Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Producing Content In Wordpress

By Don Bethune

The popularity of WordPress, commonly called WP by frequent users, has grown recently as this content management system becomes the best and easiest way to post blog content. Due to the use of PHP and HTML coding, some feel intimidated using it, especially those how really donat know anything about web page coding. If you just take a little time to learn the basics, however, WordPress is a lot easier than you might think.

There are two basic components to WordPress, the free blogging service and a self hosted element. If you do not know anything about HTML coding, or if you donat have access to PHO or MySQL resources, you would probably want to use the hosting service, and an account can be set up in minutes. When you use the free hosting service, you donat need to know anything about coding at all!

If you have your own hosting, you can use WPas well-known a5 Minute Installationa to download the files you need to start using this amazing service. The only things you need are an available database and the ability to assign usage by way of a user name and password. If you run into any problems, you can always get help by visiting the WordPress forum or by using the WP Codex.

Once a user sets up WordPress, he can begin to customize his new blog (short for weblog) or begin posting right away. Use of the control panel, known as the dashboard, of both the hosted WP blogs and the WP script is similar and users will be able to switch between the two. Although blogs hosted in WordPress.com will not have all the features of WP the script, they both share the same basic functions.

Just by logging into the dashboard, blog hosts can start posting comments. There are various options located at the top in a navigation bar, including write, design, and manage. When you click on awrite,a you will see other options as well that can alter the format of your post. The text editor that pops up will look similar to an email text box, and you can change the fonts and add pictures as you wish, or you can leave things just plain and simple.

It is not necessary to know anything about coding to create a post. The editor is on and available, however, to those who do want to take advantage of this feature. Instead of just typing in text, you will be able to choose the HTML tag you want. Sometimes the code comes out broken this way, so users need to exercise caution. WordPress will automatically correct code that is entered wrong, but this can result in different formats than you were trying for, so take care to enter your codes correctly.

When the user had typed up his message satisfactorily, he may press the "Publish" button to the right of the post editor andi t will immediately go live. The page will refresh and a link to the new post will display. However, if a user wants to save his post and return to it at a later date, he can click the "Save" button to the right of the editor to do so. This does not publish the post on the blog.

Using WordPress to publish blog posts is easy and efficient, whether you use WordPress for your hosting or do it yourself. The hardest part is setting up the blog, but even that becomes easier with practice. In no time, you will be the proud publisher of your own blog!

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