hosting Blog
Well, while I know of sw that can change a site into an ebook, I don’t know of one that can change posts into an ebook, a novel idea. You could save each post to a site and do it that way I suppose? If you hear of anything let me know please.
Tina
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Discount Code Boy
Thank you our aim was to make this an ebook that was focused towards being SEO friendly with WordPress and if that has helped you then we have met our goal:) We hope to update the ebook and bring out a second version sometime in the future.
July 10th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Like all the rest, THANKS! I was still creating blogger blogs and afraid to get into wordpress. Thanks to this blog I feel better.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Thank you for this really great ebook. You put in a monster lot of work. I look forward to read it in more detail since I only skimmed so far.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
The Ebook sounds interesting, I will go ahead and read it and see if I learn a thing or 2.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
You should also add these two plugins to your list: All in one SEO for instant search engine optimization and also Adsense manager. This will help you make money off your work and give you motivation to constantly write in your blog
July 28th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
It sounds like you have put some time into this eBook and for that reason im definitely going to have to read it. Hopefully will learn some great things.
Thanks for sharing.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
wow! good stuff! thanks a lot! this is really helping me. keep it up
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Great detailed information. But now days many people install Wordpress using fantastico from their hosting cpanel. What people need to know now is how to market their blog with SEO techniques.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Thank you for information. Really helpful.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Hey guys just wanted to let you know I actually just used your instructional ebook to install my credit card blog this afternoon. Thanks so much I’m new to Wordpress and this guide help tremendously!
August 16th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Nice Site. I am new here but will be visiting more often as you have done a good job.
Thanks
August 19th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I’m just getting into using WP and i was hoping to get your feedback into the difference of using WP verse Drupal, any suggestions to using one over the other?
August 20th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
COOL!
Great article and good job!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH !
August 29th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
wordpress for the iphone makes working from home and the road a little easier.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:24 am
Do you have any suggestions on how we can embed youtube video directly into a WP blog ?
September 1st, 2008 at 6:16 pm
hey, love the blog - i will try and keep up with it!! please keep more coming :)I wish I could start a blog but I don’t have much time :(Thanks, nick
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Thank you,
that’s so handy for the technically challenged, ok I’ll speak for only myself then!
all the best,
cheers
September 5th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Hey, excellent post, thank you for this, very detailed informative and Clear.
Thanks again.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Wordpress ebooks are alwayes welcomed for us who are relatively new to blogging. thank you.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
great blog site, great articles always relevant!
September 9th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
with the new wordpress can you get all the same themes if your also using it for your iphone?
September 13th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I am doing some research for a paper I am writing about Word Press and stumbled across this article. I have been a prolific user of the net since 1999 and I am still totally amazed by the information
you come across just by pulling on a thread and following it. It really is just extraordinary. Good post thankyou.
September 14th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
That is a pretty good information for newbies but I shall like you to extend it to some advanced level. I think there are many advanced topics which still need to be covered. Let’s say rather than explaining a bit about permalinks you can write many thing about how to troubleshoot them.
September 15th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Hi Hip Zone
I’m afraid Pat and I wrote this ebook, just to learn how to use WordPress properly, while we enjoyed writing it, its not our main subject that we focus on. We will write a new ebook to update the last one to the latest version, and anything new that has come up, but we don’t know enough to write anything advanced and we are learning to the level we are at ourselves. Pat is more advanced than I am as she has kept up with the changes, writing an ebook will probably help me much more:) There are plenty of resources out there though. Tina
September 15th, 2008 at 5:00 am
proposition betting - I have no idea sorry
Tina
September 15th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Sorry web Design no idea right now but there is bound to be something at WordPress Tina
September 15th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Thats a impressive e-book. Very handy … thanks a lot
September 15th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
wordpress for the iphone makes working from home and the road easier not to mention the possible overtime.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I’ve downloaded the book, thanks very much, very interesting for those of us are beginners at this stuff.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Hello Tina! Thanks for the ebook! Its a great resource to have on the hard drive! I am a bit new to wordpress so I was able to learn many details although I only read about a fourth of it! Thanks!
September 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
VTW, Where can I get that WordPress ebook?
September 20th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
<p>A very useful ebook, I was just looking for an ebook about wordpress, now I’m ready to try all things out!<br />
Thanks!!!!!!!!</p>
October 1st, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Great post! May i share on my website?139
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
wordpress is my favourite cms, i use it on almost every own website, drupal is on second place
October 8th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
The book is good however there is no need to learn how to set up wordpress blog when you can do it automatically using fantastico deluxe script which come with many hosting packages nowadays. It takes me less than a minute to complete the job and start blogging =)
October 9th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Ebookee
you can link to the ebook, but you can not put the actual ebook file on your website
Tina
October 9th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Zygor
If you want a blog that is set up correctly code wise and seo wise yes you do need to do yourself. Fantasico etc is for people who use the equal of FP Themes. Just because it’s easy does not mean it’s the right way.
My own host does not have this feature btw.
Tina
October 11th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Hi, Tina. Thank you for your so valuable step-by-step tutorial.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I like it very much. I want to put a link to this page from my web site. Great. Thanks
October 15th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Nice post. Very informative. I’ve bookmarked it so I can follow more posts. Thanks, Joseph.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:49 am
sorry for my english, excellent article and blog post, i just digged your post and stumbled up so you can get more popularity.
Congrats on your website , great info.
Cheers,
Mike ( Mexico )
October 17th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
<p>GReat ebook, just read a few chapters and skimmed the rest, but I will definately read the rest when I have the time, thanks</p>
October 18th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Good information you have, thanks.
October 20th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Hey……I’m new to the world of home businesses and blogger but am trying to learn as much as I can.
Any help would be great, I hope to get to know a few people and learn some tricks.
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:30 pm
This is a great e-book, really good information! Thank you!
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I just wish that I had come across this site several months ago… it would have saved me a lot of sighing and puffing.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Great Book.. Thanks mate!
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Very great info and i loved it.
November 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I had fun reading it and really thanks for the info you put forward here ..
November 26th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
GreAT GUIDE..
November 26th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
This blog really tells you everything you need to know about Wordpress blogs. I’m glad I came upon this because I just recently installed my first blog. I’m specifically interested in removing the no follow attribute and also making sure my Title tags function correctly.
November 28th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Great work with the ebook, it took me quite some time to source this sort of information myself, an ebook like this would of saved me quite some time.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I have difficulty changing permalinks and am wondered what to do with old posts? I have tried to change it and all my older posts and pages go in unavailable status. I think it might be some advanced topic but hope someone would have done it.
December 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Hi! Thanks for the great guide. I am new to wordpress and trying to learn more so any help is a good addition to the knowledge.This surely helps.Your efforts are highly appreciated.Thanks for the ebook.
December 6th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I’m using WP on my latest blog after using blogger for all my websites before and I used this guide to help me with the setup and install. Thank you:)
December 7th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Thanks for the great guide.
December 9th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Very nice - since I am very new to wordpress I found it very useful.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
A Lot off Helpfull Info .. Thanks buddu
December 10th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Great Info for newbies. And of course, for everyone else wanting to start a new blog, a great check-list. Especially found your recommended plugins section useful. Thanks.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:32 am
great info you have. I just started 2 months ago and i’m using WP on my blog.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
This is a great e-book, really good information! Thank you!
December 12th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Great Info for newbies
December 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Hi,
Thanks for sharing such a nice article. a to z of wordpress blog this post is complete solution for wordpress.
December 18th, 2008 at 8:26 am
This is a great e-book,
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Really nice information and meaningful e-book!
Thank you keep on.
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 am
Love your post!! Finally someone got it right!!! Would you mind if I put a blogroll link back to your post?
December 25th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
<p>I really liked your article. My compliments!! Thank you!</p>
December 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
great e-book,
December 30th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
thanks for the information, I found your post very useful, greetings!
December 31st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Resume - no problem:)
Thanks Megan:) Look out for a new updated ebook in early 2009
You too Web Man - we will be doing more research on plugins and letting you know our findings, plus how to upate from old wp to the latest and hopefully something on social media such as twitter (see below)
Glad to help Arren
Nick - you might do better with Twitter.com - check out my twitter at http://twitter.com/tinaclarke comments on my background wanted!
Kabonfootprint - well if you use the control panel how can you be in control? The best way is to do yourself and if I can do this anyone can:)
Kevin Phenoix - Your so right, thats why we wrote the ebook, could find anything that I trusted on seo. The best way forward after getting the settings right is to blog as much as you can. Link it into your main site and use keywords in your title and the body of your post. Good luck for 2009 everyone.
Tina
December 31st, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Love your post!! Finally someone got it right
January 2nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Great insights. Great information about ebook. You have nicely described. This information is also helps to those who have no idea about it. Thanks for sharing…
January 2nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Nice.
Thanks for the useful information
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Wordpress is one of the best pieces of software to some along in years. there’s not much you can’t do with it, short of having an e-commerce website.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:53 am
I think wordpress is really evolving from a simple blogging platform to an allinone website cms platform. i’ve actually been using it for all of my sites lately rather than hand coding.
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Thanks for the useful information