WebHelperMagazine.com

Welcome to WebHelperMagazine.com. Please consider signing up for our RSS feed. Check out our job board, and be sure to leave comments -- we post your name and a link to your site as a way to thank you for joining the WHMag conversation.

This is a visual tutorial on how to install WordPress, then customize it as a CMS (Content Management System) for your company website online.

Using a CMS to manage your website gives you the ability to make easy updates (no HTML knowledge required), plus provides a number of powerful features (RSS feeds are one example) to help you do business online.

Note: Here we’ll give instructions for using the steamlined “Elefante Installer” which comes with your Hosting Plan at WebFaddsHosting.com .

1. Use the “Elefante Installer” in your Hosting Control Panel to install WordPress. If you are not a customer with a WebFaddsHosting.com account yet, you can demo this step at our demo page.
   
   Illustration shows WebFaddsHosting.com Hosting Control Panel Demo log-in.
2. The installer will report a successful installation on your hosting server, and give you the URL to the administration log-in — this is a separate control area — online (run your WordPress Website from any computer) where you run your WordPress CMS.
   
   Above, Elefante Installer is selected under “Web Tools”, and WordPress is chosen for installation (Elefante also offers a number of other script choices).
   
   Elefante Installer reports a successful installation, and gives the URL to your WordPress Admin. log-in page — red arrow (note the Admin. UserName and Password you’ll need to get in will also be displayed on this screen).
3. Next you may select a number of plug-ins to customize your WordPress CMS based on what your business mission is online. For example, if you wish to run a Forum , there is a plug-in program for that. If you are online to offer eCommerce transactions you may choose a plug-in to do that . WordPress is great for blogs and simpler websites (it does not have to be set up as a blog) on its own, so you could simply choose to work with it as is. Of course we can help you set-up, customize, and manage your WordPress website.
4. To hunt for plug-ins you need, check the WordPress Plugin Directory (there were over 1,000 available, when last we checked) .
5. Download the plug-in(s) you need to your own computer.
   
   Above, you find a plug-in at WordPress.org (the excellent PodPress plug-in for PodCasters is shown), click “Download Plugin” and save it to your computer. Illustration shows that this plug-in will be automatically opened with “Stuffit Expander” — you may need to use another program, like WinZip, to unzip it. Be sure to read the “readme” file that accompanies most plug-ins.
6. Upload the plug-ins to the correct folder on your web hosting server using an FTP program. CyberDuck, a free, open source FTP program is shown below, and there are a number of others available online. There is also a plug-in extension for FireFox, if you’re using that browser, that offers FTP capabilities — FireFTP . If you haven’t used an FTP program before, the method is simple, you can drag a file from one window to another (a window on your machine to a remote hosting server, for example), or select a file, then click a button to move it to the remote server.
   
   Above, the plugin for PodPress is being uploaded (in its original folder) to the “plugins” directory which is at this general file path: blog/wp-content/plugins (where “blog” is the directory in which you have installed WordPress).
7. After you have uploaded your new plug-in(s), go to the “Plug-ins” admin. page (in your WordPress admin. — not the hosting Control Panel), and “Activate” your plug-in(s).
   
   Activating your newly added plug-in is easy… go to Plugins, and click “Activate” (red arrow points to Activate button for podPress)
8. Once your plug-ins are activated, easy to use options and controls will show up in your WordPress admin. area. For some plug-ins, you may have to “configure” settings before it will run on your site. For example, the WP Directory plug-in requires categories and listings before it will display information on your site.
   
   Once activated, the PodPress Plug-in provides its own menu of options and controls within your WordPress admin. area.
9. For support, use the WordPress.org Forums, and the Documentation/Lessons in the Codex area (WebFaddsHosting.com provides 24/7 support for hosting needs, and for the initial installation of WordPress, but does not support the actual WordPress program itself).