So, depending on what you want from your site, will determine how you are going to adjust your Reading settings.

But first, lets Log into Wordpress and check out what the Settings look like before we discuss how to set this up.

The link to access the Reading settings is in the left sidebar under Settings.

You will notice in the Reading Settings page there are five main settings, they are…

1. Front page displays
2. Blog pages show at most
3. Syndication feeds show the most recent
4. For each article in a feed, show
5. Encoding for pages and feeds

In the example I am showing you here, I want to create a static Home page for my site and a separate Blog page where all of my latest posts will be displayed.

If we take a look at the steps outlined below, this is how it would look on the settings page.

Front page displays.

As you can see by looking at the dropdown menu, I have created several pages for my site, a Home page, Blog page and an About page.

To create a static front page in the Front page displays section I would simply click on the A static page (select below) radio button, and then choose the Home page option.

Then for the Post page option I would choose my Blog page.

Blog pages show at most

In the next section of our Settings page which is the Blog pages show at most section, you can decide on the number of posts you want to display on your blog page.

I personally think 10 is a lot and would normally choose to display 4 or 5 of my latest posts, but this is something you may want to test and see if the different number of posts displayed makes any difference to the number of people reading your posts.

Syndication feeds show the most recent.

I almost never adjust this setting, but again you may want to test this out for yourself. If your Syndication feed number is too high, it may bog down your site and be quite heavy on your database.

For each article in a feed, show.

I always set this option to Full text, so my RSS readers get the full article delivered to them, an important lesson I learned some time ago, was to never force your readers to do anything. If your readers like your content and want to consume it in there RSS reader then let them. They will always visit your site if they want to comment on your posts or browse for more information.

Encoding for pages and feeds.

I don’t think I have ever changed this setting so I just leave this section alone.

As always, whenever I adjust anything in my Settings I click on the Save button when I’m done.

In summary the two main settings I worry about on this page are my Pages for displaying content, and how my content is delivered through my RSS feed.

More On This Topic...

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• Managing The Discussion Settings In Wordpress
• How To Add Categories In Wordpress
• Configuring The General Settings In Wordpress

This is a very basic task but will make all of the difference between getting free search engine traffic or not.

After logging into your Wordpress admin area click on the Privacy link under the Settings tab.

Once the Privacy Settings page is open, you will see there is only two choices for your Privacy Settings

1. I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers.
2. I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors.

Make sure the… I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers Option is checked and click on the Save Changes button.

Now your site is visible to the search engines and if you write good quality content with some basic on page optimizing you should expect to start seeing some free traffic coming your way.

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• Managing The Discussion Settings In Wordpress
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A one way conversation that consists only of the publisher of the content.

Have you ever had one of those conversations where you just can’t seem to get a word in, no matter how much you try to respond with the person your engaged with, they just don’t stop talking long enough for you to present your opinion, well your blog is no different.

If your blog isn’t receiving comments then what your telling your readers is, all your interested in is what you have to say and don’t care to much for the opinions and thought’s of them.

That being said, This tutorial will show you how to set up your Comments Settings in Wordpress.

After logging into your Wordpress site, click on the Discussion link under the Settings tab to get started.

The Discussion Settings page is basically in two sections, the top half being the Comments Settings section and the bottom being the Avatars section.

I have included in the image below the settings I use when setting up a blog, you may want to use different settings for your site, but I will explain why I use each of these settings below the image.

Default article settings – I almost always un-check anything that will slow down posting, usually If I want to notify another blog that I have linked to it I will use the trackback feature when writing a post.

Allowing Trackbacks and Comments by checking the associated check box’s will allow your readers to participate in the conversation of your blog, trackbacks are basically other articles that link to your article from another blog.

Other comment settings – The only two options I have checked are the Comment author must fill out name and e-mail and the Enable threaded (nested) comments options.

I like to choose the maximum of 10 for threaded comments but depending on your theme you may want to see how this looks, but by enabling this option your visitors can have comments within comments so the conversation stays relevant to the original comment.

E-mail me whenever - I leave both of these options checked so I can be notified of any comments made on my site.

Before a comment appears - This may be an option you want to try testing, currently my blog doesn’t get a lot of comments so it’s not an issue for me to approve every comment, but when a site starts getting 10 20 or 50+ comments per post then approving each comment may become a real drain on your time.

If your regular visitors are proven to post good Quality comments, you may want to automatically approve and allow there comments to publish without having to approve them individually.

Comment Moderation and Comment Blacklist - I usually leave these alone and let Akismet take care of Spam comments, There may be a couple of comments that get through, but on average Akismet is very good at filtering comment Spam on my sites.

In the second half of the Comments Settings page, which is the Avatars section I usually leave the default settings alone. More details below the image.

Avatar Display – In this section you can decide whether or not you want to display avatars next to your comments, I always check the Show Avatars option.

Maximum Rating – By default the maximum rating is set as G, I leave this as is. I like to keep the content on my site suitable for all ages.

Default Avatar – This will be what gets displayed if the commenter doesn’t have a Globally Recognized Avatar (GRAVATAR) set up, the two most popular settings I see on most blogs are Mystery Man and Blank.

If you don’t already have a Gravatar, read my post titled How To Show A Gravatar On Your Comments

Once you have configured your Comment Settings click on the Save Changes button and your done.

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• Check Your Privacy Settings
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The first thing to do after logging into your Wordpress Dashboard is to click on the Categories link under the Posts tab.

When the category page loads in your web browser you will notice the page is in two sections…

1. Add Category and…
2. The Existing Categories.

After a brand new installation of Wordpress the first thing we need to do is edit the existing Uncategorized Category.

Hover your mouse over the category and click on the Edit link to continue.

On the Edit Category page there are text areas with the existing category names inserted, Simply change the text to your preferred category titles, I have included a more detailed description of each of the fields below the image.

1. Category Name – As it suggests, this is basically what the name of the Category is and the text you see displayed on the website menu bar.
2. Category Slug- The category slug is how your category is displayed in the URL, IMPORTANT – don’t leave any spaces or use Capital Letters in your slugs, lower case only and No Spaces.
3. Category Parent – As this is our default category leave this set as is, only choose the option for Category Parent when adding a Sub Category. (More on this below)
4. Description – The description is not prominent by default, however some themes may show it.. I like to keep the description as short as possible using the category title in the description.
5. Update Category – Click this button to save your changes.

That’s basically all there is to editing your categories, to add new categories and sub categories read on.

On the Category page follow the same steps outlined above in editing the category, but make sure you decide on whether or not your new category will be a top level category or a sub level or child category of the top level category.(Sound Confusing?)

In the example below I am adding a Sub category with the title Sub Category.

1. Category Name – Add Your Category name.
2. Category Slug – Enter the Category name using lower case letters only and no spaces.
3. Category Parent – Choose the parent category of your sub category. (My Parent category is called Top Category)
4. Description – Add the Description of your category.
5. Add Category – Click To Save Your Changes.

And that’s all there is to adding a new category to your Wordpress site, very simple and extremely user friendly, the hardest part is coming up with the structure of your categories and what to call them.

One More Thing… You won’t see the categories on your blog unless you they have at least one post inside of them.

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Your title and description not only show up in your websites header area (depending on your theme), but also get indexed when someone specifically looks for your site in the search engines.

As an example, here is a screen shot of this site when someone searches for the words Global Evangelists using the Google search engine.

The Title and description are the top link you see when your site gets indexed, so it’s a good idea to have a good think about what you put here.

If your targeting specific keywords then the title and description of your site is the place to add those keywords, but add them in a way that both people and the search engines would be interested in what your site is about.

The first step is to make sure you are logged into your Wordpress site.

After logging into Wordpress. Click on the General link under the Settings tab.

In the page to open, there is only a couple of things we really need to worry about, I have outlined each of these below the image.

1. Enter your sites title, Keep your title short I usually use either my main keyword or the name of my domain.
2. Write a short description of what your blog is about, be as specific and to the point as possible and if your targeting any keywords try to add your main keyword in here also, your description is also known as the Tagline.
3. When you use an automated install script like fantasico the default URL doesn’t include the www. if you want to have the www. in your URL add it here. Some people think this will help in your efforts to optimize your site for search engines but I have also heard other very respected online personalities say that it makes no difference, I almost always add the www.

After completing the steps outlined leave the rest of the settings as is and click on the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Because we added the www. you will find you need to log back into your site.

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This tutorial will help you get your Wordpress site set up using a software inside of your webhosts Cpanel called Fantastico.

To get started Log into your web hosting accounts Cpanel.

Once logged in scroll down the page until you see the Fantastico icon, this is usually located in the section titled Software / Services. Click on the Icon to Continue.

In the next screen to open, you will notice on the left sidebar a link with the text Wordpress, the link should be located under the Blogs section. Click on Wordpress To Continue.

On the next page you will see some basic information about Wordpress, the current version, Support forum, Wordpress home page etc… and a link with the text New installation.

Click on the New Installation link to continue.

The next step is to fill in your admin details.

If you are hosting more than one website on your hosting account make sure you choose the correct domain name to install Wordpress on.(Top Arrow)

When deciding on the admin user-name, make sure you choose a name that is anything other than Admin.

For security purposes using Admin as your default username is a very bad idea.

When you are finished inserting your details simply click on the Install Wordpress button at the bottom of the screen.

One more step and your all done, after Clicking on the Finish Installation button you will be asked to send a backup copy of the Admin details you just entered to your email address.

I have deleted the top section of the Admin Details Email page in the image below for Obvious reasons.

Once you have completed all of the above steps you should now have your very own Wordpress website ready to start modifying and adding content to.

If you go to your site you will see the default Wordpress theme, Don’t worry installing a new theme can be as simple as a couple of mouse clicks.

When using an instalation method as this one, you don’t get an option to change the defalt table prefixes for your database, The default database tables are known to be a target for hackers and is a potential security issue, So if this concerns you make sure you change the default Wordpress table prefixes in your database.

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This tutorial will show you a neat little function inside of your Wordpress site that will let you upload a theme without having to worry about using an FTP client.

The first step is to log into your Wordpress site.

Once logged in, Click on the Add New Themes link under the Appearance section.

Across the top of the Install Themes page, there are five links, these links provide a list of options on how you can find and install your new theme.

The options listed are…

• Search. The search page opens by default. When you click on the Add New link you are on the search page.
• Upload. If you have previously downloaded a theme to your local hard drive, you can use this function to upload the themes zip file to your Wordpress site.
• Featured. Using this option will bring up a list of all the current Featured Wordpress themes on the Wordpress repository.
• Newest. As the text implies by clicking on this link you will be able to view a list of the newest Wordpress themes available at Wordpress.org
• Recently Updated. By clicking on this link you will see all of the themes that have been recently improved and updated.

Each of the five options are pretty easy to understand and use, the Featured , Newest, and Recently Updated options will display the themes within there respective categories on the Wordpress.org repository.

The Search page provides a lot more flexibility allowing you to search for themes with specific colors, layouts and function.

As you can see in the image below there are two main sections on the Search page, I have explained them in detail below the image.

In the first section, labeled with the number 1 you have the Search by Term, Author or Tag.

• This function is especially handy if you are looking for a specific theme, maybe one you have used before or a theme someone has suggested you try. Simply type in your Keyword and Click on the Search button.

In the Find a Theme Based On Specific Features section, labeled with the number 2, you can refine your search with more Generic details.

• For example, if I wanted a light colored theme with a right hand sidebar, all I would do is click in the check boxes that fit my needs and wants and hit the Find Themes button, labeled with the number 3.

I will then have a list of themes to choose from that are related to my search queries.

Regardless of your preferred search option, the search results will be displayed in a similar fashion.

In the image below I have included a screen-shot of a typical search result using the Featured link.

Along with a thumbnail image of the theme you also get a basic description of the themes functions, a link to preview a working version of the theme and a link to install the theme.

1. The Page Link.
2. The link to preview a working version of the theme.
3. The link to install the theme to your Wordpress site.

To install the theme simply click on the Install link.

Once your theme has been installed you will either have a confirmation message telling you that the theme has been Successfully installed or a Failure message telling you the theme could not be installed.

If you have problems installing the theme using this feature of Wordpress, contact your webhosts support, you may need to change your file directory permissions.

To actvate the theme simply click on the Activate link to start using your brand new Wordpress Theme.

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• Wordpress Themes, How To Find The Right One For You.
• How To Install A Wordpress Theme Using FileZilla.
• How To Download Wordpress Themes

You could very easily say that the process of Downloading Plugins is very similar, if not the exact method used when Downloading Wordpress themes.

A good idea I always like to share with people, is to create an organized system to store the plugins you download, try to keep all of your plugins in a specific folder for each of your web sites.

Now lets begin…

Once you have found a suitable plugin for your site you should see somewhere on the plugin home page a link with the text Download.

Depending on your Web Browser, In most cases you can simply Left Click on the Download link and the file will automatically start the downloading process, usually a small popup window will appear asking if you want to download the file.

After confirming your decision to download the plugin file by clicking on the OK button, you will then be given the choice of where you want the file downloaded to.

As you can see in the image below I have set up a Plugins folder where all of the plugins I use for my site will be downloaded to.

Once I locate the exact file I want to download the plugin to, I simply Click on the Save button.

Another method of downloading plugins is by simply Right Clicking on the Download link and choosing the Save Link As option.

You will then be asked where you want the file to be located on your computer, as in the previous example above.

And that is as hard as it gets when it comes to downloadeing Wordpress plugins.

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Usually a good Quality Wordpress theme will already have a Sitemap page template built into it, but if you are using a basic theme without different page templates I suggest you use a plugin to build your sitemap.

The Dagon Design Sitemap plugin. is a great plugin that will automatically build your Sitemap, it’s easy to set up and the end result is a very professional and user friendly Sitemap for your Wordpress website.

The plugin can easily be installed using your favorite FTP client or it can be installed straight from inside of your Wordpress Admin area. You can find the plugin by doing a keyword search using the keywords Dagon Design Sitemap.

After you have installed and activated the plugin there are a couple of settings you need to tweak before your Sitemap can be built.

But first, we need to create the page for your Sitemap.

To create your Sitemap page, just type into the page title area the name of your Sitemap page, I simply use the term Sitemap, you can add any additinal meta data, keywords ect… but at this stage leave the main content area blank.

Click on the Publish button when finished.

After we have our blank Sitemap page created, it’s time to configure the plugin settings.

To find the settings page for the plugin, look in the left sidebar for a link under the Settings tab with the text DDSitemapGen. Click the link to continue.

The first part of the configuration page is the General Options.

The first couple of options are fairly self explanatory.

Choose the language you want your sitemap to display and the number of items to display on your sitemap page, any new pages will automatically be generated for you.

It’s the third option, Sitemap page slug that I would like to clarify here.

The sitemap page slug is the exact location of the sitemap webpage.

In the image below you can see that my sitemap is located directly after my main websites URL.

Everything between the two /’s is your page slug.

Your slug will always be in lowercase letters and remember, never leave a space when your page has a multiple word title.

The next section, which is the Sitemap Generation settings is basically where you determin how you want to display the content on your sitemap.

This really is a personal preference and as you can see, your choices are very clearly defined and laid out.

In the next section Exclusions, is where you can choose what posts and pages you want to hide from being visible on your sitemap.

My article titled How To Hide Pages In The XML Sitemap will walk you through the process of hiding pages in your sitemap, the only difference here being you have  two text areas, one for posts and the other for pages.

In the Navigation section, you choose how you want the sitmap navigation to be displayed, this is a personal prefference and comes down to what you feel is best for your visitors.

and finally the Miscellaneous section.

In this section you can decide whether or not you want to display a link to your XML sitemap, and where you want the link to your XML Sitemap to be displayed, I personally suggest you add your XML Sitemap in here if you haven’t already included it somewhere in your site.

You also have the option of whether or not you want the links on your Sitemap to open in a new window.

I do not recommend you open internal links in a new window.

There’s a whole debate on forcing links to open a new window, and it’s a fairly contentious one.

If you want to open external links in a new window, that is up to you, but having internal links open in a new window is beyond comprehension.

OK, So now that we have configured and set up our sitemap plugin, we now need to add a lttle peice of code into our sitemap page to get the Sitemap to work.

Click on the Edit link under the Pages section in your Settings sidebar to edit your Sitemap page.

Once your Sitemap page is open you need to paste this code into your page.

`<!– ddsitemapgen –>`

Make sure you paste the code above, into your page with the HTML tab chosen.

Then save your changes by clicking on the Update Page button and your done.

Now go to your new Sitemap page and check out your new User Friendly Sitemap.

More On This Topic...

• Installing The Google XML Sitemaps Plugin.
• How To Download A Plugin For Wordpress.
• How To Hide Pages In The XML Sitemap.
• How To Install A Wordpress Plugin Without Using An FTP Client.

Before you can start adding pages in Wordpress, the first thing you need to do is make sure you are logged into your Wordpress site.

Once inside of Wordpress, look for a link in the settings sidebar on your left, with the text Add New, you will find it under the Pages tab. Click on it to continue.

Once you have opened the Add New Page screen, in the very center of the screen is where you create the content for your page. I have described each of the fields below the image.

1. The Title Of Your Page. Type in your page title.
2. Upload/Insert. Click on these icons to Upload various types of media for your page, Images, Audio, Video…
3. Your Content Area. This is where you add in your Text, Images, Video etc.. for the content of your page.
4. Visual HTML Tabs. These tabs allow you to view your post in one of two formats. Visual allows you to view the page content in a similar view as a word document program , HTML lets you view your page content with the code elements placed around your document text.
5. The WYSIWYG Text editor. The features you find in this area work in a similar way as a program for creating word documents. These features allow you to add different elements and styles to your text without knowing how to add code to your page. To add additional features to your WYSIWYG editor I recommend the TinyMCE plugin.

After you have entered your page content, Scroll down to the next part of your screen.

This is the custom fields and comments section.

1. Add new custom field. I usually leave the custom fields blank unless I have a specific page but in general my pages usually contain the bare minimum of elements and features.
2. Discussion. Decide on if you want Comments and Pings on your pages or not, I turn off the discussion settings for pages.

Now that you have your main content for your page taken care of, it’s time to turn our attention to the right hand sidebar, we need to think about how we are going to present our new page.

In the Attributes Section, which is just under the Publish button,  you are given three choices on what to do with your page.

1. Decide if your page is going to be a Child or Parent page. Click on the dropdown menu to choose the Parent page.
2. Choose the Page template (if your theme has them), Does your theme have a special page template that you can use for the specific page you are adding to your site, some common page templates are Archive page, Sitemap page or Links page templates.
3. The order of your page. Is there is a particular order in how you want the page to be listed in your navigation.

Now your page is ready to publish.

Once you are happy with your finished page, there are still a couple of steps you can take to make sure every thing is perfect before hitting the Publish button, which is at the very top of the right hand sidebar.

1. Save Draft, Before you publish your page save it as a draft.
2. Preview, By clicking the preview button you can view the saved draft as if it were a live web page, this is handy when you want to see what your page looks like before publishing your page live to the web.
3. Publish, Publish the page.
4. Edit The Published Settings. These settings allow you to Unpublish your page without deleting it, make your page visible to the public or for private viewing only and if you would like to future date your page you can insert the time and date you want the page t be published here.

And that’s all there is to Adding Pages In Wordpress.

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