I’ve completed an extremely short 7 page WordPress Primer - Quick Start Guide (PDF - 154kb) that is geared towards the absolute newbie to WordPress.
The topics covered are:
- The Difference Between WordPress and WordPress.com
- Installing WordPress and the Famous 5 Minute Install
- Update Your Profile and Password
- Update Your First Post, Comment, and About Page
- Installing New Themes
- Installing New Plugins
If you find it useful, I’d love to know. If you have any suggestions on how to improve it, I’d love to hear it.
I wish I’d known about this when I first started using WordPress!
I’ll have a read; if I find it useful, will definitely be linking to this article.
Kx
# July 26th, 2006
Thanks Teli for providing such a handy reference.
Although it is geared toward the entry-level beginner, it serves as a reminder of links to other posts in your blog, such as:
- Advanced installation guide
- Where to find custom themes
- Where to find plug-ins
- Where to find the Wordpress Codex for help
- Where to find an advanced Video Tutorial
I’m glad I’m on your mailing list!
# July 27th, 2006
The guide is okay, but honestly, I find Blogger more user-friendly than WordPress. In the long run, when I discovered WordPress, it’s also an easy-peasy. An advantage of it is that you can add useful plugins.
So, back to the primer. It’s comprehensive enough, but then how can you change the URL (like switching subdomain names) of your blog without having it deleted?
That seemed to be a problem for me before because I had no idea about wp then.
# July 30th, 2006
Thank you Kathleen and Jerry. Your comments are appreciated, and I’m glad to have the reminder that the guide does serve as more than a newbie guide.
Isulong, I’m not sure I understand your question, though. Are you asking how to transfer a blog from Blogger to WordPress or move a WordPress blog (both of which are beyond the scope of a newbie’s guide to WordPress)?
~ Teli
# July 31st, 2006
for teli:
what i mean is i installed a wordpress blog on a subdomain “blog”, and i want to transfer that blog into a different subdomain name. the problem is, i cannot transfer it by simply changing the url on the options of wp since my hosting service doesn’t permit me to do since it already indicated only the subdomain “blog” (or perhaps, I just don’t know how to rename/edit it), so I have to reinstall the whole thing and thus delete my previous post.
i just hope they include that in the primer where those who have a domain/hosting alone or those who use wp for free can concur.
# August 1st, 2006
Your guide is really really useful from a beginner point of view.
I would like to translate it and publish on my italian blog focused on italian first-time wordpress users, WordPressMania.it.
Obviously I’ll keep all the credits and links to you.
Can I?
Stefano
# September 29th, 2006
I believe I understand what you’re asking.
You previously had a blog set up at yoursite.com/blog/ and you wanted to change it to blog.yoursite.com without needing to reinstall WordPress - am I correct in this assessment?
If so, it’s a matter of changing your WordPress and Blog URI’s from the Options panel. If you’ve already changed your hosting account to point to the subdomain and you receive errors when accessing the /blog/ folder, then you’d need to make these changes from the database level.
Again, well beyond the scope of a newbie’s guide. It’s actually an intermediate/advanced topic.
Hope it helps, though.
~ Teli
# September 29th, 2006
Hi Stefano,
I am extremely flattered and glad you think it worthy of translation for your readers.
You have my blessings.
~ Teli
# September 29th, 2006
Thnks for the guide Teli !
I’m seriously thinking of switching to my own domain and was looking around to see if it would be easy to install wordpress on my server.
After reading your guide, looks pretty easy !
# October 5th, 2006
Hi Huy,
You should! Having your own domain name gives you a lot more control over what you can do with your site - especially in the long run.
WordPress is easy to install once you get the hang of it and in case you don’t want to deal with code, many hosts offer one-click installation.
~ Teli
# October 5th, 2006
This is very good stuff! It’s clear and easy to understand. I think what needs to be added is whether or not it is possible to transfer your Wordpress.com blog posts to your Wordpress blog, and if possible, how. Keep up the good work!
# November 16th, 2006
Hi Kumiko,
Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it. I’ll also look into creating a tutorial for moving WP.com blog entries over to a WP blog for the future. (Yes, it’s possible.)
~ Teli
# November 18th, 2006
Very good guide!
It’s simply and it has helped me with my blog.
Using WordPress CMS is better than a free space on wordpress.com, because you have your domain name…your own space….and your own business. Wordpress.com doesn’t allow to put adsense code or other affiliation.
# February 15th, 2007
Your’re doing great work Teli.
# April 13th, 2007
Thanks for the download Teli.
It is a really good guide that will be sure to help me with my blogs.
I will have to keep coming back to see if you are going to launch an advanced version as well.
Again, many thanks.
# July 16th, 2007
I have read your primer and it is some help. I am a complete newbie to blogging and to WordPress. I got into a bind trying to cut and paste from MS-Word into the WordPress blogging rich text editor. I learned to turn off the RTE and to “use” the more basic editor.
Fine, but please don’t laugh, I am trying to find out what “b,” “i,” “b-qoute,” “ins,” “img,” “ul,” “code,” “more,” and “lookup” mean. I swear that I have looked all thru the WordPress site and I still haven’t a clue. OK, I can intuit some of it, but is there a more efficient way to learn than trial and error?
Also I use Yahoo Small Business as my primary host, but they “sell” WordPress as a hosting tool, but do not support it. But, since my blog is on Yahoo and not WordPress.com, WordPress says that my questions are not support issues. I have listed some of my questions in the WordPress support forum, but I am starting this blog for business reasons, am a quick learner, and don’t want to wait on a third individual everytime there is a problem.
What should I do? Can you at least help me to learn how to use those basic editor tags? Please?
# July 28th, 2007
Hi Jack,
I’m not laughing, I promise — we all had to start somewhere.
As for each of the basic editor tags, here you go:
b = bold. It will wrap the highlighted text in <strong> tags.
i - italic. It will wrap the highlighted text in <em> tags.
b-quote = blockquote. To be used when you’re citing someone else’s work within your blog entry. By default, unless changed by the stylesheet, it will indent that portion to signify that it is not your words.
del = delete. Used to signify that a certain portion of text has been removed/deleted since you last published the entry.
ins = insert. Used to signify that a certain portion of text has been inserted in the entry since it was first published.
img = image. Used to insert an image within the entry.
ul = unordered list. Used to insert an unordered list (must be used in conjunction with li).
ol = ordered list. Used to insert a ordered (numbered) list (must be used in conjunction with li).
li = list item. This is an item within an unordered or ordered list.
code = code. This will wrap the selected block of text in <code> tags — should only be used when you’re writing out code.
lookup = dictionary search. You can use it to search for any given word.
Close Tags - in the event that you have any unclosed XHTML tags within your blog entry, WordPress will automatically add their closing equivalent.
Hope that helps,
~ Teli
# July 29th, 2007
Teli,
Thanks for your help and for not laughing. This should get me started!
Jack
# July 29th, 2007
Yeah I installed wordpress and been using it for few hours and I love it. Thanks.
# October 1st, 2007