WordPress Class 1

A WordPress Guide that for clients and others interested in learning WP basics

PART 1: WordPress –  A Beginners Guide to Posting
You will be given a url that you will use to log onto your dashboard. Bookmark this url so that you can find it easily. If you forget, the url is usually your domain with “/wp-login.php” at the end.

Put in your user name and password. The blue login button will then take you to the dashboard of your site. You should already have one or two posts on your web site to get you started. Remember that “Posts” and “Pages” are different. When you create a post, it will automatically be placed on the site’s blog page, which may or may not be the home page. You can decided which page is your blog. If you happen to open the blog page to edit it on the dashboard, it will look empty. That is normal. Instead, to edit your posts, go to the Posts button on the dashboard’s index.  The index is the left column with the list of all the tools you need.

Your posts will be listed individually and you can edit them at any time. If you trash a post, it stays in the trash until you delete it permanently. To add a new post, click the button “Add New” at the top of the Posts page. Add a title and paste the text. Likewise, for new pages. When you are finished, press the “Publish” button. Be sure to check the categories that relate to the post. If you desire a new category you can add it now or at any time. The list is directly under the Publish button. Publishing a post will automatically create a new entry at the top of your blog page. With pages, a new page will appear on the menu bar. See my upcoming installment about The Menu later today.

That’s it. Check your new post on the blog page. You may see some errors you want to correct. You can go back and edit the post and press “Update”.

PART 2: Adding an Image and link to your post or page

Right now I’m writing inside the text box on a new post about my client NuFit Now. Above the text box are two rows of icons in gray and above them are the words “Upload/Insert”  and several icons to the right of them. The first one is a little rectangle. Place a cursor in the spot you want your image, them click the button I just described. It will bring up a box asking you to find the image to place.

If your image is not in your media library, then direct the upload to find your image on your computer. It can be on your desktop, in a folder or in iPhoto. Near the bottom of the box, you will select the placement, left. center or right. This is important because you usually want the text to wrap around the image for good use of space and legibility. I find it easier to write the text first and then place the  image. Be sure to click the button “Insert Into Post”,  which is not quite obvious. Otherwise, the photo will not be placed. Another tip: Use images that are no more than twice the size you want on the page. WP will give you size options in the box before you place the image. Also, for a more accurate fit, you can edit the image or photo after placement.

Editing the image
Remember that you cannot edit text or images on a page if you are not in the “edit” mode. If you View page, you are out of edit mode. There will be a small “Edit” button to allow editing the page or post. To edit the image, roll your cursor over the top left of the image. Two buttons will appear there. One for editing and one for deleting. Select the editing button. This will allow you to reduce the size of the image by 10% increments, add a caption, or change it’s position on the page.

PART 3: All About Menus
Everytime you create a new page in WordPress, it automatically goes on the top menu. That is the default. Sometimes, there is not enough room for all the pages of your site to run across the top, so you must think about creating drop downs in the menu. Organize your pages so that they have a a lead page and then all the subjects related to that can drop down under that button.  A simple example is this:  ABOUT US can be the lead page and the individuals in your company can each have a page under it. Or, You could drop down TESTIMONIALS under the ABOUT US page. It’s up to you. So this is how you do it:

When you are placing the text in a new page, you will see a column of gray boxes on the right hand side of the page. There is a box with the header “Attributes”. In that box you can select the “Parent Page”. In my example above, the Testimonial Page would select “About Us” as its Parent Page. Then press Publish or Update and your new page will appear as a drop down menu to its parent page. You can select the order of the pages by adding a number here also. 0 is the first page, then 1,2 and so on. Your sub-page will appear on the Pages list with a hyphen in front of it. and just under its parent page.

There are some Themes that will allow you to create a second or custom menu other than the one along the top. Go to the “Menus” tool on the left column under “Appearance”. Create a new menu by pressing the + symbol and name it. For instance, “Custom Menu”. Select the pages from the box at left by pressing their radio button to place into the new menu. This side menu may be a widget that you will place on the page via the Widget tool page.

Next Class:  WIDGETS