Inaugurating your WordPress blog in 2021 step-to-step guide.
Step 1: Create an account on wordpress.com
First thing, before we start with this guide, you need to have a wordpress.com account. If you don’t have one, you can create one in just a few minutes. You can do it from your dashboard. To create a wordpress.com account you need to make sure that you’re using a web browser that supports JavaScript.
So, on your wordpress.com dashboard, you’ll see your blog name or username, which you will be using as your site’s username. You need to make sure that you use the same username in your post comments. So, if you want to start a blog with your name as your blog name, you’ll need to create an account as your name or something that you can remember later, in case you want to edit a post. So, click on the ‘Create a blog’ button.
Step 2: In the ‘The future’ section, you’ll see a drop-down list which has two options ‘Create an account and ‘Sign in’. Choose the option ‘Create an account.
Step 3: If you’ve chosen to create a new blog, then a pop-up window will open in front of you with an option to provide the name of your blog, your email address, and your preferred password. In the password box, you need to give a unique password for your wordpress.com account.
Step 4: Click on the ‘Next’ button to continue. You will be able to choose the site or domain that you wish to create the blog. In my case, I chose the domain www.kannan.com.
Step 5: You’ll be asked to provide your country and state as well. So, select your country and state, as the location of your blog is crucial. The location will be reflected in the WordPress theme if you choose to have one. So, click on the ‘Next button.
Step 6: You’ll be given a few options and choices for the domain name that you wish to give to your blog. Once you’ve picked it, click on the ‘Next button.
Step 7: On the ‘Review’ page, you’ll be asked to provide a category for your blog. In my case, I chose ‘Personal’. I’ve seen so many blogs which are all classified under the ‘personal’ category. But you’ve to choose wisely, as the ‘Personal’ category is already pre-filled with 20+ blogs. So, do your best to select a unique category for your blog. Once you’ve selected your category, click on the ‘Next button.
Step 8: A pop-up window will open asking you to ‘Enter URL or choose the WordPress.org option’. If you’ve decided to opt for the ‘WordPress.org option’, then click on the ‘Next button.
Step 9: This is where you’ll be prompted to select a theme for your blog. So, once you’ve picked your theme, click on the ‘Next button.
Step 10: You’ll be directed to the page where you’ll be prompted to select your blog’s ‘permalinks’. A permalink is what every post is titled and when clicked it will take the user to that particular post. So, choose your favorite ones, but again, don’t choose any more than 2, because it will take a lot of effort to change your permalink later. As always, don’t miss out on a chance to tweak your permalink if it’s not suitable.
Step 11: Enter a title for your blog. This is the name of your blog as shown when the user clicks on the permalink.
Step 12: Your name and email address are mandatory.
Step 13: The next section prompts you to choose the option to upload a logo. I didn’t use it, so I skipped it. But if you’re an artist, it can be a great addition to your blog’s design.
Step 14: Now comes the step to choosing the blog’s color scheme. There are four options:
Dark
Light
Darkish
Lightish
I chose a lightish one, and I used it for all my blogs, so I skipped it.
Step 15: This section asks you to type in a title for your blog, as well as the URL you’ll be directed to when the user clicks on a permalink.
Step 16: Check whether you want to add a widget to the sidebar. I never added any, but it’s always nice to have a widget on the sidebar. You can even change your sidebar to whatever you like.
Step 17: If you have any questions, feel free to ask them and your WordPress support will be there to help you. Otherwise, you can move on to the next step, which is to add your header.
Step 18: To add a header, all you need to do is hover over the little pencil icon and a pop-up will appear. You can then click and drag your mouse to place it anywhere on the screen.
Step 19: You’ll be prompted to choose the page to display in the header.
Step 20: The rest of the steps are optional. For example, you can either hide the side menu or add a menu, but I opted to skip that as I prefer to use the WordPress menu for my side menu.
Step 21: Type in your theme in the text box below. I also chose a dark theme so I skipped the color picker, and I can always switch it if I decide to change my theme later.
Step 22: If you wish to add your logo, click on the drop-down menu below the site title and choose the type of logo you want to add. I chose a square image, but you can choose a circle, banner, or whatever type you prefer.
Step 23: You can add whatever text you like as well. I added something similar to my Facebook page, so my visitors can see where the site is located.
Step 24: At this point, you can decide whether you want to add a tag line, but my preference is to skip it. If you want to add a tag line, click on the little down-arrow, and select the first option.
Step 25: You can leave the rest of the fields blank, so all you need to do is click on “Add Widget.”
Step 26: That’s it! You’re done with adding your header, and you’ll be ready to continue with the next step: adding your first custom page template!
Step 27: Open your site in your favorite web browser, and find your menu drop-down menu. Navigate to My Sites and Find your newly created site. I named it “Header Template.” Click on “Manage Pages” and find your Header Template.
Step 28: Scroll down to the left and click on “Edit” in the row directly below the Header Template. A new row will be added to the end of the table below the Header Template.
Step 29: Under the new row that’s added, click on “Edit” to open the page template in your favorite web browser. You’ll see that a new row has been added to the bottom of the template. I named it “Body”.
Step 30: Scroll down and you’ll see your first row of custom page content. Scroll down and delete the content and the Page Title.
Step 31: Create a page with the title “Page Title” and the text “<h1>Welcome to <strong>Your WordPress Site</strong>!</h1>”. In the row under the body row, create another page. You’ll see that under the Body row, there is a row with the name of the page you just created. Click on the row that is named “Default.”
Step 32: Under the page with the name of “Page Title,” you’ll see a row with “The featured image here.” Find your first image in your images folder and paste it into that row. Name your image “featured-image” and click on “Edit.”
Step 33: Scroll down under the Body row and you’ll see a row with the name “Page Content.” Below that row, you’ll see another row called “Sidebar.” This is where you can put a link to your front page. Click on the “Page Content” row and click on “Edit” below that row.
Step 34: Scroll down and you’ll see another row named “Page Attributes.” Click on that row and click on “Edit.” At the top, you’ll see an image with a plus icon next to it. Click on the plus icon and select “Sidebar.” Click on “Save” and name your sidebar “Front Page.”
Step 35: Now, click on the “Page Attributes” row and click on “Edit” again. Scroll down to the bottom of that row and you’ll see a field called “Sidebar.” Select the name of the sidebar you just created. Click on “Save” and you’re done. You’re almost done! Now that you have a FrontPage and a “Feature Image” in place, click on your menu tab at the top left of your admin section and click on “Pages.” The next step is to insert a page that displays your posts.
Step 36: Select the “Add new” tab and scroll down to the bottom. Click on the icon next to the name of the page you just created. Select “Page with the post” and you’re done.
Step 37: You have another option: to create a page with a single post. Right now, we have a few posts in our blog. You can go to the “Pages” tab at the top left and select the “Page” tab. Select “Add new” and you can either select “Post” for a page or “Edit” and select a post. Select a title, a layout, and a template and you’re all done.
Step 38: If you want to add a sidebar to a page, you can do so as well. Again, you’ll go back to the Pages tab. The third option is “Add new.” Select “Page with posts” and this time you’ll be able to select a post.
Step 39: Select “Sidebar” from the sidebar dropdown. Scroll down the page and select which sidebars you want to display. You can create another one to have different sidebars across different pages.
Step 40: Now that your pages are set up, it’s time to get your posts. You have two options: to do it all in a group and do it one by one. If you want to create a group of posts, just click on the gray text at the top right-hand side. You’ll see two options: “Create new group” and “Open existing group.” Create a new group by either choosing the one from the previous option (if there are some already created) or creating a new one.
Step 41: Once you’re in your group, go to the next tab and select “Manage.” Click “Posts” and it should show you your posts.
Step 42: Each of your posts will show in a list. You can edit the post at this point. Just click on the title, a blue “Edit” arrow will appear, and you can make any changes you want to your post.
Step 43: On the other hand, if you want to create a post individually, just go back to the “Manage” tab and click on “New Post.” It will pop up and ask you to fill out the form, and you can add any titles, images, links, or anything you want to the post.
Step 44: You can customize the form with color, font, size, and everything you want. Once you’re done, click on “Publish” and your post will be live. Just make sure you save it by clicking on “Preview” if you want it to appear on your site.
Step 45: When you’re done editing posts, click on “Go back” to your group page and select “Move All to a New Post.” Click “Move All.” The post you just created will be the first post in the group.
Step 46: If you’re familiar with WordPress, you know that you can rearrange posts to change their positions. If you want to, just click on “All Posts” on your left side and you’ll see your posts listed. Click the ones you want to move. Then click on the “Move” arrow and move it to the spot you want.
Step 47: If you want to add more posts, just repeat Step 47.
Step 48: If you are familiar with WordPress, you should know how to add media to a post. You can upload your images, video, or anything else you want to it, just search it in the media library.
Step 49: The last part of the tutorial is adding tags to posts. The tags will automatically come from the title you’re adding. But you can also add them manually or through the WordPress.org plugin.
That’s all the steps you need to create your WordPress blog. I hope you guys find this tutorial useful. If you have any questions, leave them in the comment section below.
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