Wordpress setup for newbie (8 posts)

Topic tags: plugins, setup, themes, Wordpress
  • Thomas F Gledhill
    Adventurer
    Thomas F Gledhill said
    10 months ago:

    I recently hired an elancer to setup a wordpress site for my blog. The result was not pretty. It was not the elancer’s fault but mine. After seeing some nice sites done with Wordpress & plugins, I would like to go that route. However, the options are overwhelming! I have 2 questions:

    1. Could someone recommend a simple theme and appropriate plugins to get me started?

    2. Can I delete the contents of the blog page (I would like to leave the other 2 pages – HOME and ABOUT THE AUTHOR pages the way they are for now) and use that page for the new design or should I start with a new page?

    My blog is about healthcare issues and especially how reform will affect seniors.  My website is: http://www.payforlongtermcare.com/blog.

    I’m brand new to wordpress and any help you can give me will be truly appreciated!

    Gratefully,

    Tom Gledhill

    @thomasfgledhill | # | Top
  • Profile picture of
    Exemplar
    Mac said
    10 months ago:

    I like the Thesis theme, but Twenty Eleven that comes with Wordpress is enough.

    I think you should have a sitemap plugin that tracks your blog pages and informs the search engines of changes you make.  a social media plugin, like the one on SME. You can either take one that does a bunch of options or place them one at a time. I like SME putting one at the top – Twitter for here, but it could be different for you – and then multiple at the bottom.  there are leader boards, like the clubs. or the Facebook option. If you start to have a lot of back and forth with readers these can be good.

    I’d stop there until you get the feel for what your readers want. The best and most cool tool is useless if your audience does nto use it. remember, it is all about the reader.

    @richardmclaughlin | # | Top
  • Dea Irby
    Legend
    Dea Irby said
    10 months ago:

    glad you asked this, Richard. @richardmclaughlin Thanks for the answser, Mac! I think I’ll use 2011 myself. @thomasfgledhill

    @deairby | # | Top
  • Thomas F Gledhill
    Adventurer
    Thomas F Gledhill said
    9 months, 4 weeks ago:

    Thanks, Mac. That’s a starting point & I can add more stuff as I become more familiar with  Wordpress & its plugins. @richardmclaughlin

    @thomasfgledhill | # | Top
  • Profile picture of
    Pioneer
    Lou Macdonald said
    9 months, 4 weeks ago:

    2011 is fine to start with as @richardmclaughlin said but I think Thesis can be a bit daunting for a newbie, it almost has too much choice on customization.  As far as plugins are concerned my basics are:
    “All in one SEO pack” fill in your keywords and away you go.
    “Google XML sitemap” which creates a site map for you.
    “Contact Form 7″ to make a form on your contact page.
    “Bullet Proof Security” To lock Wordpress back doors.
    “Akismet” to filter out all those spam comments blogs attract, this comes with wordpress but needs activating.
    There are some great tutorial videos on YouTube if you get stuck, or message me & I’d be happy to talk you though it. :)

    @loumacdonald | # | Top
  • Thomas F Gledhill
    Adventurer
    Thomas F Gledhill said
    9 months, 4 weeks ago:

    Thank you, Lou. I really appreciate your directing me to some starter plugins. I need to get my site so that it’s half decent.

    @thomasfgledhill | # | Top
  • Ken Mcclary
    Explorer
    Ken Mcclary said
    9 months, 4 weeks ago:

    @thomasfgledhill It is super easy to customize your wordpress blog and it may be a better investment to put money into learning how to customize…there are tons free tutorials out too.
    If i want to add Twiiter to my blog I go to google or YouTube and Type in “Wordpress Twitter”
    If I want to add a Wiget I go to google or YouTube and type in “Wordpress Widget”
    90% of Wordpress is click to install and is all right there for you for free. That includes your theme. You can just download a theme and click activate and your new theme is live.Same with plugins. No need to redo pages because everything will wrap around your current content.
    Good Luck 

    @ken-mcclary | # | Top
  • Profile picture of
    Adventurer
    Barry Spielman said
    9 months, 3 weeks ago:

    I hope this is an appropriate place to ask this question, it seems like a similar threat since I too have only recently set up a blog on Wordpress. The blog is on wordpress.com  -www.thinkingofisrael.com   – I ordered the .com domain through the wordpress.com website. I think this was probably premature. From the recent blogging seminar,  It sounds like it makes sense to move to wordpress.org, I understand I need a host which would then install the blog and have the click and install. Am I correct that the domain I got through wordpress.com is not a host? If I went with one of the recommended hosts, ($3.95 a month…) would it be able to use the domain name I have now or would I in essence be getting a new one? Thanks for any light you can shed on this. I’m learning…..Barry

    @barrysp | # | Top

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