Setting Up Your Own WordPress Blog : The Preparation
February 19th, 2008 at 8:08 am by azwan. Filed under Blogging, Tools, Wordpress.
You found a hosting provider and also have bought (or plan to buy) your domain. Before proceeding, there’s a few things you need to take note. You need to do this in order to make the setup smoother. And if you prepared well, your blog will be up in less than 30 minutes, but if you think you don’t need any, please at least consider a file compression and also a FTP software. Once your blog is up, the main purpose is to start blogging, so it’s better to do the groundwork before you actually start.
WordPress Theme
WordPress comes with 2 lame … basic themes. In order for you to stand out, you need to get something different, but to get a premium theme, it can be expensive. It will start from $24, and of course the cheaper ones are usually sold to other people as well, and that doesn’t make it unique. Hey, don’t worry. You can still get a free theme that are good and sometimes better if you spend some. Maybe it has been downloaded a 1000 times. Let it be. What you need is to get something you like, use it first and after some time, start customizing it yourself when your are familiar with it. Or, you can also purchase a header instead of buying a premium one. But if you have money, I’m not stopping you.
For free themes, you can refer to my previous post :
- Lunarpages’ Themes Competition which includes some from Malaysia
- FaceBooked Themes
- Other interesting sites include
- CourtneyTuttle on SEO friendly themes
- WebLogToolsCollection
- Sukeri’s list
- and also from WordPress
Applications
This is a list of applications that you will need to setup your blog :
- FileZilla, a ftp software that you will use to upload and download files between your server (at your hosting company) and your personal computer.
- WinZip a file compression software. Useful to uncompressed the files you download. Another alternative is WinRar.
- And finally PSPad , a freeware programmer’s editor. Similar to the windows text editor but with more functions. It will be useful for modifying your WordPress php codes.
Not to forget a photo editing tool, which I guess you are already familiar with that 
. Some of the people who are asking are already very good in photoshop.
Plugins
Plugins can extend the basic WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine. Some people convert to WordPress not for the software alone but for the plugins available. I did. I found blogger.com a bit too limited. The plugins you need will depends greatly on the things that you want to do with your blog.
- If you’re blogging for money, then you should consider the ones related to adsense.
- WordPress Automatic Upgrade would be great for beginners (even I used it )
- If you like to socialize with your readers, then consider putting top commentators plugin to share the juice.
Others include statistics plugin, Google sitemap etc … the list is endless.
You can just ignore all these (except FTP software) and start setting up WordPress .. and blog but then … again, do some preparation before you actually start.
Lastly, be prepared to fall asleep on your keyboard.
Tags: application, setup wordpress, hosting, domain, ftp, file zilla, uncompressed, themes, photoshop, graphic editor, text editor
Image Credit : Greefus[/tags]
[...] Original post by [one] blog, world, life. Live It! [...]
Wordpress is free everyone love that..I love it too..wordpress not just blog software but more than that.
azwan reply on February 19th, 2008 10:35 pm:
more than than that huh? u must love it very much
Bent reply on February 20th, 2008 12:11 am:
Sure
before in love dengan wordpress, ragu jugak…but, when i try and i realised something…macam bent cakap…its more than that…
agak lama tak jenguk azwanhadzree.com. So many post yang saya dah missing…
sofea sihat ke?
my sofea dah jadi copi-copi dah… abang dia dah bagi nama baru- COPI-COPi.
sejak semalam sibuk nak naik walker jer…
azwan reply on February 19th, 2008 10:36 pm:
Sofea dah semakin comel. dia suka bersembang .. ah.. rindu lah pulak .. anyway, i’ll be updating the kids site starting next month
boleh buat digital book la posting kamu neh. heheheh
azwan reply on February 19th, 2008 10:48 pm:
mungkin, tapi aku ak berminat untuk keluarkan apa-apa ebook buat masa ni .. kalau kau nak buat, silakan. jangan lupa link kan kembalik saja
I love the last sentence, LOL
azwan reply on February 19th, 2008 10:50 pm:
it will be normal for a newbie. i was one
ha.. ha.. masih ingat waktu tu, beria-ia sungguh nak up kan site as fast and as perfect as possible.
haha.. last 2 days i also talks about hosting. Maybe after seeing the probs in myanime hosting (slow before and i have moved to new hosting. think its better |o|)
azwan reply on February 19th, 2008 10:54 pm:
looks like the site loads up much faster now
i got a few people asking about wordpress, so i’m compiling all the things that i emailed before
hmmm….good good explanation….
azwan reply on February 19th, 2008 11:06 pm:
thanks. waiting for your post to link
to those whom hv been asking (through emails, pm and gchat) .. ha .. ha … just for fun. i would add in robotech after this
hehe.. bagus.. explanations.. ramai yang masih tak pasti dan was-was dan juga tak tahu macamane nak set up blog.. aku pon belajar2 sendiri jer carik penerangan bagus macam ni.
[...] them are helpful and I really appreciate it. Some blog discusses about setting your own domain and preparation required to set up a wordpress blog. You can also visit a wordpress forum like forum.easywordpress.com to discuss your [...]
Wahhhh, menareknya!
best best..semakin ramai yg memberi tips..semakin ramai yg tahu, semakin berkualiti, semakin semakin semakin..
azwan reply on February 20th, 2008 10:27 pm:
semakin bosan … kalau banyak sangat … ha.ha..ha.
oo baru tahu…
azwan reply on February 20th, 2008 10:32 pm:
bila kau nak pindah chot?
wp is the most easies blog i ever found… css dia buat ringan so senang nak load walaupun ada orang set 1 page sampai 20 post… tapi tetap cepat loading timenye… tu yang buat am tak mau tukar lain dah…
azwan reply on February 21st, 2008 11:33 pm:
most supported as well. I really like the themes and plugins available.
[...] plugins and also add on to your blog. And, here’s a good reading from my friend, Azwan regarding The preparations , domain, and setting up. It was a great post for one who wants to use wordpress or for a blogger [...]
[...] The Preparation [...]