Learning Social Media

I wish I could take credit for this, or have produced something as in-depth but today I saw @mayhemstudios post a tweet with this great guide to setting up Wordpress. It’s Part I, so presumably there will be a continuation in Part II. This is a great step-by step guide for getting up and running. Check it out.

Getting started with blogging is quick, painless and easy. I personally recommend using Wordpress, as it is mature, well supported and open source software. The software itself is free, and Automatic even offers free hosting at Wordpress.com. There are also other great options like Tumblr and Google’s Blogger. Luckily, moving between platforms and software is possible and fairly easy, so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck on one you don’t like.

You have two main options: Using the free hosting at Wordpress.com, or hosting it on your own server. For getting started, I recommend using Wordpress.com’s hosting. It has a few limitations, such as a limited set of plugins that you can enable, but is the best way to jump in and get running with minimal technical effort. In the future, we’ll cover how to set up Wordpress on your own server. If you are going to skip ahead a few chapters, and enjoy using linux then I recommend using Slicehost for your hosting.

You can get started with a hosted Wordpress installation in less than five minutes.

1. Go to Wordpress.com and register for an account.
2. Start blogging.

Sorry there’s not more steps, but you’ll almost instantly have YOURSITE.wordpress.com available. It really is that easy. Later we’ll cover setting up the Wordpress with your own domain name and get into the details of effective blogging.