Alright, so you’ve purchased a domain name and have spent a few days (sorry about that) looking at themes. You’re dieing to get your blog up and running now, right? Good, because that’s what we’re going to do today.
First though, you need to do a little more research. Before anyone will be able to view your blog you’ll have to find a host. A host provides space to store your website or blog information. I searched message boards and review sites for a week or so before finally deciding to go with HostGator. They might or might not be the best or the cheapest but the reviews were good and I found their prices very competitive. My experience with them has always been great. They’ve always been quick to respond to even my lamest questions and have been able to help me solve any issues right away. For that reason I can highly recommend them but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you wanted to do your own research.
After you’ve found your host it’s time to upload Wordpress to your site. I use GoDaddy and HostGator so my instructions are specific to them, but the steps should be similar no matter what combination of companies you’re using. The first thing you want to do is change the domain name servers (DNS) for your domain. I think it tells the web browser where to look for your site information. Find out what your particular name servers are. If you have HostGator your DNS will be given to you in your welcome email. (If you lost it, email support.) Next, go to Godaddy.com, hold your mouse over “domains” click on “my domains” in the drop down box and select the domain you want to work with. Make sure it’s unlocked, then click on the name servers to change them. It can take a few days for some internet service providers to update so be patient if you don’t see anything on your site for a while. Your host should have a way for you to view it while you’re waiting. (With HostGator you just go to http://youripaddresshere/~yourusernamehere/. )
Gosh, I am so sick of listening to myself type. I know this post is a little dry and technical. We’re almost done and when we are you’ll have a brand spanking new blog to play with!
Now we’re ready to load Wordpress on your site. HostGator, and I’m sure many other hosts, has a great product calld Fantastico that lets you upload Wordpress with just a few clicks of your mouse. If you have HostGator go to www.yourdomain.com/cpanel and log in. On the main cpanel page there is an icon for Fantastico De Luxe. When you click on that you’ll be taken to a page is a list of website programs that you can have loaded on your site. Select Wordpress and follow the directions. Make sure you write down all of the usernames and passwords it asks you to choose. You might even want to make an extra copy or 2 just in case you lose one. You need to take very good care of these. Then you’re done! See. Easy.
You did it! I’m so excited for you. Now go to www. yourdomain.com/wp-login to start playing with settings. I predict a sleepless night for you.
Within the next few days I’ll tell you how to load a new theme and customize a few settings but in the meantime I have another assignment. Spend the next few days thinking about how you want your blog organized. What categories and sub-categories would you like? What special features would you like? Take a look at some other blogs to get some ideas.
