This guide starts with the absolute basics and gets you to the point of how to start a blog!

1. ! Bookmark this article location so you can come back to it right now because I am going to give you a lot of valuable links for places to go to get started – and all of them have plenty of FREE information!

What is a Blog? "Blog" stands for weblog. Blogs started out as websites that contained a diary type of commentary usually about a core subject. For example, if you live “Off the Grid” your blog might chronicle the challenges of self sustaining living. It might also give people instruction in how to do some of the things you have done and contain links to suppliers or other interesting sites you have found.

Blogs have since evolved into everything you can imagine. Some contain E-commerce stores, some are marketing tools to try to get you to buy a given product, some are political sites to get a political opinion out in the open, and the list goes on and on. A blog can be whatever you want it to be.

BUT if you want people to visit your blog, come back, tell other people and maybe buy something that you are selling then your blog should follow these basic rules:

1. It should contain information that people want or need or find interesting. If you think you can just get an automated tool to copy other peoples writing to your website and then sell them stuff. You are mistaken. Most will realize that your “Content” (the articles, stories and opinions in your blog) is not original and they will leave and not come back.
2. It should be updated regularly. Not every day but if you try to “set and forget it” (Write a bunch of content and then ignore the site for a year) People will stop coming and the search engines will stop listing your site and traffic will fall.
3. It should be well organized, easy to find things and have a Theme that ties it all in together.

How do you get started Blogging?

This is the main question most people have and the answer is it really is easy! Thanks to common tools and lots of available videos and instruction guides on how to get started, even someone with limited computer experience can start a blog if they are just willing to follow instructions!

So how do I get started?

First decide what you want to Blog about! What is your “Theme” (what do you want your blog to be about?)? Do you want to blog about pets? Do you want to tell people your political opinions? Do you want to talk about hiking? Decide. Then make a list of the answers to these questions:

1. What is my Theme? The Theme is the overall subject of your website. Note that there are also WordPress Themes which are specific design templates for your Blog.
2. Who do I hope will read my blog?
3. How will my blog be unique and interesting?
4. Do I want to try and make money off my blog?
5. If so, How (If you don’t know how we’ll discuss that later on).

Second, Decide what kind of Blog you will Have – I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest you make a WordPress Blog. Wordpress is software that enables you to set up a blog quickly. It provides a ton of functionality so your blog can look good, be easy to manage and add on cool features. Best of all it is everywhere and easy to get “hosted” (we’ll discuss that in a minute) easy to get help with and best of all its FREE!

You can go to www.wordpress.org and get free software Download! And tons of free instructions! As a matter of fact you can go to: http://codex.wordpress.org/Introduction_to_Blogging and get more advanced “getting started Blogging” instructions for free that tell you more about the features, terminology and functions involved with WordPress blogging!

OK so I know what software to get, how to get it and where to get instructions on how to use it. How do I get a blog up and running on a website?

How to get a blog on the web!

1. You need a “Web Host” to install your word press software on and then create your blog on so it appears on the web. There are many FREE webhosts and many that you pay for. The choice is yours. Free ones limit the size and the features of your blog. Ones you pay for often give you a lot more tools (like an email account like my_name@www.myblog.com or software to manage your website with etc.)

Here are some free webhosts:

http://wordpress.com/

http://blogetery.com/

1. You can get your own “domain name” (a Domain name is a name like Google or yahoo) but you don’t have to. So decide if you want one. If you don’t have one your website will usually have a “sub domain” name like: “My_web_site_name.my_free_hosting_websites_name.com”.

If you have your own it would be more like www.my_web_site_name.. Having your own domain name costs from $10 – $15 a year. But it is yours! You own it! You can even sell it later on (if someone wants to buy it).

If you want to have your own domain name some of the free blog sites will let you make up a name for your blog and just start. But if you want your own domain name there are plenty of free tools to search for a web name that is not taken yet. For example you can go to www.godaddy.com (I make no money off that. I have used their free tool and it is quick and easy) to search for a domain name.  Is an abbreviated version of "weblog,"

1. Most web hosts have a free, one click install of your wordpress software. If it doesn’t I would just find another that does. If you really like that web host, then you can follow the WordPress installation instructions at http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress

1. You can also get a much more detailed getting started with wordpress guide at: http://codex.wordpress.org/New_To_WordPress_-_Where_to_Start

1. OK. At this point you have a web host, you have a website theme and name (the name may be on your own domain or it may be on a free web host as a “sub domain”. You have installed wordpress and you are ready to set up the software so you can blog!

1. Select the WordPress Theme for your website. There are many free WordPress Themes for your website. You can also purchase a great Professional Theme from a company like Woo Themes. Free WordPress Themes are fine and come with the free wordpress software. The Professional Themes usually have a nicer design and more options for where you can place ads, the colors and special pages you can set up and use, etc. I, like most people, started my first blog and then tried several Themes from Professional Theme companies before settling on Woo Themes because I like all the special features they offer and the great look of their Themes.

And that is the end of part 1!

I decided to create a start to finish guide on getting started with wordpress. It is very ong and detailed and available at theis link. It covers evverything – EVERYTHING you need to know from idea to getting on line and posting to your blog! CLICK ON THIS LINK TO GO TO THE HOW TO WORDPRESS BEGINNERS GUIDE!

How to Wordpress Plugin

Wordpress is the best blogging and affiliate store software out there.

One thing that makes it so great (besides the fact that it’s free, easy to use and supported by every major web host out there) is that you can add all kinds of great functions just by clicking a button and installing a new plugin.

In “How to Wordpress Plugin” We are assuming that you have wordpress installed on a computer or host server and you have a admin login and can login to your wordpress software.

We are going to walk you thru finding, install and setting up/ configuring wordpress plugins. We will then finish up by giving you our list of the best Wordpress Plugins out there!

How to wordpress Plugin – the Basics

NOTE: I am having a problem with the images for this article. they will be back in a few days.

1)      Once you have logged into your Wordpress admin panel, if you look on the left side you will see a list of functions you can access like I have in the picture below. I have highlighted the “Plugins” Option in yellow (Note:  mine has a red 1 next to it. That is telling me that I have 1 wordpress Plugin that is ready for an automatic update).

2)      If you click on the plugins option it will expand and give you the following choices:

3)      Clicking on the “installed” option will show you all the plugins that you have currently installed. Clicking on the “ Add New” option will let you search for new plugins to install. And Clicking on the “Editor” option will let you Edit an existing Plugin. IF YOU ARE READING THIS “How To Wordpress Plugin Guide” you certainly do not want to try to edit a Wordpress plugin. Modifying a Wordpress plugin without really knowing what you are doing could lead to very unpredictable results!

4)      I am going to start by having you click on the “Add New” Plugin option and show you how to select  a new plugin and install it and then set it up to run. It’s Easy! Let’s start:

5)      Click on the “Add New” Option and you will go to the “install Plugin” Screen. I have a picture of the main part of the screen below

6)      There are 2 basic ways to search for Wordpress plugins. You Can enter a term to search on in the search bar (highlighted in yellow above) or you can select one of the Tags (a tag is a group of like items) that sounds like what you are looking for (Highlighted in Pink above).

7)      For example, if you want to find a plugin that lists related posts at the end of each post you would type in “related Posts” in the search field and hit search. It will bring back a list of Wordpress Plugins that contain the term “Related Posts” like you see below.

8)      I had to cut off the picture so it would fit but there are two key things here. To the left is the name of the plugin. If you click on it will take you to the Plugin Creators page that gives a description of the plugin and how it works (in more detail than the “description” field you see. There is also a version number (release number) and a user rating which can help you judge which is better (although the newest ones won’t be rated yet). To the far right is an “Install” word (I had to cut it off in the picture). If you click on install it will install the plugin!

9)      Once you have clicked the install word you will get a pop up screen that describes the plugin in more detail and has an install button. Clicking the install Button makes the pop up screen go away and one of several things will happen;

– You may get a screen that displays the steps Wordpress is going thru to install the Plugin

– or you may get a screen asking you to login to your Web hosting account in order to install the plugin. If you get this enter your login and password and the plugin will start to install with the same descriptions as mentioned in the prior dashed line.

10)   Every once in a while I have a plugin take a while to install or even fail. Usually this is do to a temporary internet connection issue. One time the plugin had a problem. All I do is redo these steps and install it again. If it fails I just try another plugin> There are often many (10 – 50) plugins that will fit the same need.

11)   Once the plugin is installed there are still 2 steps left. First you must activate the plugin.  In the picture below I have installed then “Super Slider Plugin”. At the bottom I click “Activate Plugin” or I can Click “return to plugin installer” to look for more plugins to install> If I choose not to activate the plugin at this time I can do it any time I want by clicking on the “Installed” option from the plugins selection on the left hand side of the admin panel s shown in the picture at the start of the “How to Wordpress Plugin” instructions.

12)   Clicking on the Installed option will give you a list of all of your plugins , a brief description of the plugin and a link to either:

– Activate the plugin if it is not Activated yet

– Deactivate the plugin if it is activated and you want to turn it off

– Edit the plugin (remember you don’t want to do this unless you are a programmer

13)   There is also a box to the left of the plugin. You can check this on one or more plugins and Activate, deactivate or delete one or more plugins at a time with the “Bulk Actions” selection just above the “plugins” column of the Manage Plugins page that you are in.

14)   Final Step! Once you have activated your plugin There are usually options that can be set. Most plugins I have installed work right out of the box. But some require you to go into the “Settings” option on the right hand side of the Admin panel and select your plugin to modify its settings or configurations.

15)   These plugin settings vary.  If it is a plugin to Add related posts to the end of a post, it may ask you how many you want to add (1 – 10). Or a plugin may ask you other preferences. So always check in the settings so you see what options you have to set or choose from.

16)   Every once in a while a Plugin will have an additional Selection of its own in the admin panel.

17)   This is usually below the settings tab with its own tab.

OK folks that is it. I hope this is enough information to get you started. I have a list of some of the best plugins in another article on this site in the “How To Wordpress” section!

Have fun!

OK here is a nice quick FREE video on how to install a WordPress Theme!!

If you have never done this before it may seem daunting but its really not.

Most Wordpress Themes, even the purchased Premium Wordpress Themes (like the Woo Themes that we advertise on this site) are simple and easy to install. This video gives you all the basics. Just take notes and take your time the first time you Install Wordpress Theme and you will have no problems.

BUT DO TAKE THE TIME to read everything you can about the new Wordpress Theme that you have chosen to use! The power of the professional Wordpress Themes lies not in their great professional appearance but in the control you have over the content and the pictures and the advertising and static pages etc. This can be very different for different themes.

For example some Wordpress Themes that you install may have the main blog content centered or right or left justified. Based upon this the width and locations of the available widgets (device that control the placement of additional blog text such as archives, adds, additional custom text, etc)  will vary.  More importantly, the controls that you have over the content may vary! SO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS for your Theme!

In addition the configuration options for the Themes will vary from one to the other.

Don't let this scare you! Purchasing and installing a professional custom Theme is one of the BEST things you can do to both make your site stand out, tie in the sites contents to your monitization methods (without making it look like a bugled bunch of crap) and to create customer retention.

You want your customers to stay on your site, browse, bookmark it, come back and tell friends and even click the little social bookmarking tabs (available from the free sociable plugin) and send your blogs to social bookmarking sites of theirs for others to read!! Installing A custom Theme is one of the best ways to accomplish all of these things and more!

So i f you want to know how to install a Wordpress Theme watch this video and learn. We have many other videos and guides on this site to help you -all for free. This how to install a Wordpress Theme video covers the installation of a new theme for your wordpress 2.6x blog using Filezilla as well as cpanel control panel. For additional help using Filezilla, check out my other videos on setting up filezilla.

Note that Filezilla is just the tool that is used to transfer the files onto your server. There are many tools to get the files from the Theme supplier (wether its a professional Custom Theme company like Woo Themes or a friend) to your server.

Finally make sure you pick a hosting company that supports Wordpress!. All the major ones do. It makes it much easier to install a Wordpress Theme if you cna just click and install wordpress on your hosting site first and not have to do the install yourself.
OK? Get going!

elliottbowles.com I show you how to install Wordpress, the great blogging platform, on your webhost. You can check out wordpress at http

This is Chris Abrahams classic video on how to get started and succedd inb blogging. Chris, as many of you know, is a professional bloging instructor and knows this subject better then anyone out there. We at WP Themes Deals really like Chris’s work and are happy to post this video of his here for you to enjoy.
Best of all this is an entirely FREE WORDPRESS GUIDE on how to get started on blogging in the really popular video form. Watch it and rewind to the parts that you want to see again!  This is about 45 minutes long but it doesn’t waste any time. In 15 minutes you can learn everything you need to do the basics of setting up a Wordpress blog.

While the title of our blog is WP Themes Deals, we really are all about making people successful with WordPress and blogging! We have found that many people tend to avoid instructions that are written (especially in PDF’s) like the Plague! So we are always happy to find a new video that covers a wordpress topic – especially for the newcomers-  that is of true value!

This WordPress video really is a must view for anyone wanting to learn how to get started in wordpress blogging. IMPORTANT – this is a real long, solid video on getting started in WordPress blogging! Even if you are a seasoned pro yo will probably see stuff that you did not know!. We strongly advise you to watch this video and then check out some of the other advice and Q&A sections on Wordpress, Wordpress Themes and even on the great deals that we have to offer on the professional grade theme templates from Woo Themes! If you want a great blog, then it is important to pick a good theme (layout and design) that fits your blog subject and will help market your site as soon as people see it.

In this video our friend Chris Abraham walks you through every step of getting started blogging from signing up at wordpress, to setting up and adiministering your wordpress site!   Chris is a professional blogging instructor. Enjoy! All of you have been asking me to update my step-by-step tutorial on how to use Wordpress.com as a blogging platform — please check it out and please let me know what I have missed.