setting up blog

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  chantiell · Member · Jul 14, 2015 at 10:01 pm

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  Hello
  I’m having difficulty adding the menu buttons I want. I chose Gateway for my theme and it only shows home page and about button, help.
  I use to have a website with Go daddy and I’m finding here to be harder to navigate

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

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  timethief · Member · Jul 14, 2015 at 10:11 pm

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  There is a single page we can post to in any blog and that’s all there is. We can only create the appearance of posting to more than one page.

  You have two choices on any blog
  (1) All posts on the front page.
  (2) A static front page http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/front-page/ and all posts on a different page.

  By default the front page of a blog displays all published posts in reverse chronological order with the most recently published post on top. When we publish a post on WordPress software the software automatically creates the same entry in the Archives, and on the dynamic (automatically updating) Categories and Tags pages in accord with the Categories and Tags we assign to that post.

  So when we create custom menu and add the dynamic (automatically updating) category pages to that custom menu we create the appearance (not the reality) of posting to more than one page.

  You need to be aware that:

  1. There are differences between posts and pages described here
  https://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/

  2. There are differences between static pages we bloggers create https://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/ that will not automatically update, and dynamic category pages created by the software when you publish a post which will automatically update https://en.support.wordpress.com/category-pages/.

  3. We organize posts by category assignment prior to publication. http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/categories/ and when we publish posts the dynamic category pages they automatically display on are determined by the categories we assign to them.

  So the process you need to use is:

  • Assign Categories to your Posts. https://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/categories/
  • Create a custom menu https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/#1-create-a-custom-menu
  • Add only the dynamic category page links into the custom menu that you want to appear in that menu https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#adding-category-pages and arrange them as you wish them to appear https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#changing-the-order-creating-sub-menus
  • Create pages for static content, not for posts https://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/
  • Add any custom links and other items like static pages into your custom menu https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#adding-custom-links and https://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/view-all/#adding-pages

  Here are some tips that you may find helpful when it comes to assigning categories and tags to your posts http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2013/03/15/quick-blog-post-tagging-tips/

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  timethief · Member · Jul 14, 2015 at 10:12 pm

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  re: the front page error message found on every new .wordpress.com blog

  Nothing Found
  It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help.

  There is nothing wrong with your site. 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 front page error message and searchbox that appears on every new WordPress.COM blog will be gone. http://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/

  I recommend using the step by step tutorial linked to the bottom of your Admin page https://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 linked to on the bottom of your Admin page.

  re: website or blog
  A blog is a website.

  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/

  Here’s a link to my step by step post too http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2013/07/25/create-a-wordpress-website-step-by-step/

  re: changing themes
  Themes are just “skins” on WordPress.COM hosted blogs. You can quickly and easily change themes on any WordPress.COM hosted blog to another one found here http://wordpress.com/themes/ and no data will be lost or negatively affected by the change. The only time you may have to do some work is if you are changing to a dramatically different theme and have done any CSS editing.

  Provided you are logged in as Admin under the same username account that registered the blog go to Dashboard > Appearance > Themes, Browse themes until you find one you like and click the “activate” or the “preview” link, or type in the name of the theme you want to use when it appears.

  After you change your theme all you need to do is go here Dashboard > Appearance > Widgets > Inactive Widgets and re-install them where you want them to appear. The widget contents and settings will be the same as they were prior to changing themes.

  Note that every theme will have a detailed theme description page with set up instructions and a live demo site page that you can consult. Here’s an example:
  https://theme.wordpress.com/themes/gateway/
  http://gatewaydemo.wordpress.com/