Do I install WordPress somewhere?
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I just want to set up a nice simple website for our PTA. Is this something I need to install WordPress for? I’m so confused. I set up the account, chose a theme …. and now I have NO IDEA what to do! I’ve looked at tutorials but they all talk about installing wordpress. I don’t understand where to do that if I am not ready to use my own domain name?
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Hi there,
If you’re looking to build a site with WordPress.com, then you don’t need to install anything. You can choose your themes, widgets, and everything from your account.
Probably the documentation or tutorials you’ve seen are for WordPress.org software and self hosted sites. To understand more about the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, please visit this link: https://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/ -
Can you recommend a tutorial when setting up the .com site? I chose a theme but the “start up” doesn’t look ANYTHING like it and I just can’t seem to figure out what to do.
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re: the front page error message found on every new .wordpress.com blog
There is nothing wrong with your blog. By default, the front page of the blog is the only page that will display all published posts on it. As soon as you publish a post, not a page, the error message will be gone. http://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/
For creating a post in the New editor see here http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/#publish-a-new-post
For creating a page in the new editor see here
http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/#create-a-new-pageFor editing in the new editor see:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/edit-posts-screen/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/edit-pages-screen/On the bottom of your Admin page you will find a link to the step by step Learn WordPress.com blogging Tutorial prepared by Staff. http://learn.wordpress.com/
See also the “Video Quick Start” tutorial http://en.support.wordpress.com/video-quick-start/
The support documentation is all found at the Support link http://en.support.wordpress.com which is also on the bottom of your Admin page.
A blog is a website. The difference between blog and website is simply structure and semantics.
A blog is a post based website designed for interactive communication. As the posts are frequently updated and appear on the front page of the site it’s very attractive to search engines.
What most people call a website is merely a page based site that functions as a one-way noticeboard. As the structure is page based and as pages are for static content that rarely changes, and as pages do not have RSS feeds, and as others do not backlink to pages, it is not as attractive to search engines as a post based blog structured site is.
Any WordPress blog can be restructured from being post based to being page based – no upgrade required. For greater clarity read > http://en.support.wordpress.com/using-wordpress-to-create-a-website/
See also:
https://en.support.wordpress.com/five-step-blog-setup/
https://en.support.wordpress.com/five-step-website-setup/
and my post at https://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/create-a-wordpress-website-step-by-step/Every theme has a detailed theme description page with setup instructions and a live demo site.
Example:
https://wordpress.com/themes/toujours/
https://toujoursdemo.wordpress.com/ -
I thought I was making a little progress with some of these templates but now I’m feeling like I’m back to square one. I wanted to watch this tutorial so I could created multiple drop down menus on my site but the very first thing he tells me is to go to my “dashboard.” Unfortunately, his screen looks completely different than what mine does … where do I find the dashboard?
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Hi,
Click My Sites > Select your site (in case you have more than one) > WP Admin (last option)
This takes you to the Dashboard options. -
When I select my site there is a side bar menu with some things but WP Admin is not in that list. This is what’s there:
Stats
PlanBlog Post
PagesThemes
MenuSharing
People
Plugins
Domains
Settings -
Try this then:
https://YOURBLOG.wordpress.com/wp-admin/
and type the name of your blog instead :) -
I’ve seen so many people getting completely bewildered by the fact that there are the “old” and “new” dashboards.
To get to the old and more user friendly dashboard you have to do this:
DON’T click on “My Sites”. Just highlight it and then move the cursor along and past “Switch site” past Your Site’s name and then click on “WP Admin” that will then appear. This is easy if you know it’s there but impossible for new users to find. -
themagicrobot, thank you! It’s helpful to know that they are basically the same thing but in different formats.
I thought, that by accesing the WP Admin, I’d be able to modify my theme’s menu layout but I am completely bewildered by this! I would like to have several (at least 4) main topics at the top with drop down menus under them but, for the life of me, cannot figure it out!
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WordPress, like all IT, is a learning curve. I’ve found it works best if to start with you don’t try and change the world but just go ahead and publish stuff using your theme’s standard settings for posts and pages and then tinker with the look of your site steadily over time. It can be difficult to set up parent/child menus if you haven’t actually published very much content to link them to.
As your site is private I don’t know what theme you’re using and some themes are more user-friendly than others for customising.
WP Amin is certainly the right place to go by highlighting “Appearance” and then “Menus”
There are many tutorials such as: https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/
My advice is KIS (keep it simple) in the beginning and good luck with your blog/website….
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