In the previous post I described how a local business owner with no website could create a simple site in an hour or so for less than $30. That means there is no need for anybody to not have a website.
We reached the point where we had a WordPress site up with an appropriate name up and running and awaiting content.
At this stage it should look something like this (on each of the photos you can click once and then after a second or two once more to see a blown up version):
Now log on to the site (using the name “admin”) by clicking on “site admin” under the meta section on the the right hand side.
This will take you to a dashboard which looks something like this.
This may look a little puzzling at first glance. For most of the everyday things you want to do it is actually really easy to used.
Most of the everyday things will relate to the posts and pages. Pages are “fixed” content – things like fixed pages of information about you and sales pages. Posts refer to individual posts that you can create for a blog. Initially lets create a single page describing your company or service. This is the information that appears on the home page. Since WordPress was originally used for blogging posts are normally the default and you will need to change this and create a fixed home page. To do this click on pages and add page.
Enter a headline and text. I have done this in this example.
Now what is vitally important is that you update the page. Scroll down until you see the update button and click on it – this saves your page.
The next thing is that we want to make this the home page rather than having blog posts on the home page.
To do this scroll down the dashboard on the left hand side until you come to Settings (on or close to the bottom). Then select reading. The following page will appear.
What you now need to do is to set the button for the static home page and select the page you wish from the drop down list. Save this and click on the title of the site on the very top line (beside the WordPress Logo).
You should now have a site that looks something like this.
Now you are at an important point – you actually have working site. This site can be developed in all sorts of ways very easily. You can add more pages, a blog if you wish and photographs. You can download one of thousands of free themes – some of these are truly beautiful and ideal for a small or local business (see Appearance Themes on the dashboard). The can create all kinds of different looks and facilities for your site. You can also buy premium themes, or invest in having a specific look for your site commissioned. We will discuss this in a further post.
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