Following on from Part 1, I’ll assume you have your webspace, with chosen domain name pointing at it, a copy of WordPress (if you need it) and Filezilla installed.There are two ways to install: Manual or scripted. If your host offers the Fantastico, or similar WordPress installing script, then as long as it’s free (or included in your plan) then take it. If anyone tries to charge you to do it, don’t pay, do it yourself using the manual method.

Fantastico (scripted): My experience of this was brilliant. Simply click to start it running, answer several easy questions - which directory to install it (root is easiest, especially if you only have 1 blog), setup username & password etc. Fantastico will then install your blog, create an SQL database & finish by giving you it’s name & login details. The whole thing took about 60 seconds. You should then be able to type in your URL into your browser and visit your new blog.

Manual. Very simple. Your webhost should have given you your FTP username & password, so setup Filezilla and ensure you can connect to your webspace. Now extract the compressed WordPress installation files to your hard drive (You can upload the compressed file & unzip on most servers, but I prefer to have an exact copy of my blog on my PC for backup). Go to the control panel of your webhost & create a new SQL database. Follow the prompts & then you should be given, and need to note down, the database name (usually ‘localhost’), your username & password. Once created, open Filezilla and drag the entire WordPress directory onto your webspace & let it upload. Ensure that the root WP files of WP-config-sample etc. go into the root directory of your webspace, and that the subdirectory structure of wp-content etc. remains intact. Now, on your PC, rename the file wp-config-sample to wp-config.php (right click in Windows Explorer). Open this file using Wordpad or Notepad (NOT Word or other word-processor) and edit the following details: ‘DB_NAME’ ‘DB_USER’ ‘DB_PASSWORD’ ‘DB_HOST’. These values should all have been provided by your host. Upload this file to the server, and then in your browser, type in the address of your blog and ‘wp-admin/install’. E.g. if your blog is on awardspace and called ‘my blog’, type in “http://myblog.awardspace.com/wp-admin/install” Hit enter, and that’s it.

Your blog should now be visible, and it will have asked you for a blog title and email, then told you your username (admin) and password. Write these down. Your blog will be visible in the standard theme (template) known as ‘Kubrick’ with a blue header, It will be named according to your choice and something like ‘just another wordpress blog’ in the header & a first post entitled ‘Hello World’. Simply log in using your username & password, and have a play. It’s very simple, and as long as you pay attention, you can’t do any damage working within site-admin. Before any major option change or deletion, you are asked to confirm that you’re sure. You can delete the first pre-filled post & comment or just edit them to suit yourself. Before we get on to the subject of adding plugins, adverts, banners & other things to your blog (another post), you will want to find a theme that you like & are likely to stick with.

Themes: changing themes and layouts in WordPress is very easy, and any customisation that you do can be carried across into a new theme, but will require you to edit the template files again-therefore choose a theme now, before doing any major editing.

The WP theme viewer is the best place to start: browse by a whole range of parameters, colour, usage, menus etc. and download any that take your fancy. I would recommend trying to narrow it down to no more than 6, but you can have as many as you like. Once you’ve downloaded them, copy them to the wp-content/themes directory on your PC, extract them & then FTP the resulting folders to the wp-content/themes folder on your webspace. Log in to site admin on your blog & click on the presentation tab. You should see thumbnails of your uploaded themes: simply click on them to select, view site, come back, choose another to view & so on. If you don’t like any of these, simply delete the files & upload more. Once you have a favourite, you may delete the folders of the ones you don’t want, or leave them.

So there you have it. You have a WP blog, and have chosen a theme you want to use. Explore the options, fill in extra information where it is needed, setup your comment options (Check my post on comment spam) and finally run a backup. Why backup when you haven’t posted anything? Practice, and to make sure it works. Simply click the backup tab under options, and it should run the backup & offer to save it to the server, your PC, or email it to you. I’d choose either of the last two. If it tells you that a file and/or directory aren’t writable, simply note down their names; connect Filezilla and find them. Right-click the offending file and folder & set their properties to writable. Run the backup again & it should work. For security, you may then want to change the properties back again. Remember to regularly backup when you start posting.

OK, enjoy your blog & start posting. I have already written several articles on how to improve your blog setup, be sure to read them. More will follow on plugins and other ways to get the most out of WordPress.