Blogger or WordPress will create your blog after you fill out some basic information.
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Personal websites and blogs are becoming increasingly popular for persons of all walks of life to create. Whether you are a journalist, a professional or business owner or simply someone who wants to use a blog s an expressive outlet, you can create your space on the Web within just a few minutes even if you are not tech savvy. Blogger and WordPress power millions of websites and blogs on the Internet and both offer multiple options for new blog owners while your self-hosted WordPress installation offers unlimited customization options if you are familiar with coding websites.
Blogger
Step 1
Visit the Blogger website (see "Resources") in your Web browser. Log in with your Google account if you already have one. Otherwise, create a new account by clicking "Get Started." Follow the prompts your e-mail address, name, birthday, desired password and other information if registering for the first time.
Step 2
Click "Create Your Blog Now" after you're logged into the Blogger dashboard. Type your desire blog name and URL into the form before clicking "Continue."
Step 3
Click on a starter template (which you can change later) and click the "Continue" button. On the confirmation page, click "Start Blogging" to go to the post creation page. From here, you can immediately type your first post.
Step 4
Customize your blog by clicking the "Design" tab to add page elements such as gadgets (pre-made widgets), tweak the colors or edit the HTML code of the theme. You do not need to know any mark up in order to customize your blog but you can add specific tweaks and elements if you do.
Step 5
Edit your settings by clicking the "Settings" tab. Here, you can enter a new blog name or description, choose the format of your post links, specify how many posts show up per page, allow mobile devices such as phones to post to your blog and manage blog contributors. Generally, you click the radio field next to the setting that you wish or choose a setting from a drop down menu. Click "Save Settings" to confirm any settings before moving to the next page or tab.
Self-Hosted WordPress
Step 1
Visit the WordPress download page in your browser (see "Resources"). Click the link to download the newest package to your computer and allow the download to finish before unzipping the archive. Windows users can simply double click the file to open it and choose "Extract All" from the top menu.
Step 2
Right click "wp-config-sample.php" and choose the option to rename it. Enter "wp-config.php". Open this file in a text editor such as Notepad or TextPad and type in the value for your database name, username, password and host (database address). Your website host can provide these credentials if you do not already know them. Save this file.
Step 3
Open your FTP client and enter your log-in name, password and server to access your website's server. Alternatively, you can log into your hosting control panel via your browser and choose the webshell or file manager option. Navigate to the folder where you wish to install WordPress.
Step 4
Upload all the WordPress files and directories to your website. If using FTP, you can navigate to the containing folder in the "Local" pane to select and click the upload button or double click the files (in programs such as FileZilla) to upload them to the remote server. If using the Webshell, click the upload button and locate and select the files on your computer. If there are many files, uploading may require a few moments.
Step 5
Run the installation file by opening your browser and pointing it the location of "install.php" that you just uploaded. For example, if your website is "http://domain.com" then this file may be located at "http://domain.com/install.php". If your database credentials are correct, you will see an installation confirmation and set up your WordPress account.
Hosted WordPress
Step 1
Access the free WordPress website in your browser and click the "Sign Up Now" button to begin creating your free, hosted blog.
Step 2
Type in your desired blog name, URL, username and password along with a valid email address. Click "Sign Up" and WordPress will send a validation message to the email that you entered.
Step 3
Check your email and click the link in the validation email. While waiting for the message, you can also enter information about you or type in a new email address to instruct WordPress to resend the validation email.
Step 4
Enter your username and password to log into your new hosted WordPress blog. After you're logged into your dashboard, you can click "New Post" from the sidebar or the quick access menu near the top-right of the page.
Step 5
Click the "Are You New Here?" link to view text and video tutorials to begin exploring your new blog. The sidebar is split up into sections to allow you to easily manage posts and pages, media such as images, links, comments and users. Click to expand the "Settings" section to view or change your blog's settings, including site title and tagline, link format and discussion/comment settings. In addition to this, you can edit widgets and edit themes from the "Appearance" link in the sidebar.
Tip
- You must have an account with a hosting company that allows PHP and database usage in order to self-host your WordPress blog. Although some free companies offer this service, you may have to pay
- If self-hosting a WordPress blog, you will have to buy your own domain should you wish to use one. You can purchase this separately from your host or from the same company, if they provide both services.
- You can add custom widgets and page elements to both non-hosted WordPress and Blogger blogs if you directly edit the HTML; however, available widgets and allowed scripts are limited on hosted WordPress blogs.
- Hosted WordPress and Blogger blogs allow the option to purchase a custom domain that will point to your blog.
- If your WordPress validation email does not arrive, check the junk or spam folder.
References
Photo Credits
- Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
