Mary B asked:


What is Wordpress?

Wordpress is a free, easy to install and use blog and content management system. You can download Wordpress at: http://wordpress.org/download/.

Why Wordpress?



Wordpress is free, easy to install and easy to use

You can quickly create new static pages (About Us, Our Services, Contact Us, etc.)

You can easily maintain a business or personal blog and archive older articles

Wordpress can create search engine-friendly pages

You can choose from hundreds of templates (also called themes or designs) to install

You can choose from hundreds of plug-ins (such as calendars, contact forms, photo galleries, etc.) to add.



Installing Wordpress on Your Webhost

Option 1 : If you know how to use FTP and how to create a MySQL database, you can probably install it yourself quickly using the installation instructions at Wordpress.

Option 2: If you chose a webhost that includes the script library Fantastico or if you chose Netfirms.com, you can use their useful automatic installation tools. Please note: this method may not be as secure as option one.

1) Webhost with Fantastico

I will use Hostpapa.com as an example because I often recommend it to clients, but it could be any other host with Fantastico.





Login to the control panel at http://www.hostpapa.ca/cplogin.shtml

Scroll down to the « Software » section and click on « Fantastico De Luxe »



In the left menu, under « Blog », you will find « Wordpress ». Click on « Wordpress » and then on « New Installation ».

Choose your domain name in the drop-down menu.

Type the directory where you want to install Wordpress. Leave it empty if you want to install it in the root folder

Type an admin username and a password

Put in your admin nickname, e-mail address and your site’s name as well as a self-explanatory slogan.

Click on « Install Wordpress » and then on « Finish Installation ».

Your are ready to login to your admin account!



2) Netfirms Netfirms.com, another host I frequently recommend, is a bit different:



Login to the control panel at https://controlpanel.netfirms.com

Click on the menu item « Site Tools »

Under « Applications » you will see « Wordpress ». Click on « Wodpress »

On the next page, click on « Add New », on the right-hand side of the page.

Type the directory where you want to install Wordpress. Leave it empty if you want to install it in the root folder.

Select your domain name and click « Add »



Option 3: If you prefer, you can have it installed by a freelancer for around $25. All the freelancer will need is access to your server and the option to create a MySQL database.

Creating Content

Once Wordpress is installed on the server, you can login to your admin account and create content in two different ways:

1) Create static pages such as « About Us », « Contact », « Services », etc.



In the main menu, click on  « Write » and then on « Page »

Type a title in the « Title » field

Type and format your content in the « Page » field

Click on the button « Publish »



And voilà, a new menu item will automatically be created in your site menu, linking to this new page.

2) Write a post (article)



In the main menu, click on « Write » and then on « Post »

Type a title in the « Title » field

Type and format your content in the « Post » field

Below you can type tags. Tags are keywords that describe the topic of your post.

Select or add a category in which to post your article. This will help organize and archive your posts.

Click on the button « Publish »



A new title will automatically be created in your categories and will link to this article. Most likely, and depending on your settings, this new article will also appear on your home page.

You can include images, videos, audio and other files in both posts and pages using the buttons next to “Add Media”.

For more info on how to use Wordpress, read  http://codex.wordpress.org/Introduction_to_Blogging.



Caffeinated WP AutoBlog Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress

Johnny Hughes asked:


For those of which are unfamiliar with what a CMS is, or what it can be used for. A CMS is computer software that is used in organizing and collaborating the creation of content and other documents. CMS is a combination of large database, File System, and other related software modules, which are used to store and retrieve huge amounts of data when required.

These web-publishing systems are different from the databases in the sense that these can index text, audio clips, video clips, or images in a database. So Content Management Systems are one of the most significant ways a company can improve its website effectiveness, and simply being able to edit your own website without any HTML knowledge needed.

Joomla versus Wordpress

As I stated previously the two heavy-weights we have decided to review today are 2 of the most notorious CMS systems out there: Joomla vs Wordpress. Although, we have vast experience in both – each have their benefits and disadvantages.

Joomla

Joomla is open source solution for CMS (content Management System) which helps you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Joomla is easy to use and good for extensibility, this made Joomla the most popular Web site software available. Best thing is that, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone. It is extremely robust and there are a TON of extensions readily available for Joomla at: Joomla Exensions

Web Applications Developed With the Help of Joomla

E-commerce websites or portals

Online publications websites

Corporate website or portals

Small business websites

Government and NGO websites

School and collages websites

Personal websites

Advantages and Disadvantages with using Joomla

Joomla Pros

• Full fledged CMS

• More powerful and robust

• Admin Users and PW protected areas

• Admin much more than just articles

• SEO Friendly, with SEF plugin

• Overall more under the hood

Joomla Cons

• Bigger learning curve

• Not SEO friendly out of the box

• Slower loading times

• Javascript and CSS can get bulky

Wordpress

Wordpress is most popular open-source and free blogging software. Wordpress is written in PHP using MySQL. It has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, used on hundreds of thousands of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day. We’ve found that Wordpress works MAGIC with blogs, but lacks as a primary CMS (in our eyes) – but they’re getting much closer! Here are a list of free themes, extensions, and plugins for Wordpress: http://wordpress.org/extend/

Web Applications Developed With the Help of Wordpress

• Free Powerful personal publishing system

• Customize Template driven design

• File/picture uploading

• Differentiated between Categories

• Allowed html tags

• Password protection

• Allow Meta tags

Wordpress offers many more features. Wordpress is undoubtedly the most popular platform today for content management or blogging. WordPress is a giant of the industry. With the largest plug-in and theme collection of any platform on the market. Wordpress is the easiest when it comes to installing in any system and incredibly easy to use and expand.

Advantages and Disadvantages with using Wordpress

Wordpress Pros

• Excellent blogging software right out of the box

• SEO Friendly right out of the box

• Easier Installation

• Friendlier graphical user interface (GUI)

• Administrate articles, comments, and blogs easier

• Lightweight and easy to use

Wordpress Cons

• Articles are more “bloggy” sorted by publich dates

• Limited on components / extensions

• Lightweight / limited on power

• Limited on Administration of other portions



Caffeinated WP AutoBlog Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress

Peter OBrien asked:


Google loves blogs because new, unique and useful information can be added very quickly. Not only can the blog administrator add content but visitors to the blog can leave comments and ask questions. When people find answers to their problems, they will return to your blog in the future.

Wordpress is a very popular platform for blogging because it is a complete content management system which also allows you to add themes and plugins which will improve the functionality of your wordpress blog. You can setup your blog for free with wordpress or you can install wordpress on your own domain name.

I recommend installing wordpress on your own domain name because you have control of your blog. If you have your blog on the wordpress domain, your blog can be deleted without notice and then all of your hard work is gone forever. Installing wordpress on your domain name is very easy if your web hosting company offers install wordpress. Look for a web host that uses cPanel and has Fantastico. Click on the Fantastico icon and wordpress will be installed in minutes with a few clicks on your part.

Now that you have your blog setup, you need to add your wordpress adsense template theme. Not only do these templates have a header graphic for your particular niche but they are also setup with adsense ad blocks placed in high click areas. Good templates will also have the google search box and use the ad units to look like a navigation bar.

To install your wordpress adsense template theme follow these simple steps:

1. Open up the folder with all the wordpress files

2. Add your google id to the index.php and sidebar.php files

3. upload all files to wp-content/themes

4. login to your wordpress dashboard

5. Click on presentation tab

6. Click on your theme in available themes

7. Your wordpress adsense template is now your current theme

You now have a wordpress blog on your own domain in your selected niche.

Start adding your content about your niche and the google ads will change to relevant ads that pertain to your niche.



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