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If you have chosen to use WordPress to build your website, then you might need a little help, as you start to set it up. WordPress might not be as simple to begin to use as a lot of paid website-services, but after a little time it will become second nature for you and let have a lot more freedom in your choices than a lot of other services.
It is perfectly normal to need a little help to start your WordPress journey, before it becomes natural to you. Setting up the website can be a lot of work at the beginning, but there is a lot of help to get out there.
There are something that you need to get before you end up building your WordPress website.
One of them is a domain name. This means you need to find a name for your website. Keeping it simple here and finding something that fits with your brand and business is important here. It is important to note, that this can be difficult to change later on, so taking the time to think about what name you want.
You also need to consider what domain extension, that you want to use. If it is .com or .org or something more specific to your country. There might be an industry standard for your specific field that you might want to be a part of or you might have to consider your audience.
Another thing you need is to find a hosting provider and a hosting plan. There are a lot of different providers for WordPress, so with a little bit of research you can find one that works for you.
When you are going to install WordPress, then you need to download the software. You can usually either go through your hosting provider, which can be an easier process as it makes sure that everything is connected from the start.
It is also possible to install it directly from WordPress.org by following their installation guide.
Just after you have installed WordPress it is a good idea to try clicking around on the platform, so you can get a feel for the software. Just try going into the different tabs and read some of the descriptions for the different functions to get a bit more familiar with it.
Try out the test version of the site. You can run the website with the basis theme and setup, just so you can feel and see what you are working with.
It is important to find a theme that you want to use as the template for your site. Picking a theme that fits with what you want for your brand and business and you will have taken a large step in getting your website up and looking professional at the same time.
To find and add a theme you need to go under the ‘appearance’ tab onto ‘themes’Â and ‘add new’. Here you need to go to ‘upload’ and then search for your chosen theme. Download and active the theme when you find it and then you can customize it to fit with what you want.
Then simply remember to press publish and your website will have a new theme.
After everything is setup you need to start adding content to your site.
Most content gets created in either pages or posts format. Posts are similar to what you think about when thinking of a blog. The newest post will appear first and it will continue to add content as you publish it.
It is the default setup of the front page, but can easily be changed if you want a more static front page.
Pages are static content, which means that the content doesn’t change unless you actively go to do it. This is good for the parts of your site that you want to keep the same over time, like contact pages, privacy policies or landing pages.
Both are good ways to create the different parts of your site. To add either of them you simply go to their individual tabs and add new. Here it is important to include a good and telling title, preferable short and to the point. Then, you also need to add the main content you want on your site.
There is also a lot of additional information that you can add to enhance your site and setup process, but they are usually very specific to the task you are trying to get done.
When you are done creating your post or page you can simply press publish to make it go live. You can, of course, always change part of it later, but it is also possible to simply save as draft if you want to save, but not publish.
To add static pages to specific part of your site, like the front page, simply select ‘settings’ then ‘reading’ and under that tab choose static page. If you are trying to select the home page, then simply do that and then chose if you want it to include the blog.
For the rest of your content, you can add a navigational menu and include the other pages you want your users to be able to go to.
To add a menu simply go to ‘appearances’ and onto ‘menu’. Here you can add elements to it along with the links to the pages that you want the button to go to. You can almost add as many menu points as you want or add different menus to different site if you want to customize it a bit more.
Some themes have a little bit of a different setup process, but this will usually be described in their documentation.
One way you can get a lot of help and add extra features to your site is through plugins. There are many different plugins out there that do a lot of different things.
If you want to add a plugin then simply go to the plugin tab and install the plugin similarly to how you installed the theme. The plugin and its features will then be added to your dashboard and you can find out most of the necessary information from the creators of the plugin.
Some of the things that are a good idea to consider getting a plugin for are things like backups, caching, optimization, security or SEO. These aren’t the only things that you can get help with, but they are nice things to have a little extra help with as it takes away a lot of additional work from you.
If you end up needing additional help for your the setup process then that is a possibility for you. There are a lot of help to access on the internet like from forums, blogs or YouTube.
You simply need to look it up and you will find help in the format that you prefer.
Lastly, when everything else is setup you can start getting creative and adding additional features to make your site even more interesting. If you want to add a store, then you can use a plugin to add eCommerce features like a cart and a checkout or if you want to show off your social media, then you can add different part of those to your site.
There are many things you can do with your site, so don’t be afraid to try something new.
It can be a bit of a process to get your WordPress website up and running in the final and complete form that you have envisioned it as, but it is not an impossible task. Take it slow and go step by step and you will eventually not feel as overwhelmed about the task and the WordPress platform and it will become more and more natural for you to work with it.
