WordPress in Plain English... introduction

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WordPress in Plain English... introduction

marti garaughty, The Art of Marketing YOU

Hi guys, in my previous post Aliens, Espresso, WordPress and Rain blogs I mentioned that I'll be starting a new series of tutorials this month... WordPress in Plain English

Since there seems to be a lot of confusion about even the most basic aspects of WordPress, these tutorials will be based on the questions/problems I hear about most often. Also, if you have ideas or suggestions for future tutorials, let me know and if there is enough interest, I'll try to cover those as well. Let's get started...

garaughty, blog design, graphics, marketing, wordpress

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of WordPress like installation, settings, tweaking the design, etc... I thought we should take look at 2 basic points that seem to cause most of the confusion for people who've never used WordPress before. Those 2 questions are usually something along the lines of...

- Why do I need or why should I use WordPress for my blog or website?

- Should I use WordPress.com or WordPress.org

marti garaughty, The Art of Marketing YOU

OK, nobody "needs" WordPress. You need food, water, air, love and espresso (maybe espresso is just me) but... if you want to build a rock solid, flexible, easy to maintain web presence, WordPress is the platform of choice for some of the biggest names, blogs and websites on the net like...

The Wall Street Journal

Before we go on, to get the most out of WordPress I'm going to ask you to stop thinking of it as a blog.

marti garaughty, The Art of Marketing YOU

Yes, WordPress is definitely the most popular blogging platform but it can be used in so many other ways including as a standard website, a newsletter, a book, a photography portfolio, a one page property site, a restaurant menu that updates daily and so on and so on.

A good example is the front page of my art website. I'm taking time this month to redesign all of my sites so I'm including a screen shot here in case you read this after I make the changes.

marti garaughty, The Art of Marketing YOU

If you go to http://garaughty.com you'll notice that there is no header, sidebar or footer but this was actually designed in WordPress, that's how flexible it is. It doesn't even have to include a blog or look anything like a blog.

From an end user's point of view, here are the 3 main reasons WordPress is probably the best platform to launch your blog or website on...

- you can easily install and set up WordPress on any quality web host for free

- you can put a decent looking blog together for $100 or less (upcoming tutorial)

- you can add new pages and content to your WP site content without waiting for your "web guy" to do it

marti garaughty, The Art of Marketing YOU

This next part causes most of the confusion but is really easy to answer and understand...

Should I use WordPress.com or WordPress.org?

The answer is NEITHER! I'm not sure how this became such a point of confusion but the simple fact is that you can't set up a blog on WordPress.org

The only blog on WordPress.org is the WordPress News blog, nothing else, no other blogs. Take a look and you'll see for yourself. What people who say they're going to "set up a blog on WordPress.org" probably mean is that they are downloading the WordPress software from WordPress.org to set up on their web host but... there is a much easier, faster and better way to do that (upcoming tutorial).

Now that we're (hopefully) clear on that, the next point about .org or .com is more of a business decision than anything to do with technology. WordPress.com is where a lot of bloggers begin, sort of like a bicycle with training wheels. There is nothing wrong with setting up your blog on WordPress.com if you're using it for fun, as a hobby or whatever.

But if you're going to do that, you have to think long term and what would be best for your business. A blog on WordPress.com, Blogger.com, Posterous, etc... means you're a guest on their site just like you're a guest on Facebook when you set up a fan page or business page. If for some reason they change the rules, the technology, want to place ads on your page/blog or boot your off because you accidentally violated their terms of service...

Your blog and all those wonderful backlinks and Google rankings that you've built up could be gone overnight. And if you think this could never happen or need some real life examples, check out...

There's a lesson in Friendfeed's sale for all of us who spend time with social media... We are playing in somebody else's yard. And we can be told to go home at any time.
http://www.conversationagent.com/2009/08/how-social-media-is-like-sharecropping.html

Just a few years ago Facebook erased me from the web for 24 hours. I can’t forget that... Let’s say Facebook wanted to kick you off the system, it could, and that could have deep implications for your business, career, etc.
http://www.scobleizer.com/2010/04/22/facebook-ambition/

Facebook blocks Social Media Today, but We Have to Guess Why
http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/185245

A stern warning (or lack thereof) - Flickr is watching you
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1180423/a-stern-warning-or-lack-thereof-flickr-is-watching-you-

On the Web, forever has a due date
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/on-the-web-forever-brhas-a-due-date/article1310077/

Coraline is a new theme at WordPress.com, where it has replaced Cutline. I think that this is the first time that WordPress.com has removed a theme and switched all sites from that theme to another without prior warning.

http://changingway.org/2010/08/09/coraline-the-wordpress-theme/

Where's your content when the lights go out? Protecting yourself from an online service's shutdown
http://www.socialsignal.com/blog/rob-cottingham/protecting-yourself-online-services-shutdown

Thousands of blogs shut down over 'terrorist material'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10692501

The point isn't to scare you but to make you aware that if you're aren't in total control of your own website or blog, then someone else is.

marti garaughty, The Art of Marketing YOU

If you have additional topics you'd like to see covered or would like more information about custom graphics, themes or to book a 1 on 1 consultation to create or customize your WordPress or ActiveRain blogs, you can reach me here Later...

For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com

garaughty.com

garaughty, abstract art, graphic design, WordPress consultant, branding, marketing

If you'd like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing partnerships, games puzzles and giveaways or to stay on top of all the new tech stuff and graphic goodies...

You can also connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and by email...

Posted by marti garaughty, a highly caffeinated creative type. The Art of Marketing YOU on 09/05/2010 07:56 PM

Comments (65)

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Originally posted at: garaughty, The Art of Marketing YOU: WordPress in Plain English... introduction

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65 Comments on WordPress in Plain English... introduction

SEP

2010

Marti, is it me or I just did not notice your posts for a while? Anyway now I subscribed, should have done it a long time ago.:)) Thank you for the great information. I have been intimidated by wordpress, not any more after your plain talk.

Marti....Some Great Information.....Thanks

Endre... hi there, I've been away for awhile crazy busy with projects but I began posting again last week. No need to be intimidated by WordPress, this series will cover all the basics. nothing too techie. Later...

Robert... my pleasure!

Marti, this is very timely. A lot of people have been contacting me about my blog which is a WordPress blog and I highly recommend WordPress as a platform. I am pretty proficient at it but am going to be following you to see what I am missing. This is great. Thank you.

Jane... hi, I'm going to start with the basics to help out people who just want to get WordPress up and running. From there I'll cover more advanced stuff for those who want to go to the next level. ;-)

Hey Marty

It has been awhile. This ill help me with my Wordpress apllications.

Marti - Thanks for the great info. Having just set up my own WordPress blog (with help from my webmaster) I'll be awaiting your next installments. I like the platform and plan to use it for 3 more sites.

I KNEW I was subscribed to you for a reason. And, although I love your comments and other blog posts, this is the reason. Here I am waiting to be filled like a vessel. And, I will need this tuit suite. Or however, you spell that. Damn it.

Tom... hi stranger, yes I'm back now that my life/workload has calmed down. Nice to see you.

John... great to hear that, if you have questions or specific topics you'd like to see covered let me know.

Suzanne... awesome, a ton of new stuff is on the way. I'm starting with the basics so everyone can follow along.

Marti, oh, how wonderful to see you again! Your series is of great interest to me, I had those freebie wordpress sites, but I decided to grow up, and am in the process of tweaking it. I am not unhappy, but seriously need to do a bit more. I love your landing page, I have to figure this out. Perhaps the theme I am using does not allow such a clean page. I had some very specific criteria when picking a theme, out of the free ones they offer, the cleanest I could find that also gave me the freedom I was looking for was Atahualpa. I wanted my own header, wanted clean lines, etc. I am not totally happy but it is a work in progress, I am so excited you are doing this for us.

Thank you Marti!!!!

Marti// this is some awesome information... I am just getting into learning more details about Word Press and how I can make mine better ansd such.... thanks for sharing this and looking forward to more details in the near future,...

jeff belonger

SEP

2010

Andrea... the free version is a good learning experience to get a feel for WP. I'll definitely be covering themes and new ways to customize them without programming.

Jeff... nice to see you, glad to hear you're also into WordPress.

Hi Marti ~ Really looking forward to the upcoming tutorial. I'm constantly waiting for "my guy" to take care of stuff on my Wordpress Website. Plus I'd like to build a second one. I'd like to take care of it all myself and forget the waiting game.

Great info in this post for those who haven't recognized that having control of your own content is an absolute must.

Bonjour Marti - I am thinking about setting up a Word Press blog and look forward to reading your series to help me decide how to approach Word Press.

Denise... being able to do the basic updates and content changes yourself is much better than waiting, less expensive too. ;-)

Marc... bonsoir, comment va tu? If this is your 1st time using WP it should be a good starting point to get everything working properly online and looking good as well. Nite.

Marti, thank you for the valuable information. I appreciate your taking the time to teach us.

Great information. I couldn't agree more about hosting and being in control of your own web destiny.

And to your point about 'it doesn't have to look like a blog...' I submitted my photo blog (ChattanoogaExposed.com if you want to check it out) to a blog cataloger and they rejected it saying that it wasn't a blog. HUH?

Just because it doesn't have the word 'blog' anywhere on it, doesn't mean it isn't a blog. So I added a page for 'blog' and resubmitted it. And they took it just fine.

Wordpress Blogs do rock, and from what I've seen you do with them, I think you rock too!! I have quite a few blogs out there representing my passions and voice including 5 or 6 WP Blogs and I love em all! Thanks for all the inspiration and support you provide to myself and all the other members and viewers of your Blog Marti. I hope you're having an awesome Holiday weekend my friend. :-)

I think the days of $40-$100 hosting fees (w/no other value-added redeeming qualities) are coming to an end because of WP.

Great to see you, Marti, and thank you. ;-)

Gabe... totally my pleasure.

Julia... re "ChattoonagaExposed.com" that is awesome! WP is soooooooooo freekin flexible, that's one of the things I love most about it.

Brad... hey B, thx. I know your band Armoured Flight is on WP and a few of your tech blogs. Have a great Holiday Monday as well.

Susie... I love your new profile pic! And you're right, WP has changed everything, especially for people who just want to get on the net and not have to deal with a "web guy" for every little thing. Later SB.

Great Info. Can you tell us what the difference is between Wordpress and Joomla ?

Paul... Joomla, Drupal and Wordpress are content management systems(CMS). They are all open source software that allows you to build everything from blogs and websites to ecommerce sites, simple landing pages, newsletters, etc... WordPress just happens to be the most popular and widely used CMS.

Excellent post, I love the illustration of wordpress.com is like training wheels. Once they come off you have to go to .org. yes there is a learning curve and that is why I look forward to the meat of your next few posts.

Hi Marti, Like all others Marti, we can all sing our praises for your wonderful contributions to so many of us being able to learn the way. Hope you have a great rest of the last day of this Labor Day Weekend to enjoy.

Missy... I was trying to think of cleaver clever analogies, the bicycle seemed to fit. ;-)

William... hi Bill, I could have talked endlessly about hockey, coffee and cookies but this seemed more appropriate. ;-) I hope all is good in San Diego. Have a great Labor Day as well.

Wow Marti - did I need this. I have been absent from AR for a while and need to get back into the swing of things. I am looking forward to all that you will share - thank you for your willingness to do that! I have a wordpress blog that is in need of some serious attention. This might just be the push I needed. Hope all is well and you are staying as busy as ever!

Thanks Marti. I've gone full circle. I started this afternoon reading this blog. Stopped midway and created a WordPress account and blog, posted my first blog there and now I'm back to finish reading your blog. I appreciate your plain talk explanation of what can be made a confusing topic. Well, I'll finish your blog now...

Shelia... same here, just got back to posting on AR last week. I didn't want to start this series until I was sure I had time to finish it. All is well, really great to see you.

David... hi there. You might want to wait on setting too much up until we get a little further in this series. But if you mean a test blog on WordPress.com, it's great for getting your feet wet until you set one up on your own domain and web host. Later...

I too have wanted to set up a wordpress blog for another venture I have and did not know where to start-thank you for this series Marti.

I really liked the way you started with the basics for word-press. I'm looking forward to more in depth knowledge about it. So far I have no idea how to use word-press but the way you laid it out there it seems that I will be able to follow and understand. Thanks and appreciate you doing it fore all of us.

Cathy... great timing! ;-)

Amandeep... re "the way you laid it out there it seems that I will be able to follow and understand". Perfect, thx!

Hi Marty,

Thanks so very much, I always learn from you!

SEP

2010

Hi Marti - it's me - stalking following you... :) Ok - my domain name has been registered - I'm ready to start... this is so exciting!! And to think we'll be learning from the best!!!

Lynda... thx! ;-)

Pam... cool, the next few parts will help you get everything installed and set up.

This is fantastic! I will follow you each step of the way as I'm just now transitioning to WP. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us!

Patsy... my pleasure. I saw your post the other day, hopefully this series will help. ;-)

Thanks for putting this in plain English. I have a wordpress blog (connected to my website somehow, ha). This will help me understand what my web guy does.....I hope.

Question, I currently use the export feature on AR to export some blogs over to my wordpress blog after I downloaded a plugin. Do you think that is bad? Should all my blogs on Wordpress be original to help the Search Engine? If I use the same general theme but change them somewhat would that help? With only so many hours in the day I am trying to do only what I need to do. Thanks much! I'll be tuning in.

Shar... hi, re "I currently use the export feature on AR to export some blogs over to my wordpress blog after I downloaded a plugin. Do you think that is bad?"...

The AR export function became popular during one of the recent 502 proxy error episodes that shut down the AR outside blogs.

What no one seems to realize is that if you export your AR blog to WordPress for example, all those images on the AR server won't be accessible anywhere when AR blogs go offline.

So even if your blog content is exported elsewhere (i.e. to WordPress), the images are still on AR and won't be visible on any other blog if the AR blogs go offline.

SEP

2010

So happy I came across this post. I have been researching in prep to start a Wordpress blog/site and am overwhelmed by the information. Subscribing now so I can keep up with your series. Thanks!

Pam... awesome to hear that, welcome to our little Tribe of sharp cookies. ;-)

Thanks Marti. So if I understand it correctly, if AR has a meltdown the blogs on my wordpress are gone too. When you say images I am assuming you mean all the wording, etc, not just pictures. So I have to make sure AR doesn't have a meltdown! ha

Shar... hi there, re "if AR has a meltdown the blogs on my wordpress are gone too. When you say images I am assuming you mean all the wording, etc, not just pictures".

AR has a history of something you might have seen called 502 Proxy Errors that in the past, have shut down access to the site and blogs anywhere from a few hours to at worst a few days (earlier this year).

If you create a post on AR with images and then export your blog posts to another platform like WordPress for example, the images are still on the AR servers since that is where the post was originally created and where the images were uploaded. So in the event of any AR tech problems, the images won't be visible on your WP blog.

SEP

2010

Yikes! Good to know. Thank you for that info.

SEP

2010

This is wonderful timing for me. I've been using the training wheel version for a while and have just started setting up the real deal. I look forward to more.

SEP

2010

Shar... ;-)

Kristen... cool, glad to have you here.

SEP

2010

Okay, I have my new domain registered. On to your next post...

Patsy... cool. ;-)

OCT

2010

Marti -

I'm working my way through this series. Then I'm going to go back over the posts again as I get a word press blog up and running.

Your comments are as helpful as the posts themselves. Thanks for giving everyone such great feedback. I have appreciated all the questions members have posted as well as your answers.

OCT

2010

Wowowowow! It's really like having a "web guy" right here with me............available when I need the help.

John... I'm just covering the basics but it should be enough to help people who've been trying to do this themselves.

OCT

2010

Looks like I am going to get to learn a lot over the next day or two. I am glad you found me, so I could read you. My Wordpress blog is where I really need to focus some effort.

Troy... awesome, a lot of people were asking for something like this so it's a good place to start with WP.

OCT

2010

Hi Marti -- I am really enjoying starting to read your series here. You are beyond talented (I browsed your website!)

Chris... hi and thx, I really do appreciate the feedback. Have a great weekend!

NOV

2010

Hi Marti, I started trying to figure out WordPress by watching a 6 minute video that left me more confused than ever! Then I found this series and picked up where the other left off but am now going back to review each part. Thank you so much for clearing up a bunch of my questions and writing this series!

Shelly... awesome to hear that, I'm glad this series is helping!

NOV

2010

I'm late but in..I will read others and catch up..Thanks I have lots of questions..

MAR

Marti~I like the redesign of your site, very cean looking and easy to navigate through, thanks for the tips.

Homer... no problem, read on thru and leave any questions you have in the comments.

Adrian... hi and thx. I like to keep stuff clean and simple, it makes things easier for the readers!

MAR

marti, actually, it is a little too clean for me. I surely do not like clutter, but sometimes being too clean and simple just doesn't suit me. If I had to choose between the two, and ONLY these two, I would take Coraline. It's just me... and of course, your mileage may (and probably will) vary.

Karen... hi, re "If I had to choose between the two, and ONLY these two, I would take Coraline"...

All themes can be turned into anything, I use themes as a starting point based on the technology/features under the hood and then tweak everything to showcase the content.

From a designer's point of view, it's better to start off with a clean slate and then add the customization. That's why I rip out all the external "stuff" in most themes I use and rebuild them for the specifics of each project.

marti, I know you are some sort of combination of a magician, sorcerer and web genius. I was simply meaning the appearance of what you called simplified, and what Coraline looks like in the dot.com version you get when you open the box... and don't make any changes.

I am guessing that I just prefer something a tad more structured. It was NOT a critique of anything you have done. Gosh, if everyone liked the same thing, how boring a world this would be. Unless, of course, everyone was as talented as you are, and then it would, or course, be Paradise. < impish smile >

Here are two others that show something that appeals to me. I would like each of them somewhat "re-arranged..." but again, it just gives you an idea of what goes "boing" in my head: * Mocha Theme - Theme Demo - StudioPress and Theme Preview - "Cover" Theme . And... who knows what I would have to say after I saw what magic you could work... knowing what I like, or at least what I "think" I like. Just the ramblings of a crazed non-techie here. Thank you for your patience in "listening" to me babble.

OCT

Marti, I think the answer to this question, Should I use WordPress.com or WordPress.org?, has now been answered. Thank you and best wishes always.

JAN

I wish I found you a few months ago. I have the standard free wordpress Blog and am trying to figure out what to do next. I am pretty sure I will find my answer here! Thank you!

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marti garaughty, a highly caffeinated creative type. The Art of Marketing YOU

Montreal, QC

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