PUBLISHED: APRIL 14, 2015 – BLOG: HOW TO CREATE A WEBSITE USING WORDPRESS

Have you ever wondered how to create a website using WordPress. Goes without saying that WordPress is one of the best open-source content management systems if you are looking to build a website or start a blog. There are many CMS suites available out there and each has its strengths and weaknesses. However, as far as reliability, security and ease of operations go, WordPress remains transcendent. This is why WP continues to attract millions of webs designers and developers.

If you are trying to build a website using WordPress, below is a 10-point checklist you should go through to end up with the perfect site:

1. Choosing the domain

Registering a Domain Name – Within the domain, there are four key elements that go into the end product:

• Top-level domain – the most prevalent and powerful of these is the .com domain. Some are created specifically for organizations e.g. .edu, .gov while others are specific for countries e.g. .co.uk, .in etc.
• Root domain – you have full discretion over this part of the domain e.g. mydomain.com provided it is not already in existence. You can only use letters, numerals and hyphens.
• Sub domains – these come before the root domain, and you can create them at no extra charge once you secure a domain e.g. blog.mydomain.com.
• Subfolders – these come after the TLD i.e. mydomain.com/subfolder.

2. Selecting the web hosting package

This is important because the web host should empower you to do all things you need your website to do. In the selection, consider how many domains you can host, whether they support WordPress, size of storage and bandwidth and uptime percentages. Next, choose a reputable company with good user support and good reviews, with a pricing plan you can afford. You can get referrals from within your networks as a starting point. Learn how to create a website using Green Geeks hosting.

3. Configuring Nameservers

You don’t need to do this if you got your web hosting package together with the domain. If not, the domains must point to the nameservers of your hosts, which are providers once you sign up for a hosting package. They look like this: mns1.mynameserver.com and you can configure them at the control panel of the domain. More on how to set up the name servers.

4. Uploading WordPress

Next, download the latest available WordPress version, unzip if zipped. You then upload this onto the hosting account through the File transfer Protocol or FTP, which enables file transfer between computers and web hosting servers. If you don’t have FTP client, you will need to download and install it using the credentials offered by the host (host-name, username, and password).

You’ll have a list of folders – the public_html folder is where WordPress goes, or else the folder with your domain name. You can also upload it do a subfolder, which must first be created.

5. Creating the database

This is where all the WordPress website data is stored. These include configuration settings, user data and of course the content itself (pages, comments and posts). When users request for a page, WordPress queries the database for the relevant information to serve up. Create the database on the webhost control panel and connect it with WordPress. Ask for assistance from the host if you are unable to do it on your own learn the proper ways to install WordPress including database.

6. Modifying the wp-config-sample.php

Using your FTP client, edit your wp-config-sample.php file. Rename the file to get rid of the sample and open the file through a text editing program. This is the file in which you change your your database name, username and password. Ensure you have saved the edited file to the server.

7. Installing WordPress

From your domain, give the information requested to complete installation of WordPress and account creation. For extra security, avoid using ‘admin’ as username since it’s most commonly used and thought of by hackers. Once done, you will be allowed access onto the admin panel of mydomain.com/wp-admin and you’ll get an email confirming this more on how to install WordPress.

8. Choosing the theme

This makes up the foundation of the website design process. There are thousands of themes available in WordPress, both free and premium-rate. You can also have one customized for you, though this will be more costly. Take your time to choose the perfect theme which must have stellar design, usable CSS and HTML, complete code, robust readability, compatibility with your WP version and popular plugins as well as wealth in documentation and user support.

Focus on your brand and on what your target consumers would like instead of personal preferences.

9. Basic configuration

First, activate your inbuilt spam comment detection tool, Akismet that is available in WP. Don’t do this if comments will be completely blocked, in which case you can change your setting through the Settings>>Discussion>>“Allow people to post comments on new articles”. You can override your default settings with each new post though.

Next, find out how you can configure your permalinks to become customizable, then add your Gravatar and you’re good to go.

10. Caring for security

While WordPress is relatively secure in itself, you can improve your security by keeping your WordPress up-to-date, ensuring you backup often and regularly to a secure location, remove the wp_ prefix from your database table names. Remove the WP version identifier from your website heater and replace the admin username with a customized one.

Author Bio

Jenny Richards is an experienced freelance web designer/developer who has over 5 years’ experience in site-building for businesses, organizations and individuals. She likes offer useful tidbits for DIY and up-and-coming designers out there.

About Michael John

Hi my name is Michael and I am here to help you create a website that works. If you require any help building your website please contact me. I am the owner of www.2createawebsites.com and would like to help you get online. View all posts by Michael John →