how to set up a wordpress blog
DESCRIPTION
This was presented by me on 2008-02-01 in the Free and Open Source Conference held at Chennai, India under the auspices of Indian Linux Users Group and National Resource Centre for Free and Open Source Software, Government of India.TRANSCRIPT
Why Blog?
Push-Button Publishing
Let the World know what you think!
Where?
http://Blogger.com/
http://yournick.blogspot.com/
Blogger
● Google stable
● Hosted solution
● No constraints
● Customisable
WordPress.com
● Hosted solution
● Uses WordPress MU
● Themes: yes
● Customisable: NO
WordPress.com
● Plugins: No
● CSS tweaking: No
● Widgets: NO
● Custom-localisation: No
● Javascript: NO
WordPress
● FOSS software
● Downloadable from http://wordpress.org/
● PHP + MySQL
● To be self-hosted
● Total Freedom!
What you need
● A domain name
● .in < Rs.200 p.a
● .com... < Rs.500 p.a
● Select a good Registrar
What you need
● A good webhost
● Webspace: >100 mb
● PHP version > 4.3
● MySQL version > 4
● FTP
What you need
● PHP Apache configuration
● “fopen” enabled
● Not in “safe mode”
● Apache mod_rewrite module
installed
Set it up
● Create MySql database
● Note db name, username & pw
● Configure FTP client
First Steps
● Download latest version from
http://wordpress.org/
● Unzip the compressed package
● Read readme.html
First Steps ...
First Steps ...
Initialize
● Rename wp-config-sample.php
to wp-config.php
● Open config.php in an editor
● Fill in your db details
● Configure advanced settings
Config.php
// ** MySQL settings ** //
define('DB_NAME', 'putyourdbnamehere'); // The name of the
database
define('DB_USER', 'usernamehere'); // Your MySQL username
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'yourpasswordhere'); // ...and
password
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); // 99% chance you won't need
to change this value
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');
define('DB_COLLATE', '');
Config.php ...
// You can have multiple installations in one database if you give each
a unique prefix
$table_prefix = 'wp_'; // Only numbers, letters, and underscores
please!
// Change this to localize WordPress. A corresponding MO file for the
// chosen language must be installed to wp-content/languages.
// For example, install ta.mo to wp-content/languages and set
WPLANG to 'ta'
// to enable Tamil language support.
define ('WPLANG', '');
Installation
● Select root or subdirectory
● Upload WP files thru FTP
● Keep WP directory structure
● Create .htaccess file & upload
5-Minute install!
● Point browser to:
http://yourwpdir/wp-admin/install.php
● Enter desired blog title
● Fill in your email ID
● Allow blog to search engines
Done!
Admin area
Admin profile
General options
Reading options
Write a post
Themes
More themes
● http://themes.wordpress.net/
● Select themes, d/l & unzip
● Put in blogdir/wp-content/themes
● Go to yourblog/wp-admin/
● Select theme in Presentation
Plugins
● Go to http://wordpress.org/
● Extend => Plugins
● Search using tags
● Read and understand
● Select, D/L and unzip
Plugins ...
● Upload to:
yourblogdir/wp-content/plugins/
● Go to Admin => Plugin
● Activate selected plugin
● Go to options and configure
Plugins ...
Advanced
● Read the WP Veda - “Codex” at
http://codex.wordpress.org/
● A wiki updated regularly
● Frequent the forums at
http://wordpress.org/support/
Advanced ...
● Write “Pages”
● Tweak themes with CSS
● Provide navigation
● Backup regularly
Blogging tips
● Decide on the focus
● Write a niche blog
● Update regularly
● Moderate comments
Blogging tips ...
● Reply to comments
● Write original stuff
● Use pictures and video
● Link to citations
● Don't indulge in flaming
Blog traffic● Comment on others' blogs
● Subscribe to pinging and blog
networking sites viz:
● Technorati
● MyBlogLog
● BlogCatalog
Blog traffic ...
● Publish in Feedburner
● Tag the posts properly
● Flaunt your blog in all social
networking and bookmarking sites
viz: Digg, Del.icio.us etc. and in
your profile and sig.
In your language
● Set language in config.php
● Download wordpress.pot
● Gettext is used for I18N & L10N
● Use Poedit for translation
● Upload ta.mo to /wp-content/language
Contact me!
S.K
http://www.cyberbrahma.com/
Thank you!