Knowledge is power. This holds true when you have a website. To learn more about the wonders of WordPress, stay right where you are. Read all of the following suggestions before getting started. Take notes and remember what you learn.
Become familiar with the options and tools that are at your disposal when you blog with WordPress. For example, clicking on KITCHEN SINK gives you many more choices in formatting and importing that set your posts apart. Also, notice SCREEN OPTIONS on your administrator pages. This can be used to control several formatting elements.
Choose a website design that is individualized for your WordPress site. It is tempting, but it is not going to help people think the best of you. You need to show your individuality with your site.
Clean up comments and content that don’t add anything to your website. This keeps your site clean and easier to use. Akismet is one of the better plugins for filtering out spam.
Clean up long post titles as you construct the permalink. Excessively long titles make for cumbersome, clumsy URLs. Be sure to select only the keywords from your long titles to create your permalinks.
Write a personalized greeting near the top of your blog. Not only does this personalize your website, it welcomes guests based on how they found your blog. This males you appear less robotic and you can use the Great Box plugin for this.
Use Alt and Title when you are using WordPress. This allows you to add words to your images. This is good for SEO, and it allows people who have disabled images to know what the images are about.
Allow your users to access your articles easily by email. This is essential for sharing purposes, since not everyone uses Twitter or Facebook while working. Try using a plugin like WP-Email.
Special Characters
Security is of the utmost importance in WordPress, so never share your password. Before installing plugins, make sure to read reviews. If your site ever gets hacked or infected with malware, you risk losing the entire thing.
Get rid of the special characters in your post URL’s. Special characters annoy search engine spiders, so it’s best not to have any. Use short URLs that don’t baffle and confuse your readers.
Make sure descriptions and titles are targeted. These are the first impressions that your readers see. For this reason, they are very important. If you want more control, try using the SEO program, Scribe. These editing tools allow you to increase the appeal of your site.
Sometimes you might think some changes you’ve made weren’t saved. This is probably not true. Clear your cache to see if it will fix the problem. Just hold the ‘shift’ key when you refresh your browser to see the changes.
Always keep your library of media organized. You might be tempted to simply put images right in, but you will find it gets cluttered fast. Start off with a good folder structure and stick to it. You’ll have a lot easier time finding images in the future that you hope to reuse.
Are there lots of people commenting on your posts? If that is the case, sorting through the many comments can get difficult both for you and your visitors. You can install a plugin that does this for you. This will make the whole process much smoother.
Make sure you’re always using the most recent WordPress version you can. If you don’t, you may become vulnerable. Your site is more vulnerable if you use an old version. Therefore, make sure to always install new WordPress updates to guarantee your site remains tight and secure.
Make the greeting shown on the top of your WordPress page inviting. Not only does this personalize your website, it welcomes guests based on how they found your blog. That will make things seem less formal on your site, and can be arrived at with the Greet Box plugin.
You no longer have to approve or disapprove comments manually. Akismet is a helpful plugin that you can use. You can save time by getting e-mail alerts when comments are posted and unchecking manual approval. This will end up saving you quite a lot of time.
Organize your media library. If you just upload images randomly it’ll get out of control and disorganized. Organize your folders into different themes if necessary. Later, you will be able to find an image you want to use much easier.
Is it challenging to meet self-imposed deadlines for your posts? Create a blurb that is posted at a specific time and date of your selection. When you click to start a new post, you should have the ability to schedule it some time in the future. Write when you’re in the mood and take care of future posts.
Make sure you have your blog backed up. This must be a regular process for you. Xcloner is a wonderful WordPress plugin designed just for this purpose. Pick whichever plugin or site you would like to use. However, have it backed up in numerous locations. It would be a shame to lose your whole blog.
Your drop-down menu should be ignored when it comes to selecting the post’s header. Use shortcuts on your keyboard. To use, simply use CTRL and the numbers 1 through 6. This saves you time if you use the headers often.
It can be difficult to keep up with scheduled blog posts. You can write it in advance and have WordPress post it for you at a preselected time. Whenever you open up a new post page, you will see the option to set up a future publication. This allows you to take care of things beforehand.
If you need a WordPress blog host, only choose from those that feature a simple click function to install WordPress. That way, you will avoid a great deal of trouble that comes with creating a database on your own. The host will create a domain and database with just one click.
Do you hate how disorganized WordPress can be? Try turning off buttons you don’t use. Just go to SCREEN OPTIONS in the upper portion of the window. Select it for a drop-down menu that lets you switch on or off boxes you want visible.
Turn on the comments for your posts. This will help users feel like a community, and it will give you the opportunity to learn more about them. Plugins are available to help you approve comments prior to having them published on the site, keeping it free from spammers.
If you are searching for a WordPress host, select one that has a user-friendly control panel with a one-click install of WordPress. Things will be much easier that way. With a single click, you will receive a blog domain, as will the associated database.
Try using different authoring tools for your blog. Is the WordPress dashboard not to your taste? Use something such as Windows Live Writer to help. There are a number of tools that work well with WordPress while working much more efficiently. Try several before deciding which ones to use.
Be sure to let people comment about your blog posts. People will feel more involved and you can learn about them as well. You can even use plugins to have the power to approve comments prior to their publication so you can avoid spammers.
Think about highlighting comments on an article that are made by the person who wrote the article. Users tend to ask questions and write concerns in the comments section. If there is a response from the author, it can be easily overlooked. You should make the author’s comments a different color. This will make them stand out and be recognized easily.
Experiment with a variety of blogging tools. Have you had problems with the dashboard on WordPress? Try an authoring program for a blog like the Windows Live Writer. There are a lot of tools that work well with WordPress and make blogging more efficient. Give some of them a try, and you will surely find just the right tools for you.
Come up with a plan before you make a WordPress site. List the goals of your website and what you hope your readers will gain from your site. This will allow you to plan in advance.
Highlighting the author’s comments can draw attention to them. Comments are often filled with questions and concerns. It is easy to miss something important as more and more people begin responding. It would be wise to make the author’s comments appear in a different hue. They will easily be visible to visitors.
Be sure to use “Read More” buttons. This allows your visitors to view a few lines of a blog post before deciding whether or not to read the entire post. Show your visitors a “read more” link that they can click. Failing to do so could make your blog look uninviting and cluttered.
Free plugins should not automatically be overlooked. Think about what the plugin does and how much time it would save to see if the cost is worth it. If it is rich in features, paying a little bit is still worth your money by saving you time.
Seek out resources before working on your WordPress website. There are forums, other blogs and even social medial groups that will give you an insider’s opinion and tips on WordPress. Whether your question is about themes or plugins, you should be able to find viable answers.
Find helpful resources before creating a site in WordPress. You can seek out advice on forums concerning WordPress. Regardless of whether your issue is with a theme or plugin, you’ll find experts available to answer your questions.
Be mindful of the fact that you can use categories and tags to put SEO keywords into place on your site. Clear, succinct category names can help you gain more readers by improving your ranking on the major search engines. Examples such as, “Beginners tips for WordPress” or “great WordPress plugins” could be what brought you here.
If you want to save a post but not publish it yet, the “unpublished” mode is best used for this. Although the public won’t be able to view these posts, you can still edit them as necessary. Only publish the post when it is completely satisfactory to you.
Back up your blog regularly by using the Export function. This will create a database of the history that you can use for reference or to reboot.
Utilize the “export” function to keep your site always backed up. In this way, you will always have a clean reference point to return to in case you have problems with your server or your site is hacked.
When you export things in WordPress, remember to back up all your images and other site files too. One way to do this is by using FTP or the server’s control panel to copy your folders and their contents.
Always backup any images or other files before exporting from WordPress. Copy each of your folders as a security measure.
Never get a WordPress upgrade until you assess which plugins are already installed. If your site has plugins that it relies on, you might consider waiting before you install a WordPress update. If you don;t, some crucial widgets and plugins could stop working.
Before upgrading WordPress, consider your plugins. If you are using plugins that are critical to the proper operation of your site, it may be best to put off installing the WordPress upgrade until the bugs are worked out. If you do not wait, some plugins and widget may lose their functionality.
To keep your site secure, only use plugins and themes that you need. Many times people forget about plugins that have been installed in the past that they are no longer using. You could be vulnerable to code injections that could destroy your website.
You should know more about WordPress after reading the article above. Begin using it in conjunction with your WordPress site right away. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by what a huge difference it makes. Soon your traffic will start to rise. Your visitors will likely come back to see your high-quality content.
Keep in mind that what you publish will become a permanent part of the Internet. If you make a rant about politics, viewers will be able to link it to you. Before you publish anything, consider if this is what you desire to reflect in your site.
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