Get to the Page/Post You Want

First, go to the post or page where you want to add the PDF.  The process of adding a PDF is the same for both pages and posts.

From your WordPress Dashboard go to:

Pages > Add New (if your creating a new page for the PDF)

or:

Pages > All Pages > Edit Page for the page you want (if adding PDF into an existing page)

Alternatively, if your uploading a PDF into a post, head on over to:

Posts > Add New

or:

Posts > All Posts > Edit Post for the post you want

Upload the PDF into WordPress

In our example, we are going to be adding a new page called “My Catalog” and will be uploading a PDF document into it.  Click the Upload/Insert icon represented by the camera and musical notes.  In the latest version of WordPress, they’ve consolidated all the different media upload options (Audio, Image, Media, etc.) into a single upload media button.  Also, if you’ve installed any special plugins, like Gravity Forms, you may see other “Upload/Insert” buttons here.  For instance, the Gravity Forms plugin creates an “Insert Forms” button next to here.  You want to click the one immediately to the right of Upload/Insert designated by the musical notes and camera.

After you click the button, the Add Media screen will popup.  Go ahead and click Select Files.  Browse your computer files and select the PDF you want.  You can also drag and drop the file from your local computer into the designated area if you like.

In our example, we are uploading a PDF file named “Test.pdf”.  Once you’ve selected the PDF you want, you’ll notice that the Add Media screen shows you the name of the file and its type.  Go ahead and change the Title of the document if you like.  We just left it as “Test”.  To finish the upload process:

1. Take note of the Link URL.  Copy and paste this location.  It is where the PDF file is stored on your web server.  You’ll need this Link URL for the rest of the tutorial.
2. Click Insert into Post

The popup screen will disappear and you’ll be taken back to the Edit Page screen. Notice that the Title of the PDF you set in the Add Media screen becomes the text hyperlink that leads someone to the PDF.

Styling the PDF Download Link

While the text link looks OK, most people will want to style their PDF link a little better.  Let’s say you want to link the words “download my catalog” to the PDF instead of the text “Test” that was added automatically.  Go ahead and delete the text “Test”.  Then:

1. Highlight the words “download my catalog” with your mouse cursor
2. Click the hyperlink button designated by the chain link

The Insert/Edit Link screen will popup.  Paste the Link URL of your PDF here.  Give it a nice title, like “My Catalog PDF”.  Then click Add Link.

When you click Add Link the popup will disappear.  Now the text “download my catalog” will be a blue hyperlink.  Some of you may want to go a little further and add an image of a PDF icon that links to the relevant PDF.  Use a Google Search to find an image of the PDF icon you like and save it to your computer.  Then, using the Upload/Insert tool, add the image to the page or post.

1. Note the blue hyperlink text
2. Note the image of a PDF icon we’ve added

Now we have to link the PDF icon to the actual PDF you want your visitors to go to after clicking on it.  Click the image of the Adobe PDF icon once.  Two options will appear.  One looks like a photograph, this is the Edit Image button.  The other looks like a “no smoking sign”, this is the Delete Image button.  Click the Edit Image button.

When you click the Edit Image button a new screen will popup.  Here, you can change the Title of the Adobe Icon if you like.  You can make it My Catalog, or Download Here, or whatever else you want.  Head on down to the area labeled Link URL.  Delete the Link that is there by default.  This link will send the visitor to an image file of the Adobe Icon if they click on it.  Instead, you want them to go to the PDF.  Therefore, go ahead and paste the Link URL of your PDF file.  Click Update.  As always, make sure to click Publish Page/Post or Update Page/Post whenever you’re done editing.

There ya go!  Now the Adobe Icon will send visitors to the PDF file.  You can also edit style properties for the Adobe Icon in the Edit Image screen.  You can change the alignment of the icon, add padding and margins, etc. using the Edit Image screen.  You should also note that you don’t necessarily have to use an Adobe PDF icon.  You can also upload a custom graphic or image of your catalog, your business, or whatever you want and link it to the PDF.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions on how to upload a PDF into WordPress.

What are Menus?

Menus are a series of links arranged according to some kind of order.  For example, a menu could be the About, Services, and Contact pages arranged at the top of every page on your site.  Or a menu could be Web Design, SEO, and Video Production, so as to highlight your services in the top right of every page.  Menus can also be built with content other than pages, such as external links and categories.

OK, lets make a menu.  Go to Appearance > Menus in your WordPress Dashboard administrator area.

Add a Page

1. Check the boxes next to the pages you want to add
2. You can browse your pages by Most Recent, View All, or Search
3. Click Add to Menu
4. You’ll see your pages are now added to the Menu

Don’t forget to click Save Menu.

Ordering the WordPress Menu

Now that you’ve added the pages you want, you can reorder them into top-level and sub level menu options.  If a page is the farthest left it can go, it is the top level menu option.  For example, Home, About, Services, Contact, etc. are all top level menu options.  If a page is indented one step to the right, it is the first submenu option.  For example, if you hover over Services, Services A and Services B will appear as submenu options below.  Just drag and drop the page to where you want it in the menu hierarchy.

Adding Other Content

The process is similar for adding content to a menu other than a page.  You can add an external link or a category of your blog.

Add an External Link

You can add a menu option that links to a page that is external to your site.  Just put in the URL you want, add an appropriate label, and click Add to Menu.

Add a Category

You can also add a category as a menu option in a similar fashion.

Create Custom Navigation Labels

Sometimes you want the name of a page to be something different than its title.  You can edit the navigation label to make the text of the menu option whatever you want.  Let’s say you want the Contact page to say “Get in Touch” in the menu, instead of “Contact”.

1. Expand the page’s menu options by clicking the right down arrow
2. Change the Navigation Label to “Get in Touch”

Make sure to click Save Menu.

Check Out Your Menu

The example tutorial above will create a menu that looks like this:

Notice that the indented items form submenus that appear when you hover over the top level menu option.  Also, notice how the Contact’s navigation label has been changed to “Get in Touch”.

Questions on how to manage menus in WordPress?  Please let me know.

Educate, Entertain, and Engage

Many corporate and business websites are unaware of the benefits of corporate online video.  If you are considering using online video for your business, here is a brief compilation of my top 10 favorite benefits of corporate online video:

1. Customers watch video more than they read text on a web page.  Having a video there to supplement the text increases the effectiveness of the web page.
2. Builds brand legitimacy and makes your company appear more authentic, which increases leads.
3. Boosts site traffic because your videos are found in social video channels like YouTube and Vimeo.
4. Adds personality and a personal touch by showing the face of your company’s top executives or sales agent.
5. Educates potential customers of the benefits of your product or service.
6. Showcases your value proposition in an entertaining way.
7. Improves the efficiency of internal communication with training videos, how to tutorials, and updates to company policies.
8. Increases rankings on search results because search engines prefer rich media content like online video.
9. Creates communities around your company culture who follow your video releases.
10. Makes marketing messages and corporate content more “shareable” and viral.

Of course, there are many other benefits.  Do you use online video on your blog or website?  What are the benefits (or hurdles) you’ve experienced?

What does this mean for you?  You’ll rank more often and higher up in searches by employers for your particular skill set, experience level, or education.  In this article, I’ll demonstrate how to optimize LinkedIn profile for job seekers using SEO techniques and help you take control of your online career management.

General Tips

Here are a few general tips applicable throughout the article:

• Use the words and phrases your target employer would search for;
• A profile that reaches 100% completeness gets an automatic extra SEO boost from LinkedIn;
• You should have a public profile activated.  This allows your profile to appear in search results on Google and other search engines for your target keywords;
• Track your SEO success in the “Whose Viewed Your Profile?” area;
• Make adjustments and test out new keywords to see what phrases work best for you.

Use Target Keywords in Profile Heading

Without a doubt, this is the most important part of your LinkedIn SEO.  The keywords you decide to place in your profile heading will receive the most “bang for your buck” by the search engines.  This means that here is your best opportunity to rank the highest for generic and saturated keywords like “Corporate Attorney”, “Operations Manager”, or “Web Developer”.  Pick a few terms or phrases that you think someone who might hire you would naturally type into a search engine.  And also be creative.  Think of unique and different ways to state your job description.  For instance, the profile heading “Internet Marketing” might have less competition than “Internet Marketer”.

Sound Professional and Natural in LinkedIn Summary

A LinkedIn summary is a chance to describe who you are, what you want to accomplish, and what you aspire to be.  In SEO terms, this is a great opportunity to add your targeted keywords, related terms, and longer, more descriptive phrases.  While it’s important to use your targeted keywords a few times throughout your summary, keep in mind this is a resume and if you sound like a robot you won’t win the bid.  Just like any effective website, a LinkedIn profile optimized with the visitor experience in mind will get the sale long before a keyword stuffed can of spam web copy.  In the specialties area you have much more freedom to drop a few dozen keywords without the requirement of sounding natural.

Adding Job Descriptions

The job description you provide should not be a blanket copy of your actual job offer.  You need to be creative, descriptive, and succinct.  Remember, employers have even less time than you to spend reviewing job applicants or proposals so cut to the chase.  No long winded descriptions here.  Your current job should have the most text dedicated to it (about twice as much as any former job) and all jobs should be written, at least mostly, in bullet point format.  This allows your viewers to easily scan the content and also provides an extra SEO boost.  Don’t forget to list as many job descriptions as LinkedIn tells you to until your “profile completeness” meter is at 100%.

Optimize Skills

A fairly recent addition to your LinkedIn profile is the ability to add keywords that represent your skills.  This is a really great opportunity to stuff your profile full of SEO targeted keywords.  Since you’re never sure what an employer might search for, you want to go ahead and add the maximum 50 skills for an added SEO boost.  And make sure to be creative in how you approach the keywords you choose as your skills.  In addition to activities and duties your job entails, think about software you use or techniques you employ.  For example, an attorney should not only list “Legal Research” as a skill set, but should also include the keywords “Lexis Nexis”, “Westlaw”, etc.  Another example might be for a web designer.  Include not only “Graphic Design” but also the software titles you use, like “Adobe”, “Photoshop”, “Dreamweaver”, etc.  LinkedIn requires you to use a predetermined keyword that it comes up with so just start searching around and select the ones that seem most applicable.

Vanity URL

When you first create a LinkedIn profile you are given a random URL for your public profile.  Usually just an arbitrary string of letters and numbers.  This is fine for LinkedIn itself in terms of keeping track of you.  However, for human visitors and the search engine spiders, this random URL means nothing and is difficult to remember.  You should create what’s called a vanity URL within LinkedIn, and change your URL to your name.  To do this, visit the Settings area and go to “Edit my public profile”.  If your name is not available, try including your middle name or including a few logical numbers at the end, such as “123″.  This is far more search engine friendly, and human friendly when you put your public profile URL on your paper resumes or business cards!

Connections and Groups

Group memberships and the total number of your first, second, and third degree connections also play a part in determining your profile ranking in LinkedIn search results. Group memberships and connections are a lot like incoming links.  They sort of act as a “vote of confidence”, and the closer your connection is to the searcher, the higher up you will show if they use the one-click filter option to sort by relationship.  Try to connect with as many as reasonably possible.  Keep in mind LinkedIn is not like Facebook, and random friend requests are looked down upon as unprofessional.  It’s certainly OK to reach out to someone, but just be purposeful in how you do it.

Adding Applications

For more advanced users, you should try adding some applications to your LinkedIn profile.  These allow you to integrate services like WordPress and Twitter so that your posts publish across various outlets.  It also allows you to display additional relevant content to your visitors and provide them with places to explore your work once they finish up with your profile.  It also is awesome for automated link building which really pumps up the SEO on your LinkedIn profile.

I hope this article was helpful.  For more internet marketing tips, be sure to visit my blog and follow me on Twitter for new articles.

Step by Step Guide to Setting Up Mozilla Thunderbird

Download and Install Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a free email client, like Microsoft Outlook and many others, that aggregates the mail coming in from your various email accounts into a single location.  Thunderbird is a free product created by the open source community known as Mozilla, the company which also created the widely popular Mozilla Firefox internet browser.  It is continuously and automatically upgraded by the company, to provide the latest protection and features.  You can download it here:

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

Just click the button to download and install it on your local computer.  Go ahead and open up the program.

Add an Email Account

If this is your first time running Thunderbird, you will be automatically prompted to complete an installation wizard that will add your first email account.  If you already have Thunderbird installed, or if you wish to add additional email accounts some time later on, then you go to Tools > Account Settings > Account Actions > Add Mail Account.

Configure General Settings

From the Add Mail Account screen you will be prompted to enter the following information:

• Your Name
• Email Address
• Password

This information will be different depending on who you or your webmaster hosts your email account with.  For E3 clients, you will want to go ahead and enter this information:

• The name you want to appear in the “From” area of your messages, as shown to others.
• The email address set up for you by E3.  Which will be yourname@yourwebsite.com.
• The password mailed to you by E3.

Click the check box “Remember Password” and click OK.  A configuration process will run automatically, and attempt to find the proper settings.  Usually, this process identifies the wrong information, and you will likely have to manually adjust a few things.  This depends on the hosting provider your business or webmaster is using.

Configure Settings Manually

When the process is finished you’ll want to make sure the check box marked “IMAP” is selected.  This means your messages will be stored online, good for both backing up your emails and enabling web and mobile mail access.

Go ahead and click Manual Config at the bottom of the screen.  This will open up a new editing area.  These settings will be different for people using various hosting providers for their websites.  For E3 clients, the settings should be configured as such:

• Mail Type:  Server Type  -  Mail Server Address  -  Port  -  SSL  -  Password Type
• Incoming:  IMAP  -  mail.yourwebsite.com  -  143  -  STARTTLS  -  Normal Password
• Outgoing:   SMTP  -  mail.yourwebsite.com  -  26  -  STARTTLS  -  Normal Password
• Username:  yourname@yourwebsite.com

Make sure your username is configured to your entire email address, not just the name part of it.  This is a common oversight.  Also double check that your SMTP port is 26, also commonly missed.

Go ahead and click Create Account.

Test Email Account Settings

You’ll want to make sure you have configured everything properly.  Nothing is worse than realizing you never answered a hundred old emails left to you.  Ask someone to send an email to your email address, and double check that you have received it in Thunderbird.  Also, don’t forget to send an outgoing message to someone else as well, and double check that they received it.

Security plugins are essential for all sites, no matter how big or how small.  While not sufficient alone to completely protect a site, they are a necessary front line that is free and easy to setup.  These are an absolute necessity for any business site, membership site, or site operating a credit card payment system.  It’s also highly recommended for all site owners who do not want to have their pages replaced with vulgar, racist, or pornographic material every so often.  If you do not know how to install a plugin, check out the article How to Install a WordPress Plugin.

List of the Best WordPress Security Plugins

Here is E3′s top recommended security plugins.  You should install all of these on to your WordPress site immediately.

Secure WordPress

Without doubt, “Secure WordPress” by Website Defender is a must have for every site.  It automatically takes care of a number of tweaks to your underlying programming code, including:

• Removes error-information on login-page
• Adds index.php plugin-directory (virtual)
• Removes the wp-version, except in admin-area
• Removes Really Simple Discovery
• Removes Windows Live Writer
• Removes core update information for non-admins
• Removes plugin-update information for non-admins
• Removes theme-update information for non-admins (only WP 2.8 and higher)
• Hides wp-version in backend-dashboard for non-admins
• Removes version on URLs from scripts and stylesheets only on frontend
• Blocks any bad queries that could be harmful to your WordPress website

WordPress Secure is absolutely free and requires no initial configuration.  It does allow for custom settings, but for the newbie, this is not required.  Just install and relax.

Exploit Scanner

This plugin searches the files on your website, as well as the posts and comments tables of your database, for anything suspicious.  It also examines your list of active plugins for unusual file names.  It does not remove anything, which is left for the user to do.  While not as simple as the “plug and go” Secure WordPress, this plugin allows you to run scans of your site and identify any suspicious file names that a hacker may have installed into your site.

The plugin does return a number of false positives, so if you see a file name that looks like something you installed yourself and/or is from a trusted provider you can go ahead and ignore it.  This is because it is simply impractical to identify and white list every possible reputable plugin or theme you might have installed.  If you see a file name that is shady, just go in and delete those files either by FTP or from the Admin Panel (if possible).  All in all this is an extremely valuable plugin and provides a sense of ease when you know there is no malware hidden somewhere in your site.

WordPress Firewall 2

Automatically blocks the most obvious and typical hacker attempts.  Runs completely by itself, no need to initiate scans or configure settings.  This plugin intelligently whitelists and blacklists pathological-looking phrases.  It will also identify and send you the hackers IP address so you can take steps to blocking their access to your site or notifying law enforcement agencies.

Limit Login Attempts

WordPress by default allows for unlimited login attempts into your administrator dashboard.  Hackers have written password generating programs that go in and test billions of combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols to try and crack the password into your WordPress site.  By installing this plugin, you automatically are protected from such password generator attacks, because the plugin limits the number of times someone can unsuccessfully login.

WordPress File Monitor

This plugin automatically notifies you by email of any changes to the files that make up your WordPress site.  While sometimes these changes will be made by you, other times you’ll receive a suspicious alert.  This program identifies which files were changed and where they are located in your file directory.  It lets you know immediately when someone has made an unauthorized change or addition to your site and allows you to go in and delete the infected code.

Figuring out how to add a Featured Image in WordPress, whether it is for a post or page, is relatively simple.  However, many beginners have a difficult time understanding exactly what a Featured Image is and how it operates within the context of a WordPress site.

What is a WordPress Featured Image?

All blogs, and WordPress blogs in particular, are driven by content feeds.  This means that as you write blog posts, they are fed into various outlets, such as lists of recent posts on your homepage or a tweet announcing that you have written a new blog post.  This allows your recent blog posts to populate various areas of your WordPress site.  Adding a Featured Image to a blog post enables a thumbnail sized image to appear next to the title of your post that you have written.

Below is an example of a Featured Image found on the Blog page of the E3 website.  The Featured Image is the thumbnail sized image indicated by the red arrow.

Featured Images are also found in other areas of your site.  For example, many WordPress themes pull Featured Images to populate areas on the homepage.  If you have a list of Recent Posts feeding content on to your homepage, Featured Images can be configured to create a visually pleasing display of new blog posts you have written.

How to Add a Featured Image to a WordPress Post or Page

The same method used to add a Featured Image to a post is the same as a page, so we will just be illustrating how to do it for a post in this tutorial.  It is a very simple process.  First, scroll down on the right hand column of your Add Post or Edit Post screen to find the Set Featured Image area.

By Clicking Set Featured Image, a new dialog box will open up.  Click Select Files to upload an image file off your computer.  There are other options available, such as From URL and Media Library, but for most users uploading from your own computer is what you are looking for.  Feel free to explore the other options as well.

Once you pick the image you want (and the image file should be a .png or .jpeg), and new Edit Image screen will open up.  You can enter a Title and Alternate Text if you want to, which helps to Optimize Images in WordPress for SEO.  Then, follow these instructions:

1. Make sure the image is set to Full Size
2. Go ahead and click Use as Featured Image.  Wait a second.
3. Then click Save All Changes.

Then exit out of the popup screen by clicking the X in the top right corner.  Sometimes different versions of WordPress have one or two screens to completely exit out.

You have now set your Featured Image.  Check throughout your WordPress site to see where it will pop up.  The locations on your site where the Featured Images feed into will depend on the Theme you have installed.

E3 created his site with the following features:

• Google Checkout enabled, eCommerce platform designed to accept credit card payments and calculate shipping/tax percentages.  Payments processed automatically and debit into the business bank account.  Shipping information sent via email to the site owner.
• Keyword Selection Report, which identifies keyword opportunities for internet marketing campaigns.
• A 95% onsite Search Engine Optimization ranking.
• Landing page blog posts.
• Properly configured meta data, title tags, and keywords.
• Logical content organization and text header SEO.
• Image alt tag attribute optimization for improved SEO performance.
• High quality graphic design using Adobe products.
• Animated and interactive slider for the homepage.
• Rotating images section on the homepage.
• “Click to Buy” button on homepage.
• Email setup and configuration.
• 24/hour support and maintenance.
• 5 years of web hosting.
• Automated website backups each week.
• Google Analytics configuration and monthly traffic reporting.
• Training on how to use the WordPress administrator area to build new pages, make edits, manage products and prices, etc.

I am very proud of this latest website and I look forward to helping Brian develop his internet marketing campaign further.  If you are interested in getting your next idea off the ground.  Whether you need a programmer for your designs or you want some help on figuring out the best way to monetize your idea, E3 will get you online and found by relevant, qualified visitors.

The Two Versions of WordPress

There are two different versions of WordPress.  One is the free version (often called the “hosted version”) available at WordPress.com, and the other at WordPress.org (often called the “self hosted version”).  The main difference between the two is how the WordPress software is hosted.  WordPress.com is a full feature blog service which hosts your blog for free on their own servers.  It is similar to other free blogging services like Blogger.com.  Unlike the self-hosted version from WordPress.org, WordPress.com handles everything “technical” for you.  No need to pay a web host like GoDaddy to publish your blog or download any software, WordPress.com takes care of all that and is therefore very popular with WordPress newbies.

Limitations of the WordPress.com Approach

The hosted version, however, does have a few limitations.  WordPress.com does not allow you to install any premium plugins or themes, restricting your ability to customize the functionality or appearance of your blog.  For most WordPress beginners, this is not a problem, and you can always move your free version of your blog over to the self-hosted version when you become more comfortable with blogging.  For a more in depth discussion of the differences between the two versions of WordPress, just click the link.

Register with WordPress.com

The process is easy, just:

1. Go to WordPress.com.
2. Click Get Started Here.
3. Complete the registration form, starting with your blog’s address.  This will be the name of your blog.  Think hard about this decision, as it is difficult to successfully change a name of a blog once it gets goin.  It’s hard to move your following to a new address once established.
4. Decide if you want to use the free address or upgrade to a custom domain.  For example, the  free account would be something like  “demoblog.wordpress.com ($0)”.  The custom, paid domain name would be something like  “demoblog.org ($17/year)”.  For the rest of this tutorial, we will be illustrating with the free, demoblog.wordpress.com domain name.
5. Complete the rest of the form and click Sign Up at the bottom.

Update your profile information while you wait for an email from WordPress.  When it arrives in the email account you specified, click Activate.  A new page will open in your internet browser.  The first thing we will look at is the first screen you see, known as the Dashboard.  The Dashboard is the “home page” of your WordPress Administration area and is where you will be able to see quick updates about your blog or make quick posts using the QuickPress tool.  On your first time to the Dashboard, you will see:

1. What screen you are on, right now it is the Dashboard.  As you move around the Administrator area, the titles located here will help you keep track of where you are.
2. In the Welcome area, you will see a link to the Administrator area of your blog.  Just visit this link in your browser to access the Administrator area.  Alternatively, you can log in from WordPress.com directly.
3. The Welcome area also provides a number of support links to help you get started.  I suggest visiting these links.
4. In the Right Now area, you will see a quick overview of the vital stats of your blog.  The Right Now area displays the number of comments, posts, etc. currently active or awaiting approval on your blog.
5. The QuickPress area allows you to write a new blog post fast.  Personally, I find the tool annoying and prefer to write my posts from the main “Add New Post” screen, but more on that later.

You will also see some other tools, widgets, and feeds located on the Dashboard.  More will be added over time as you populate your blog with content and functionality.  Take some time to look at the other options in the Dashboard area.

The WordPress Syntax

Before we explore the WordPress Administrator area, it is important to define a few terms specific to blogging and WordPress.  Understanding what the terms mean dramatically helps your understanding of how to blog with WordPress.

• “Posts” – these form the core of your blog.  A “post” refers to a an article you write on a specific topic.  Posts are different from pages in that they are created on a daily or weekly basis, and focus on a topic relevant to you currently.
• “Pages” – these are the static areas of your blog and are typically rarely changed or replaced over time.  Unlike posts, pages are made early on and left alone.  For example, a blog with an area labeled “About Us”, “Contact”, “Services”, “About the Author”, etc. are usually made as pages instead of posts.  The way you write a page or post is very similar to one another.
• “Links” – refers to your blog’s “blogroll”, a list of links of other blogs or pages you like or are affiliated with.  For example, a Fantasy Football League might have a blog about recent trades amongst the players, and the blogroll would include links to all the players’ Facebook pages.
• “Comments” – comments left by visitors on a specific post or page.
• “Categories” – groups of posts are organized according to categories.  For example, you might have an interior design blog with the categories, “Windows”, “Furniture”, “Colors”, etc. with several posts regarding those topics filed underneath their respective categories.
• “Tags” – posts and pages can be “tagged” with short, descriptive terms.  Only describe a post or page with one or two tags and the tags themselves should be at most one or two words in length.  For example, How to Pick the Right Windows for Your Home might be tagged with “window treatments” and “window selection”.  Try to avoid tagging a post with the same word as the category it falls under.  This keeps your posts nicely organized and helps visitors browse your blog.  It also improves SEO performance.
• “Widgets” – widgets are little “boxes” of functionality you can drag and drop to different locations on your blog.  For example, the widget “Links” provides a list of links you can place somewhere on your blog.
• “Themes” – themes are like “website templates”.  Install a new one and your blog will be given a fresh new look.  Also, many themes include additional or different widgets than the standard theme that comes installed with WordPress, allowing you to do more with your blog.

Explore the WordPress Administrator Area

Once you have a grasp of the Dashboard area, look to your left and you will see a menu displaying all the areas of the WordPress Administrator area.  The menu shows you all the different options as an Administrator you have to manage your blog.  They include:

• Dashboard – provides quick updates about your blog and several tools to quickly make posts, approve comments, etc.
• Addons – purchase upgrades to your blog, such as video, more space, custom domain name, etc.
• Posts – write and edit posts.
• Media – add media files like video, podcasts, images, etc. in bulk for use on your pages/posts.  You can also add media directly from the edit page/post screens.
• Links – add or edit links.  You can also add links directly into pages or posts.  The links menu option is used to create your “blogroll”, a widgetized area of a list of links.
• Pages – add static content areas to your blog, like an About or Contact Us page.
• Feedbacks – browse messages from visitors.
• Polls – create polls for your visitors to cast their votes.
• Ratings – create ratings systems for your visitors to rate your posts.
• Appearance – manage the look and feel of your blog with theme options.  Search for new themes, install them, delete old ones, etc.  Also, here is where you will create navigation menus for your blog, manage widgets, and configure other features.  Most of your blogs design will occur here, so become very familiar with how this area works.
• Users – add new Administrators, Writers, etc.  Change passwords, update your profile, and more.
• Tools – manage and install advanced, technical features for your blog.
• Settings – configure your theme settings and blog settings here.  Things like your blog’s name, contact information, language settings, privacy settings, and more can be customized here.

Also, take note of what happens when you hover over a menu option.  A small, grey, down arrow will appear (ie. the Links menu option in the image).  Click that arrow to expand the sub menu options.  This allows you to move more quickly to the WordPress Administrator area you are looking for.

Configuring General WordPress Settings

When you first get started blogging, we recommend configuring your initial General Settings right away.  Here’s how:

• Head on over to the Settings > General screen using the menu to the left.
• Add a Site Title, this should be the name of your blog.
• Add a tagline, a one sentence description of what your blog is about.
• Select a time zone for your blog, just pick a city in the same time zone as you.
• Configure your preferred date and time format.
• Select what day your blog’s week starts on.  This is important for when you delay a posts publishing by scheduling it in for a later date.
• Select your language.
• Don’t forget to upload a blog picture.  This will be what is displayed on WordPress.com when people browse around and find your blog.  It serves much the same purpose as a thumbnail profile picture on Facebook.
• Click Save.

Writing Posts in WordPress

Writing great content is the key to ranking high in search engines and gaining repeat visitors to your blog.  Here’s how you get started:

1. Expand the Posts menu by clicking the downward arrow.  Then click Add New.
2. Write a great title for your post.  It should reflect what the body content will be about.  Don’t worry too much about writing something catchy, try instead to think about what someone would actually search for.
3. Write the body content of the post.  Check out our article How to Use the WordPress Post Editor for more information on adding images, links, and more to your posts.
4. Add a New Category or select an existing category to file your post under.
5. Set a tag or two, no more.
6. Set the Featured Image.  This is the image that will be used as your Featured Image throughout the blog.
7. Click Publish.

Using the WordPress Appearance Area

The WordPress appearance area is where you will manage your blog’s appearance and functionality using themes and widgets.  We will focus on Themes, Widgets, and Menus as they are the fundamentals to any blog.  Several themes come with additional menu options under Appearance, such as iPad, Extras, Custom Design, etc.  These are peripheral and vary across theme, so we won’t touch on them in this tutorial.  You should browse these areas and see what other stuff your theme can do!

Installing Themes and Managing Theme Options

Themes allow you to quickly change the look of your blog without knowing anything about code or being a graphic designer.

1. Head over to Themes under the Appearance menu.
2. Here you can see the Current Theme installed on your blog.  By default when you install WordPress it will have some predetermined theme already active.  The default theme will change periodically as WordPress decides.  In this example, the current theme is “Titan – By Theme Foundry”.
3. In this area, you’ll see the options that come with the currently installed theme.  The number and types of theme options available will change from theme to theme.  The Titan theme comes with several options, including Widgets, Menus, Theme Options, Custom Design, etc.
4. You can browse for new themes by either searching for them, using the Feature Filter, or by the filter options A-Z, Popular, Newest, Premium, and Friends of WP.com.
5. As you search for themes, you can either activate or preview them here.

 Adding Functionality with Widgets

Widgets are little pieces of functionality that you can drag and drop into various areas of your blog.  Different themes will have different widgets available, but we will be illustrating the process of using widgets with the Titan theme.  The method is exactly the same for all themes, even if the available widgets are varying.

1. Head on over to the Widgets screen by clicking the menu option under Appearance
2. You will see an area labeled Available Widgets.  Here is where you will find all the widgets available for the particular theme you are using.  This will vary across different themes.
3. On the right hand side you will see several boxes.  In the case of the Titan theme, these boxes are the Sidebar, Footer Left, Footer Center, Footer Right.  The names of these boxes represent areas on your blog specifically designated by the theme to use widgets.  Different themes will have different areas of your blog.  For example, some themes come with “widgetized areas” such as Home Middle, Home Top, Header Right, etc.  The names outline where on your blog the widgetized area is located.
4. To illustrate the process of adding a widget to one of the widgetized areas, we will be using the “Categories” widget.  What the different widgets do is fairly intuitive and their names are revealing.  Play around with using different widgets to see what your theme is capable of.
5. To add a widget, simply drag it over to the area you want it to appear on your blog.  Go ahead and add widgets into the other areas as well, so you can get an idea of where these widgets will appear on your blog.  Most of the time, the widget will “pop up” a settings configuration area.  This will be different for different widgets.  Sometimes all you are able to do is title the widgetized area.  For more advanced widgets, you can configure settings such as contact information, colors, content feed locations, etc.

 Adding Menus for Navigation

Recently, WordPress created the ability to create Menus and set them to appear on various areas of a particular theme.  Menus refer to lists of text that provide hyperlinks to various posts, pages, etc. within and outside of your blog.

1. Go to Menus under Appearance.
2. Enter a Menu name, something like “Main”, or “Primary”.
3. Click Create Menu.

Now that you have created a Menu, you will be taken to the Edit Menu screen.  Different themes will provide you with different locations and options in the Edit Menu screen.  However, by default, most themes interact with menus in a similar way as to this example theme.

1. Set the menu you just created to be your blog’s primary navigation.
2. If your theme allows you to set additional menus, such as a sub navigation menu or Header Right navigation, you can create additional Menus by clicking the plus sign.
3. The Custom Links area allows you to add a link to your menu that exists external to your blog.  The Label area is the text that will actually appear as a menu option.
4. Select to add to your menu.
5. Select to add one of your blog’s Post Categories.
6. Click Save Menu.

 Concluding thoughts…

This guide will put you into a great place to start managing your own blogging campaign for free using the service available at WordPress.com.  Remember that there are two versions of the WordPress blogging software, with the other one available at WordPress.org.  Because the “self hosted”, WordPress.org version is much more customizable and versatile, most of the E3 blog concentrates on using that version.  With this guide we hope that you enjoy yourself on the long, fulfilling journey of building a community of interested followers.  And don’t forget to explore the software on your own, WordPress is constantly evolving and growing!

What Specifications does WordPress Require?

You will be surprised to hear that WordPress is a very light-weight script and it is compatible with almost all web hosts.  The basic requirements that WordPress needs to run on your web host are:

• PHP 4.3 or greater
• MySQL 4.0 or greater
• The mod_rewrite Apache module

Things to Consider when Choosing a Web Hosting Service

Your Needs

As we stated above, WordPress is a very light-weight script for a normal blog account, and the majority of top hosting sites are now offering unlimited hosting space, so take advantage of that.

Web Host Reputation

Every host that we mention in this post has earned its reputation in the industry.  They are top-notch services.  If you decide to go with a service other than the ones that we list in this post, make sure you do an extensive research on their reputation, uptime history, and support reviews.

Web Host Features

Different web hosts offer different features, both included with your monthly/yearly fee or available for purchase with an upgrade.  To properly understand your needs when picking a web host, you should ask yourself what kind of features you may want.  Here are some features often included with web hosts that you should keep in mind:

• Unlimited Email Accounts & Email Space
• Simple Scripts Installation Services – visit our How to Install WordPress in 5 Minutes article for more information.
• Unlimited File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
• Search Engine Optimization Tools
• Database Management Tools
• Domain Registration & Management

E3′s Web Host Recommendation

Below is the list of what we consider to be the best web hosts for WordPress.  All of these hosts have unlimited hosting space for you, so you won’t need to worry about the size of your blog or website’s files.

• Host Gator
• Site5
• Super Green Hosting
• Blue Host – our preferred web host

Choose from any of the web hosts above, and we guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.  Our preferred provider, and the web host we use for all of our tutorials, is Blue Host.  We believe that the number of features it offers outmatches any of the competition and highly recommend it for your WordPress blog.