Part 3: Setting up a blog with WordPress

This is the last installment in this opening “Getting on the Information Super Highway” series. In the first two parts, I discussed the process of setting up my hosting and purchasing domain names. Now that my space and domains were all set, I needed to get the site live with my blogging software.

Considering Software Options

I began the process at this point by investigating blogging platforms. I’d had experience with WordPress on another project, the Blue Dog Banter podcast but didn’t want to limit myself to WP simply because I’d used it. Maybe, after all, there was something better or easier to use. After poking around a bit, I found a number of good-looking sites using Moveable Type. MT appeared to have excellent support as well. The drawback, however, was the the price tag: $200 for a commercial license put it out of the running.

Another open-source option was Drupal. There are some great looking sites on Drupal and a good support community. It’s not as established, though, as WordPress–and WordPress has a huge user base at this point–so, in the end, I went with what I knew and downloaded WP.

Installation and Configuration

HostGator offers Fantastico, an automated installer of sorts that can set up WordPress blogs with little user input. I started an installation of WP with Fantastico but found the input prompts too confusing and with too little explanation. I opted, then, for a manual installation. To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about installing the software manually, fearing I’d blow up something on the server or somehow cause a problem. As things turned out, I needn’t have worried.

WordPress offers excellent support information online, including a comprehensive explanation of the installation process. After creating the SQL database on HostGator (which was easy to do), I plugged in the variables in the wp-config file, uploaded the WP files, and gave it a go. On my first attempt, I incorrectly edited the configuration file but that was simple to fix. Another try and I was greeted with the WordPress installation screen–success!

Selecting and Modifying a Theme

Having gotten the software uploaded to the server and running, I needed to modify the default theme. The WordPress site offers a Themes page with a handful of “featured” themes and a list of dozens and dozens of additional user-created themes. Since I wanted this site to have a distinctive look, I looked through a lot of themes. I also wanted to have a 3-column layout that would allow ad space. I settled on LeavesRevamped, a 3-column style with a simple, clean look. Once this was installed on my server, I started to tweak it for purposes. At this point, I’m still tweaking. I’ve changed the fonts to make them more readable (I felt the original size was too small for easy readability) and adjusted the page width to accommodate a wider middle content column. In so doing, I’ve moved beyond the sacred 800-pixel page width. I’ve probably lost some readers as a result–sorry! I’m still working on the design to find a balance between readability and monetization.

In Summary

Selecting WordPress as my publishing platform was really the easiest part of the whole “getting on the information super highway” process, and I’m glad I’ve chosen it. For its ease of installation, ease of use, extensibility (did I mention Widgets?), I would recommend it to anyone seeking flexible, easy-to-use blogging software.

Technorati Tags: Internet, WordPress, blogging

This entry was posted on Friday, May 12th, 2006 at 12:09 am and is filed under Kudos, Series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.