Installing Wordpress

• Build the Blog
• September 30, 2009

Once you’ve gotten your domain name linked up, you need to login to your cpanel and click on the Fantastico button. It looks like a blue smiley face. This will help you install Wordpress onto your site.

Simple installation process

Just click on the Wordpress link within Fantastico and set it up to place a Wordpress blogging system on your domain name. (Hostgator support video: Installing Wordpress via Fantastico)

You can login to your Wordpress admin panel by visiting yourdomainname.com/wp-admin (obviously substituting your domain name in the place of “yourdomainname”). This is the backend of your Wordpress site and where you’ll be able to create posts and adjust the look of your website.

Finding a Wordpress Theme

A theme is the visual presentation of your Wordpress blog. Themes come in all shapes and sizes and you can find them to fit virtually any mood that you want to set for your blog. It doesn’t matter whether you will be posting on candy or cancer treatments, you can find a theme out there that will work for your site.

Use a free theme for now

There are some paid options out there for themes that offer a few more bells and whistles, but for our purposes you really only need to use free themes. Fortunately, there is a plethora of free themes available to choose from.
Themes can be found from a variety of different Wordpress sites, but here are a few of the absolute best to try:

• Word Press Themes Base
• Free Word Press Themes
• Instant Shifts’ list of 140+ Brilliant Free Wordpress Themes
• Smashing Magazine’s 100 Excellent Free Wordpress Themes
• Theme Splice

It may take some time to browse through these different themes, but once you find one you can use them again and again for your various purposes. You should look for an uncluttered header that can be adapted to your niche. You’ll also need at least two columns, although a three column them works best because you can fit in more advertising or an opt in list (we’ll talk about those in a few moments).

Installing the theme

Download the theme and save it your hard drive. Then unzip it and add it to the themes folder on your domain. Inside of the Wordpress admin area, go to appearance and your theme should be there for selection. The theme will automatically load when you click on it. (Hostgator support video: Managing themes in Wordpress)

Affliate guide

Articles in this section:

• How to build your first affiliate blog
• Installing Wordpress the easy way
• Tweaking your Affiliate blog
• Time to enter you affiliate links

Next Article: Adapting Your Affiliate Blog to Fit Your Needs

blog theme wordpress