Getting Started in WordPress

Barbara B. Nixon :: Georgia Southern University & Southeastern University
Getting Started in WordPress

Blogging Do’s & No-No’s

Blog Do’s
Write in short paragraphs
Use images for visual impact
Find Creative Commons-licensed images at Compfight.com
Proofread. Then proofread again.
Even ONE error is too many in a post
Always give credit to original sources
Example: For Reading Notes, link back to textbook
Review Blogging Guidelines
Write “enough” posts in each category
Write posts that are long enough

Blog No-No’s
Never “scrape” another writer’s content
It’s plagiarism
Never let reader see a URL (http://address.com)
Simply hyperlink from the appropriate words
Avoid tiny text, especially on a dark background
Makes it hard to read
Avoid changing text colors from the default
Makes your blog look “My Spacey”
Avoid boring or non-descriptive titles for posts
“TOW #4” will mean nothing to a reader outside of this class

Step One: Signing Up for Your WordPressAccount

Sign up for an account
Go to WordPress.com
Choose account name wisely
Don’t use your student login name
Choose a real name
Either your name or some combination of your initials, or
A phrase
Avoid a random-looking combo of letters & numbers
Your new blog’s address will be
username.wordpress.com

Step Two: Setting Up

Go to your Dashboard

Settings :: General
Site Title
Change this to something other than the default of “User123’s Weblog”
Tagline
Change this to something other than “Just Another WordPress Weblog”
Or delete it
Time Zone
Choose New York
for Eastern time

Appearance :: Themes
Try out several Themes until you find one you like
Preview
Then Activate
Be sure your Theme allows you to use Widgets
Click Feature Filters, then check Widgets
Recommended Themes for our class
INonve
Cutline
Misty Look
Blix
Avoid Themes with dark backgrounds and tiny text

Appearance :: Widgets
To add Widgets, click and drag to the Sidebar on right
Required Widgets
Categories (or Category Cloud)
Search
Calendar
Links
Recommended
Widgets
Recent Posts
Archives

Create Categories
From Posts, choose Categories
Under Add New Category, type category name
Click Add New Category
Delete the Uncategorized category
Uncategorized = “I don’t care enough about my readers to organize my blog”

Categories :: Required
For my PR classes, create a category for
Class name & number (such as PRCA 3330)
Topic of the Week
Reading Notes
PR Connections
Blog Comments
Personal (if you have any personal posts)
Additional categories as you choose

Links (for your Blogroll)
Blogroll = List of your favorite blogs
Under Links, choose Add New Link
Name = Name of the Blog (or Blog Author)
Web Address = URL
Target: Choose _blank to open a
new window/tab (so readers don’t
navigate away from you!)
Click Add Link

Blog Stats
Under Dashboard, choose Blog Stats
See
Graph of hits
Referrers
Top posts & pages
Search engine terms
Clicks

Step Three: Writing Posts & Pages

Post v. Page
Post
Newest information shows up at top of blog
As information is added, older posts “sink down”
Eventually, older posts will move to another place in your blog
“Previous Posts”

Post v. Page, cont’d
Page
More permanent
Accessible from anywhere in your blog
Often shows up in header of your blog or in a sidebar

Posts :: Edit Post
From this part of WordPress, you can see and edit all the posts on your blog
Trash the default “Hello World” post

Posts :: Add New Post
Create a title for your post
Type your post in the large text box
Format the post much like you would in Word
Click Save Draft often
Click Publish when
you’re ready for the
world to see your post

Formatting Posts :: Use Kitchen Sink

Using Word to Write Your Posts (Optional)
Write post in Word
Copy text
Click Paste from Word icon
NEVER paste from Word without using this icon
Really ugly things will happen. Trust me.

Hyperlinking
Highlight text you want to link
Choose Insert/Edit Link
For Link URL, paste URL (website address)
For Target, choose Open link in a new window
Click Update

Adding an Image
Only use images that you have the rights to add
Use Compfight.com to find images
Choose “Creative Commons Only”
Choose icon for Add an Image
Choose From URL tab
Paste URL
Paste URL again into Link Image To
To give credit back to photographer
Click Insert into Post

Resizing an Image
Click on image in edit area
Choose Edit Image
Choose desired percentage
Click Update
NOTE: You may need to repeat this procedure
several times to get image small enough

Adding a YouTube Video
Choose icon for Add Video
Choose From URL tab
Paste URL of the video
Click Insert Into Post

Adding a PowerPoint from SlideShare
In SlideShare, choose the WordPressicon
Copy the text under WordPress.com Hosted Blogs
Paste the “shortcode” [slideshare id=…] into your post

Adding a PAGE
Similar in almost every way to adding a Post
Under Pages, choose Add New

Create YourAbout Me Page
Lets reader know a bit about the blog author
Keep it professional
Include information such as
Your name
Photo (if desired)
University affiliation
Major
Career goals
Links to other places you can be found online (if desired)

Step Four: Blog Comments

Finding Blogs to Comment on
See list of your classmates’ blogs at PublicRelationsMatters.com
Visit my Delicious bookmarks for PR Blogs
http://delicious.com/barbaranixon/pr_blogs
Subscribe to Ragan’s PRDaily.com

Tracking Your Blog Comments
Copy your comment BEFORE you submit it
Sometimes blog authors moderate comments, so you might not see it posted for a while
In WordPress, under Dashboard : My Comments, you can see SOME of the comments you have written on others’ WordPress blogs
It does not always capture all of them, so don’t rely on it

Tracking Your Blog Comments
Create ONE post with
Comment # (keep a running list)
Title of blog post you commented on, followed by the author’s name
Hyperlink to the blog post
Date of your comment
Your complete comment
Comment must be
100 words or more

Attract More Readers: Publicize via Twitter
From My Account, choose My Blogs
In row with your blog information, under Publicize column, choose Twitter
With every post you write, a tweet will automatically publish on Twitter  helps draw in readers

Questions?

Contact Me
Barbara B. Nixon, Ph.D. (ABD)
Public Relations Faculty Member at
Georgia Southern University & Southeastern University
Life Member & Past President of the International Listening Association (listen.org)
E-mail: bnixon@georgiasouthern.edu
Twitter: barbaranixon
Skype: barbara.b.nixon
Blogs: publicrelationsmatters.com & learnercentered.wordpress.com

http://publicrelationsmatters.com	934
http://www.dr4ward.com	149
http://muprwriting.wordpress.com	61
http://e-leadersblog.blogspot.com	36
http://23thingsnt4me.wordpress.com	26
http://www.publicrelationsmatters.com	25
http://www.slideshare.net	21
http://fye1220summer.wordpress.com	3
file://	3
http://e-leadersblog.blogspot.com.au	3
http://e-leadersblog.blogspot.co.nz	2
url_unknown	1

Getting Started in WordPress

by Barbara Nixon on May 20, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

12 Embeds 1,264

Statistics

Getting Started in WordPress — Presentation Transcript