So you’ve managed to install WordPress. Wonderful! I’m proud of you.

But I’d guess that by now you’ve logged in to your admin area and are thinking, “Now what?!”

Over the next few Wednesdays, I will help you customize your blog’s settings so that you get off to a proper start. Today’s tip is about choosing a format for your permalinks (the direct URL for a post).

To customize your permalink setting, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your blog’s admin area.
2. In the left sidebar, click on Settings, usually toward the bottom of the left column.
3. From the menu that appears underneath, click on Permalinks.
4. You will see that the default setting is chosen. This setting creates URLs with question marks and numbers – not at all user-friendly and even less useful for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes.
   

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5. Depending on your preferences, select either Day and name, Month and name, or Custom Structure. Shorter URLs can be easier to remember. The Day and name option would create the longest URL followed by Month and name. For Custom Structure, I’d recommend putting /%postname%/. This will create a URL with your domain and the post name. (Example: http://berriesandcreamblogdesign.com/wordpress-wednesday-permalink-settings.)
6. Don’t forget to save your changes.

This simple change can be a big help to your blog. Visitors and search engines alike will appreciate seeing a URL that actually makes sense.

If you can’t figure it out or don’t want to bother…

you can have us customize your WordPress settings for you. Go to our Services page and look for 1/2 hour of maintenance. This will allow us time to customize all of your settings to your desired specifications.

What do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment or contact us with your feedback or questions. We love hearing how we have helped people and how we can improve to help you better.

We answer lots of questions about WordPress. Lots and lots. So I finally got the brilliant idea to publish a weekly WordPress tip to answer some of your most frequently asked questions.

Today’s tip answers the very first question many potential clients ask:

“How do I install WordPress?”

While there is a somewhat complicated method involving creating a database and uploading files via FTP, most of the people who ask how to install WordPress (WP) are lost at the first mention of database or FTP. The good news is that many hosts have an easier method for installing WP.

If you use our preferred host (Hostgator), Bluehost, Hostmonster, or another host that uses cpanel…

you can have WordPress installed in a matter of moments simply by making a few clicks and entering some information. Here are the steps:

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1. Login to your cpanel.
2. Scroll down until you see a section titled Software/Services.
3. Click on Fantastico Deluxe or Quick Install. Most cpanels that I have seen offer Fantastico Deluxe.

The following steps are for Fantastico Deluxe.

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1. In the left column, click on WordPress.
2. On the right, click on New Installation.
   

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3. In step 1 of the installation pictured above, the red arrows point to three items that are critical: the installation domain, the administrator’s username, and the password.
4. Select the desired domain from the drop down.
5. Enter something other than “admin” as your username. (Admin is the default username and using it can be a security risk for your blog.)
6. Choose a strong password, preferably using a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
7. In the base configuration section, enter as much information as you know. This is not critical since this information can be changed later in your blog admin area.
8. Click the Install WordPress button at the bottom. If there are no problems, the next screen will show that WordPress was successfully installed. Access info will be shown, and you will be given the opportunity to email installation details to yourself. I’d highly recommend doing so.

Important: Quick Install follows a similar process but does not give you the opportunity to select your administrator username and password. Because of this, I’d recommend using Fantastico Deluxe instead.

If you have hosting through GoDaddy…

they offer easy WordPress installation through their apps center. Here is a link to their Help section instructions. http://help.godaddy.com/article/834

If you can’t figure it out or don’t want to bother…

you can have us install WordPress for you. Go to our Services page and look for WordPress Installation.

What do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment or contact us with your feedback or questions. We love hearing how we have helped people and how we can improve to help you better.