Here at Cal Coast Web Design, we offer blog and post creation services. However, sometimes you just want to do it yourself. Inspiration might strike, or you might have something you want to share with your clients, followers, and fans. We’re here to help you out with your website needs! Not only can we build your site using the word wide frequented platform, WordPress; but we’ll train you how to make basic text updates and post blog to keep your site content fresh.
After your training, you may find that you still need a refresher. Let this guide help you with basic WordPress updates. Here you will find some basics about how to write and public your own blog posts and website pages. If the text instructions just aren’t enough, we encourage e you to compare your computer screen to the images to possibly make things clearer. (If you have trouble seeing the image, click it for a larger version!)
Remember: WordPress, like any software, requires small updates from time to time. Your screen may look a little different from this article. But concepts are still quite similar!
Once logged in…
Not sure how to do this?
To access your WordPress administration panel, you will often just add “wp-admin” at the end of your domain name.
i.e.: http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin
If you are successful, you will see a screen similar to this:
Once you have your login variables…
Creating a New Blog Post:
From the left navigation (nav) of your blog dashboard, select “Posts > Add New.”
Simply add in a title of the post in the open title section above the editor tools. (Remember to tell a user what the article is about, and maybe even incorporate a keyword where you can!)
Actual content for your post is inserted under the standard formatting tools. Just start typing away an using your bold, linking, size and other formatting tools to create your post. You may find that this is very similar to Word.
Note: Remember that a post is separate from a page. See below for creating a new page that will add to your nav (if there’s room).
VIDEO TUTORIAL
Adding An Image To Your Blog Library:
These are images that will be used for all components of your blog.
From the left navigation of your blog dashboard, select “Media > Add New > Browser Uploader > Browse > (Select file to upload) > Upload.”
OR, just click on the top “add image” option from inside your blog post per our training. A new window will pop up to either add media or to select from your library.
Remember: You may also upload an image directly through a new post or page.
Adding An Image From Your WordPress Library To A Post:
Once you have decided to add or edit a post, you can add images by doing the following:
Insert your cursor where you would like your image to go. Be sure it is to the left, and at the beginning of the sentence. You will later choose if you want to right or left align it. You are only defining where you want the TOP of your image to go.
Select the “Add an image” box looking icon that says “Upload/Insert” on the hover > Browser Uploader > Browse > select file > Upload.
Once the image is uploaded, you can adjust the Title, Caption, Description, Link URL, Alignment and Size as necessary.
When ready click “Insert into Post”.
VIDEO TUTORIAL ON ADDING TO MEDIA LIBRARY & POST/PAGE
Linking Text in a Post:
Highlight the text you want to link.
Click on the “link” icon at the top.
Paste in the link location you want it to go to.
Select “Open in a new window” if the user is leaving your site.
Editing Your WordPress Basic Profile Info:
In the upper right-hand corner, hover over “My Account” and choose “Edit Profile”. Please feel free to click around in “My Account” and review available ease of use options such as “Blog Surfer”, “Tag Surfer” and “My Comments”. It is here that you can update your profile biography, change your passwords, etc. Please note that this does not update your actual blog, just your profile information.
Video Tutorial
Pages:
The Pages portion of your blog is the same as a post except it allows you to name each post appropriately, creating navigation for your blog. From here you can add new pages, edit and adjust your page names, the content within them and whether or not you wish to allow comments and pings.
You can also choose to make a page a subcategory link on a main page by simply selecting a page from the drop down “Parent” box under the “Attributes” section to the right of your screen and selecting the sort order you would like the link to go in.
Comments:
Under the Comments portion, you will be able to moderate your comments which have been left by your people reading your blog. You can also filter what types of comments you want to view (Ping or Comments).
Please take a moment to head over to the Comments section and delete the comment left by WordPress. This, as well as deleting future comments can be done by doing the following.
Comments > check off the comment you wish to delete > Delete
VIDEO TUTORIAL
Users:
In the Users section, you will be able to invite other users to come contribute, edit or act as an administrator on your blog. To invite another user and make them a part of your blog, do the following.
Users > Authors & Users > fill an the email address of the user you wish to invite > choose the Role > Add User.
Settings:
Your Settings is where you will be able to adjust your blog and it’s performance to your liking. You can begin making adjustments by doing the following
Under General: Settings > General > ensure all areas are as you like (this includes, Blog Title, Tagline, Language, Time Zone and other items > Save Changes
There are dozens of other features in your blog. We quickly mentioned them above for reference, but you’ll probably just be using it for new blog posts.
NOTE: These settings have been optimized during creation. While you may want to review, we encourage you not to make any updates here without reviewing with a Cal Coast rep first. You don’t want to break the site!
More Resources
We encourage you to check the WordPress Support section for any issue you may encounter.
If you are still unable to resolve any issues, Cal Coast will be glad to assist you.
We also encourage you to login and click on “Stats” to review your blog statistics. Even ore powerful are Google Analytics. Be sure to ask about how you can get this site upgrade!
Here are some additional steps to operating your new blog content.
Those are the basics to posting! If you’re having trouble, or it seems like it’s complicated, we here at Cal Coast Web Design would be far more than happy to help you out! We can write posts, schedule social media, and even research topics to help bring users to your website for useful and helpful information. Come check out our services page and see what we can do for you!
If you have any trouble with your website or blog, you can contact us at info@calcoastwebdesign.com or call the office at (949) 229-5932. Happy blogging!
