These tips will help you create a unique WordPress Blog even if you have little or no experience with HTML coding.
Get Your Plugins
Depending on which version of WordPress
you are using, you may find that you will want to download several plugins to enhance your visitor's experience while on your blog. Plugins also provide functions that help you compile statistics, optimize your content for search engines, and provide buttons for visitors to link you to social networks like StumbleUpon and Technorati.
You may need to download an FTP file transferring application so you can upload your plugins to Wordpress. I use Filezilla.
It is easily found after a quick search on google, and best of all it's free. Transfer the plugin to the folder “wp-content/plugins/”. You will find a menu for plugins in your administrative dashboard where you will be able to activate the plugin.
Using Your Plugins
Generally, a plugin will be used in one of three ways.
- It may start working automatically once it is activated
- You may activate it by using a sidebar widget. To do this, go to the Presentation menu on the administrative dashboard. You should see a submenu aptly named “widgets”. Here, widgets are activated by dragging them to a sidebar.
- Plugins are also activated by cutting and pasting code into one of the pages found in the “theme editor” menu. Don't let this intimidate you. The supporting documentation that comes with the plugin usually contains detailed instructions on inserting the code.
One last thought about editing code. Don't be afraid to do it! Most of us learn by doing, and if you look at the page templates of your blog in the theme editor, it will begin to make sense to you.
Other Modifications
One of the downsides of picking a really cool WordPress Theme is that if you like it, thousands of other bloggers will like it as well. When you stumble around the web, you'll notice a bunch of sites look just like yours. One simple solution is to change the header with a picture of your choice. When you look your blogs “themes” folder, you'll notice that most themes have a file that contains images. If you have a file that you would prefer to use, try renaming to match the name of the header image of your theme. The header image is usually named something like “header.jpg.
If you are using an Adsense optimized theme to monetize your blog, don't forget to find where the designer put the code for the Google Adsense account number. While these themes are generally free, the person who designed the theme will usually write the code with his/her Adsense account number inputted. If you don't do this, any revenue produced by the ad with go to them, not you!
