WordPress Tutorial for Beginners

Making and hosting your website from scratch can be a great start to creating your own webspace imbibed with components you need available for use and customisation. Undoubtedly, the platform appears intimidating at the beginning with numerous options, tools and sections. But a detailed tutorial and continuous practice can help you learn the optimal use of WordPress. 

Knowing the nooks and crannies of WordPress enables a user to save cost and time on the lengthy process of getting a website created through a web designer, developer or programmer’s help. Think of it as a DIY version of a website but equally efficient, at a lower cost, with customisation available at your fingertips. Entering the initial WordPress dashboard might imply the platform has limited features, but things can appear intimidating as you go through the options and dig in deeper. 

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There are various levels of functionality in the available content management system, but step-by-step learning can eventually draw you to base all your web practices on it. So, if you wish to learn more about WordPress, keep reading!

Understanding WordPress

Before learning its processes, let’s find out what WordPress is.

WordPress is an open-source content management system, a platform for people without any coding skills to create websites and blog pages, making their little space on the web. WordPress is entirely free and contains numerous customisation features to cater to users’ needs.   

From hobby-led blogs to professional websites, WordPress can host it all with the required plugins to provide your content with the boost it needs towards popularity. It is secure, open-source, allows the platform to use all media forms and is free with complete control to its users.

Installation

Installing WordPress is easy as many web-hosting services extend on-click installation for the CMS platform, though these are the steps you can follow to install WordPress manually. 

Step 1: Download and unzip the WordPress package. 

Step 2: Create a WordPress and a MySQL user on your web server.

Step 3: Upload the extracted WordPress files to the chosen location on your web server.

Step 4: Access the URL in the web browser to run the WordPress installation script. WordPress in the root directory will require http://example.com/, and the one in the subdirectory called blog will need http://example.com/blog/.

WordPress should be installed following these steps.

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Managing and Understanding WordPress Dashboard

After getting started with installation, it is time to learn the intricacies, or to begin with, the various processes of the WordPress dashboard. The home page or dashboard with different sections labelled containing diverse features. Here’s how to dive into it.

Step 1: Log In to your website using your admin username and password. 

Step 2: As you enter, your dashboard will display multiple completely customisable features. These include Activity, Quick draft, Site Health Status, WordPress Events and News, At a Glance, and a detailed admin panel placed on the left side of the dashboard. Users can drag these features to the desired location or switch it with other widgets provided by WordPress.

Step 3: The admin panel contains detailed categories like Posts, Plugins, Users, Comments, Tools, Settings and more. Various other options will also appear inside the categories as you hover your mouse over the admin panel. If there is a red mark beside the category name, unread notifications are waiting for you. 

WordPress dashboard is a little overwhelming at first but fairly easy, with all options open to access with easy labelling.

Why Choose WordPress for Your Website?

When it comes to building a website, WordPress is one of the most well-known and flexible platforms. In this WordPress tutorial for beginners, you will learn that its consumer-friendly layout and great plugin environment make it an excellent choice for both new and seasoned website manager. This section examines why you must use WordPress on your website, underlining its essential functions and blessings.

One of the most compelling motives to use WordPress is its simplicity. A lot of WordPress tutorials for free highlight the fact that even if you have no earlier coding or net development experience, WordPress permits you to learn the trade quickly. Its consumer-pleasant design makes it easy to control content material. With the supply of various unfastened and paid subject matters, you could tailor the look of your site to suit your business or personal requirement.

Another significant benefit of WordPress is its huge plugin directory. Plugins are similar to applications in that enhance the functionality of your website. If you are learning WordPress from scratch, you will see a plugin for everything, whether you need to add a contact form, deploy an e-commerce solution, or boost your site’s search engine optimisation (SEO). Furthermore, many of these plugins are free or provide free versions with upgrade possibilities, making them accessible to people of varying financial means.

Choosing the Right Hosting Provider for WordPress: Factors to Consider

Choosing the best hosting service for your WordPress website is critical for its performance and dependability. The website hosting service you choose will determine the cost, uptime, security, and overall user experience of your website. To aid you in making an informed decision, let us look at a few crucial factors when selecting a WordPress hosting company.

Reliability and Uptime Guarantee: Look for a hosting provider that guarantees high uptime, ideally 99.9% or above. This ensures that your website will be accessible to visitors consistently. Check for reviews or uptime reports to verify the hosting provider’s reliability.

Speed and Performance: Website loading speed plays a significant role in user experience and SEO. Choose a hosting provider with high-performance servers and features like content delivery networks (CDNs) and caching to optimize page loading times.

Scalability and Resource Allocation: Consider your website’s growth potential. Ensure that the hosting provider offers scalability options, such as the ability to upgrade your hosting plan as your traffic increases. Additionally, check the allocated resources, such as storage, bandwidth, and memory, to ensure they meet your website’s requirements.

Security Measures: Website security is paramount. Look for a hosting provider that implements robust security measures, such as firewalls, malware scanning, SSL certificates, and regular backups. A secure hosting environment protects your website and visitors’ data.

Customer Support: A reliable hosting provider should offer responsive and knowledgeable customer support. Check for support options like live chat, phone, or ticket-based systems. It’s crucial to have prompt assistance when you encounter technical issues or have questions regarding your hosting account.

Compatibility with WordPress: While most hosting providers support WordPress, ensure they offer optimized WordPress hosting environments. This includes features like one-click WordPress installation, automatic updates, and specialized WordPress support.

Pricing and Value: Compare the pricing plans and features offered by different hosting providers. Consider the value you’ll receive for the price you pay. Be cautious of extremely cheap hosting options, which may compromise performance or reliability.

Selecting WordPress Themes

WordPress Themes contain the leading appearance of your website or blog, the first thing any visitor will see as they enter your webspace. Here’s how to use it.

Step 1: Visit the Appearance option from the admin panel and click on Themes. 

Step 2: Select from different options, premium or free Themes and click on Install. Select Apply to activate the selected theme.

Step 3: Customise your theme by going on the Appearance option again and choosing Customise.

Useful Plugins

Plugins are just like mobile applications. They extend software packages to fulfil specific feature requirements for your website. Plugins can be free or premium, depending on the plugin you use. Here’s how you can use Plugins.

Step 1: Visit the Admin panel and click on Plugins. Just like Themes, you may also find various options to choose from. Click on the one you prefer reading its functionalities, and install it.

Step 2: Although Plugins get installed and run on their own, there are times when Plugins demand additional configuration to run smoothly. Check for Plugins in settings and follow the configuration settings to install the package.

Creating Content on WordPress

You can use the Post option from the Admin panel to create content per your requirements. However, you might have to learn how to use the Gutenberg editor to fully use the editor and customise your content as intricately as you demand.

Optimising Content

Optimising your WordPress and its content will ensure your webspace remains up-to-date and reaches people through gradual growth. Here are a few ways optimisation works on WordPress.

Updates: Admin panel notifies users of software and Plugin updates so opt for the ones you deem suitable.

Backup: Backup is essential to protect your webspace and its published content. Use backup services available on the platform, or get plugins.

Images: Ensure your images are not extremely large. Greater size slows the processing speed of your website. 

Security: Install a security plugin for added protection to your website. 

Allow Socialising

If your blog is gaining attention among people, allow it to provide social spaces for visitors to gain more insights. Install Disqus plugin that works comments and discussion space for visitors to share their views on the published pieces. After installation and activation, users can check for added comments by users on the Comment option located in the Admin panel. 

Performance and Protection

The WordPress core software extends overall protection from discrepancies for safe web space and blogging experience, though additional plugins can always be redeemed for an added layer of security. Visit the Plugins option and opt for any of it that works well with the required functionalities. You can activate it for enhanced security. 

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Conclusion

Easy to navigate labels and flexibility makes WordPress a leading content management system anyone can use simply by reading the given options and exploring them. Try and follow the easy tutorial to create your very own web space!