Completely overwhelmed

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  mattlakemann · Member · Jan 20, 2020 at 9:20 pm

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  I just purchased a domain and started a new blog and I am completely overwhelmed. I’m looking for guidance on how to customize my site.

  I’ve run two wordpress blogs in the past, and found both easy to design. But, if it matters, these were both free while the new blog isn’t. Looking back at the older blogs, they had almost completely different customization tools. I’m at a loss for how to do basic design tasks like:

  – Change the background color
  – Move a “block” around the page
  – How to align the “edit” and “customize” page

  Any help would be appreciated. I have no design experience, so maybe there is some sort of beginner plug-in I can download?

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  kokkieh · Staff · Jan 21, 2020 at 9:17 am

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  Hi there,

  WordPress.com has undergone some changes the past few years, even on top of changes to the WordPress software itself, so I can understand if it feels confusing coming back to it. But let’s see what we can do here:

  Change the background color

  This is dependent on your site’s theme, and your current theme, Maywood, doesn’t support custom backgrounds.

  If you want to switch to a theme that supports this feature you can look here:

  https://wordpress.com/themes/filter/custom-background

  Alternatively you can use blocks to add background colors to specific sections of your site, or if you want to add a background to an entire page, add the cover block, set the background for that block, and then add additional content inside that block.

  Move a “block” around the page

  What exactly do you want to move, and on which page?

  Blocks added inside the editor can be moved up and down. Click on a block, and you should see block controls appear directly above the block. Click the arrows there to change its position.

  You can find a detailed overview of how the block editor works at http://en.support.wordpress.com/wordpress-editor/, and we also have support pages on most of the blocks to show you how to use any specific block as well.

  How to align the “edit” and “customize” page

  I’m not sure what you’re speaking of here – I don’t see any pages on your site titled “edit” or “customize”. Can you please provide some more details?

  Also note that your premium plan gives you access to live chat support if you have any questions. You can reach live chat by clicking the help icon that appears bottom-right on any of the My Sites pages, or via direct link at https://wordpress.com/help/contact

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  mattlakemann · Member · Jan 21, 2020 at 10:22 pm

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  Thanks! I really appreciate the tips.