This is part 4 of our 4-part series on setting up a self-hosted WordPress Website and/or Blog.
WordPress boils down to two main components for your visitors – posts and pages. Posts can stand alone or be part of a blog. Pages are static and aren’t part of the blog. Usually, you see pages on a WordPress site such as home, contact us, services, about us, etc. While you can change settings and customize your theme, most of the components your visitors actually see are either posts from your blog or pages with static or more timeless information.
Creating Posts
One of the reasons businesses use WordPress for creating sites is the powerful blogging component. When you log in to your WordPress site, click the “Posts” tab, then click on “Add New” Basically, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with your title and text in the editing screen. When creating posts, remember to keep all paragraphs short and use sub-headings to make content easier to scan and read.
Always include a category which makes it easy for visitors to view past posts on a specific topic. Keep track of your categories to better organize your posts and avoid creating an endless, complicated list of categories for your visitors. When you’re done, click “Publish.” Check your work by browsing to the new post you just created.
Creating Pages
Login to WordPress and click on “Pages” and then “Add New.” If you’re creating a sub-page, use the “Page Parent” drop down menu on the right to choose which parent page you want the new page to belong to.
Create your content, insert images (Add Media button) and click “Publish” when you’re finished. If your page doesn’t look like what you anticipated or you need to change something, open the page while logged in to your WordPress site and click “Edit.” Depending on your theme, you should see this link either at the top or bottom of the page.
WordPress Templates
Most themes have pre-created page templates. You can use these templates as a guide to have a universal look throughout your site. Most templates are customizable and you can even create your own if you need something different.
Remember that you can change templates and themes at any time without loosing your content. While you may have to rearrange things to make your site look its best when you alter templates and themes, any content you create remains.
Test, Test and Test Again
Never make a change to your WordPress site without immediately checking to see how it looks on the live site. For the most part, WordPress sites and their themes are WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), but you must verify changes for yourself as soon as they are published.
Back It Up Just In Case!
Anything can happen in our complicated networked world so be sure to frequently back up your WordPress site using a plugin such as BackupBuddy. BackupBuddy also includes tools to help you move your site to another WordPress web host if you so choose.
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