WordPress Online

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Sites that Soar!: Magazine-style WordPress themes made easy

Expert WordPress is a new blogging system that allows bloggers to save time and get more done after they create a blog. Not only that, but the system is actually a full on blogging suite with your own WordPress theme, plugins, video tutorials and instructions, all packed into one. Expert WordPress was created for the WordPress community to counteract the limitations and problems they usually face when they want to create a blog.

The Expert WordPress system takes you by the hand and explains in detail what you need to do and when. Setting up a blog couldn’t be easier and more straightforward than this. Since WordPress is the number one choice blogging software on the market, most bloggers will eventually migrate to it, even if they first create a blog with one of the dozen of the free blogging tools available on the market.

You can choose Blogger, TypePad, LiveJournal and even the free option of http://WordPress.com for your blog, but none of them will give you the benefits and choices of the WordPress software that runs on a self hosted domain.

Self hosted WordPress blogs are by far the best blogs for search engine optimization, great placement and the ability to monetize them in many possible ways. Smart Internet marketers have recognized this fact a long time ago and wouldn’t ever go back to whatever they used prior to hosting their own WordPress blog.

Some features that really make the WordPress software stand apart from the others is the versatility of it. There are just so many options in which we can build WordPress blogs and with a bit of coding knowledge in HTML and PHP, anybody can actually design their own WordPress theme.

There are plugins, widgets and many other pieces of coding than can be integrated into WordPress. Best of all, nothing is set in stone. If you ever wanted to change the look of your WordPress blog you can do so easy with a few changes in the stylesheet.

To make the process of starting out to create a blog, by moving to your own self hosted WordPress blog a lot easier, Expert WordPress has been designed for you.

It is the system if you are sick of trying to lean code or spend hours finding the right plugins. The creators of the software have actually built in the required plugins to help you with your search engine rankings. All you need to do is activate them with a few clicks. This will not only save you a lot of time, but you won’t have to worry whether the plugins you use are the right ones.

Another benefit of using Expert WordPress opposed to doing it yourself is the fact that is comes with its own support forum. Should you ever get stuck you won’t need to purchase expensive eBooks or even search for answers online. You’ll have your very own help support community right at hand.

It’s up to you whether you want to create a blog the traditional way, or use Expert WordPress and fast track your blogging experience to something more pleasant. Either way, WordPress is the software to choose for sure.

WordPress has never been easier to install than the latest version. In this article, I will describe how to install WordPress 2.5.

INSTALL WORDPRESS IN FIVE EASY STEPS

(1) Download WordPress

The first installation step is to Download WordPress from http://wordpress.org/download/. I created a directory on my PC called “wordpress” in which to collect the files and images I will use for my WordPress installation and customization. Once the download competed, I saved the .zip file.

(2) Unzip WordPress

After saving the file, I opened it with the zip/unzip program I use, and selected all of the files. Since I will be testing and modifying WordPress locally to begin with, I “extracted” the files to the root directory of the Apache server I use for my PC test bed.

If I were going to install WordPress “for real” on a live web site, I would have used an FTP client to upload the .zip file to the desired directory at my hosting service and unziped the file there. Firefox has a terrific and *free* FTP client, FireFTP, that can be used for the upload.

(3) Create the Database

At this point, the WordPress database needs to be created. WordPress requires a database to store the site content and other information. I use MySQL for my database server both on my PC test bed and on my live sites. I use phpMyAdmin as an interface to MySQL.

Creating the database is really simple using phpMyAdmin. I simply start phpMyAdmin, enter the database name, and hit the “Create” button. WordPress will create the tables it needs in the database.

(4) Create wp-config.php

WordPress needs to know how to access the database once it has been created. That’s what the wp-config.php file is for. WordPress includes a file called “wp-config-sample.php.” This file needs to be modified with the database access information and renamed to “wp-config.php.”

Open the config file with any text editor. The critical entries are DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, and DB_HOST.

As an enhanced security measure, I obtained a unique SECRET_KEY and pasted this into the file. I then saved the edited file as wp-config.php. The text below shows the code I changed:

// ** MySQL settings ** //

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘wordpress’); // The name of the database

define(‘DB_USER’, ‘rtivel’); // Your MySQL username

define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘MyPassword’); // …and password

define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); // 99% chance you won’t need to change this value

// Change SECRET_KEY to a unique phrase. You won’t have to remember it later,

// so make it long and complicated. You can visit http://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.0/

// to get a secret key generated for you, or just make something up.

define(‘SECRET_KEY’, ‘diq`~@|CH6)l@u>x;hA>1ew1maZ/)ToE!y%}}ZYAI!=V^L()eooB!0V+k8LJa!Eh’); // Change this to a unique phrase.

(5) Run the WordPress Installer

After completing the edit of the wp-config.php file, I started the installation script by entering this URL to my Apache server into my browser:

localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

For a live site, the URL might be something like this:

yourdomain.com/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

The first installation screen asks for the blog name and contact email address.

The next screen announces a successful installation and provides a username and password for the administrator. Be sure to save this password!

The installation is now complete. I can now log into WordPress and begin managing the blog, customizing the theme, or adding content.

Or, I can click the link at the top of the log-in screen and go to the blog’s home page.

If you don’t manually create a wp-config.php file, WordPress will prompt for the information it needs and try to complete the installation.

That’s it! WordPress should now be installed.

Yours for a more successful blog,

Royce Tivel