HOW TO BLOG ON WORDPRESS
Log onto wordpress.com and follow the directions to set up a blog.
To start working on your blog, click on my dashboard at the top. Click on your site name.
You’ll see a dashboard or menu of options on the left side.
TO SET UP YOUR PAGES, Click the arrow to the right of PAGES and pull down the menu and click Add New.When the page template comes up, put GUESTS in the header and then click Publish on the right side of the screen. Then add a new page that says ASSIGNMENTS in the header and then click Publish.
TO POST ARTICLES on the main page of your blog, on the left side under POSTS, click on the down arrow and click on Add New.
Type in your headline and in the body of the post, cut and paste your content. If your content is a Word document, you can click on the little W icon on the wordpress toolbar and cut and paste your content into the box that appears. This will format it properly. Then click INSERT and the word document will appear in your post box.
After your article appears in the post box, you’ll want to insert a MORE TAG after the first paragraph. This keeps the front page neat and allows more posts. To do this, put your curser at the end of the first paragraph and then go up to the wordpress tool bar and click the icon that has a double square and says MORE TAG. This will post just the first paragraph on your home page and allow readers to click on the tag to see the whole story on another page. If you’re adding an image or audio, see steps below. If not, choose your category on the right side of the page under publish and then click on PUBLISH. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – YOUR POST WON’T PUBLISH WITHOUT THIS STEP!!!!!!!!! That’s it. Then, at the top left hand side of the page you can click on VIEW POST to see your post.
TO ADD PHOTO…place your curser where you want the photo in your copy (top right hand corner of the first sentence is best). Then go to the top line of the wordpress tool bar and click on the “box within a box” icon that says ADD AN IMAGE. Choose a file to upload and click UPLOAD. Your image will load and another box will appear where you can choose photo placement and size. You can also add a caption. After doing this, it’s very important to click on INSERT INTO POST. Choose your category on the right side of the page under publish and then click on PUBLISH. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – YOUR POST WON’T PUBLISH WITHOUT THIS STEP!!!!!!!!! That’s it. Then, at the top left hand side of the page you can click on VIEW POST to see your post.
TO ADD SLIDESHOW.Save your photos on your computer. Open a new post page and put your curser where you want the slideshow to go. Then click on your multimedia icon. When the window opens, make sure you’re in FLASH BROWSER mode and then highlight all your photos at once and open the files. You’ll see them upload one at a time in your WordPress photo window.After they’ve uploaded click show on each one and fill in the CAPTION. You should see all your photos in the window, stacked one on top of the other with their information below. When you have filled out the captions for each one, scroll to the bottom of the page and click SAVE ALL CHANGES. Then, scroll down to the bottom of the window again and click INSERT SLIDESHOW. It will put a slideshow html code that simply says slideshow (in brackets) in your post page. Then, click PUBLISH on the right hand side of the dashboard like you would do to publish any new post.
TO ADD VIDEO…You must first upload your video to YouTube. Then, back on your post page, write a little introduction copy and then place your curser where you want the video in your post. Then click on the tool bar multimedia icon. A box will open asking you the source of your video. Click on URL and a box will appear where you cut and paste your URL from YouTube. Click INSERT INTO POST. Choose your category on the right side of the page under publish and then click on PUBLISH. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – YOUR POST WON’T PUBLISH WITHOUT THIS STEP!!!!!!!!! That’s it. Then, at the top left hand side of the page you can click on VIEW POST to see your post.
TO ADD AUDIO PODCASTS –Upload your audio to Soundcloud or other free audio storage site. Click on the icon of the two musical notes that says ADD AUDIO. Choose FROM URL and cut and paste your url into the address window. Add a title in the title window. Click on INSERT INTO POST and you’ll see that you have the title of your podcast underlined and in your post. Choose your category on the right side of the page under publish and then click on PUBLISH. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – YOUR POST WON’T PUBLISH WITHOUT THIS STEP!!!!!!!!! That’s it. Then, at the top left hand side of the page you can click on VIEW POST to see your post.
Make a mistake? Want to add/change something after you’ve posted? You can edit your post by clicking EDIT under POSTS. Put your curser over the post you want to edit and click the words EDIT when they come up underneath. This also gives you the option to DELETE. After you make your changes, click the blue button to your right that says UPDATE.
Custom Header Photo Cropping: Find out the dimensions of your custom header. Download Picasa.com free software. Import your photos. Pick your photo and right click on it. Click VIEW AND EDIT. Click CROP. Pull down menu and click ADD CUSTOM ASPECT RATIO. Then add in your custom header dimensions and click OKAY. Then save your file and upload it into CUSTOM HEADER on wordpress.
