WordPress is a powerful blogging tool that allows businesses to communicate messages and provide updates to stakeholders. It allows information to be accessible immediately to everyone and remain in the original words of the writer. WordPress blogs can be customized in many ways through themes, plugins, and options. Customization helps businesses create a unique identity and tailor the blog to their specific needs and goals. Common customizations include changing the header, background, fonts, and colors.

1. Chapter 3: More Blogging: WordPress Options: Part A
Web 2.0 and Social
Media for Business
Roger McHaney, Kansas State University

2. WordPress Blogs
• Powerful tool
• Helps a business get its message into the world
• Allows business to provide news to its stakeholders
• Material accessible to everyone immediately
• Material remains in original words of the writer
• Some organizations use blogs to communicate press
releases, others use blogs for voice of internal entities such as
marketing, research and development, production, or upper
management
2

3. WordPress Blogs (con’t)
• Wide variety of blog uses has resulted in the deployment of
numerous options and tools
• Community of WordPress users has provided many ways of
customizing and organizing blogs
• Because of parallels to traditional press releases and a desire
to promote a wider content distribution, a system for blog
syndication has been developed
3

4. Why Use WordPress?
http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/01/05/the-10-best-corporate-blogs-in-the-world

5. Customization
Earlier we covered basics for obtaining a WordPress blog
account, starting a blog, and selecting a theme. The blog can
be further customized with options and features specific to the
needs of a business.
5

6. Login and Work Behind the Scenes
Tabs on this page provide tools for reading posts written by other WordPress
bloggers (e.g. Read Blogs, Freshly Pressed, and Topics). Also, a tab for New Post
provides links to information about WordPress and its community of users
WordPress.tv

7. Default Blog Page
This blog has a theme but no widgets, pages, posts or other customization

8. Start with Theme Customization
Most themes provide options for customization including selection of a header image,
font and style choices, and different ways of arranging the widgets.

9. Selecting a Theme
Plenty of themes---custom, free, or premium (cost) exist

10. Why Customize a Theme?
Customizing has the direct benefit of making a business site unique.
Each WordPress theme may have thousands of adopters. Adding
features that further business goals is crucial in creating a unique sense
of identity
The Connections theme allows a user to customize the blog header,
image, and style. Some themes permit this and others do not.
Additional theme customization options may include: background
image, background color, header text, font color, and other style
choices.

11. Customizing Selected Theme
The ‘Theme Options’ selection can be found under appearance on
the dashboard menu or by using the buttons under ‘managing
themes’.
OR

12. Customize a Theme Header
Select the Header page under Appearance. Theme may have pre-installed
images. However, for a truly custom appearance, upload a unique image.
Investigate a site of open content images (such as CreativeCommons.org or
appropriately licensed material at Flickr.com). Or, photos can be taken with a
digital camera.

13. Getting Images at Creative Commons
http://search.creativecommons.org/

14. Custom Image in Header
A photo can be added to the blog to create a custom header

15. Crop Header Image in WordPress
The uploaded image is
larger than the header
size. WordPress
provides a tool to crop
it. After selecting the
desired portion, click
Crop Header to ensure
selected part is
displayed on the blog

16. After Cropping Image

17. Carefully Choose Header Font Color
The wrong font color can result in words that are not visible on the image

18. Edit Image Outside WordPress
MS-Paint or other
graphic editor can be
used to add desired
text with more visibility.

19. Finished Header in Blog

20. Customizing Background
Navigating to Background under Appearance in the Dashboard
provides background options.

21. Color Background
Alternate way to
customize page
background:
Selecting hex color
value for solid
background.
Navigate to: Select
a Color which opens
a color wheel with a
large number of
choices.

22. Image Background
Image can be
uploaded and
used for
background
Settings permit
it to be tiled or
displayed
according to
particular
criteria.

23. Changes to General Settings
General settings
include site title,
tag line (the
subheading found
under the title),
language, time
zone, date format
and more.

24. Blog Avatar (Blavatar)
An icon to represent
your blog in people’s
browsers and on
other Web sites.

25. Blavatar

26. End of
Chapter 3 Part A
Web 2.0 and Social
Media for Business

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Slides Prepared by Professor Roger McHaney
Kansas State University
Twitter: @mchaney
Blog: http://mchaney.com
Email : mchaney@ksu.edu