How to Set Up and Configure WordPress

Blogging Tools of the Trade

So what do you need in order to set up a self-hosted WordPress blog?

If you take up your hosting provider’s option of a 1-click WordPress installation, and use the default theme and plugins that come with WordPress, that is literally all you need.

However, I don’t recommend that approach, because you’re wasting the power of the platform. You may as well use the WordPress hosted platform and save your hosting fees.

If you want to expand the way you use WordPress and the things you can do with it, you will need one other tool. An FTP client.

That's it.

I realise you may have been expecting more – sorry to disappoint!

So here's what you need to do.

Choosing a Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is important.

Your domain name is your web address. It’s the way people find you on-line.

It’s also an important part of optimizing your blog for the search engines – which will make it easier for people to find it.

So you want to choose carefully. Your domain name should:


All domain names end in a TLD – a Top Level Domain. This is the last part of your domain name. The most common TLD is .com, but there are lots of others, with more being introduced all the time.

Ideally you want your domain name to end with .com.

But .net is also good, and (but less so) so is .org. There are also other options related to your country – for example .com.hk, or .co.uk. These are all good, but the best is .com.

Many hosting providers offer you a deal of a free domain name with their hosting package. Since this will save you around $10 a year it’s useful to keep in mind, but it’s not the end of the world if your chosen hosting provider doesn’t offer it.

If you want to find a domain name independently Go Daddy is a good bet.

If you use Go Daddy (or any other company) for your domain name, but use a different company for your hosting, you will need to tell the company you got your domain name from to point your domain name servers towards your hosting provider.

This is a straightforward, routine step and any domain name provider will help you to do this. You get your name server details from your hosting provider (two name server addresses) and copy them into the name server fields with the company you bought your domain from.

It's very easy - just be sure to remember to do it!

Choosing a Hosting Provider

The first point I’d make here is don’t go for a free hosting provider..!

You get what you pay for and the last thing you want is for your hosting provider to block access to your blog when your bandwidth has been exceeded because you got a hit on Digg.

Plus those ads they put on your site are really naff.

There are plenty of good and reliable hosting providers around who’ll charge you from $5 - $10 a month – and who’ll provide a solid, reliable, ad free service in return.

I use Hostgator who give me a great service. Their prices start at US$4.95 a month and they fully support WordPress.

The Wordpress.org site also has a set of recommended partner hosting providers. You can find them here:

WordPress Approved Hosting Providers

If you choose a different hosting provider (not one of the ones listed here) be sure to check that they meet WordPress’ minimum hosting requirements, which you can find here.

FTP Client

The FTP client is a small application that you set up on your PC. It enables you to upload files of any type to your web server.

This is useful for uploading pictures, bits of software or other files you want to make available to your readers.

It’s also the way you will upload plugins and themes for your blog – and for that reason it’s pretty much an essential tool, even if you do a 1-click installation initially.

Do note, though: WordPress now enables you to add themes and plugins from the Admin screens and you can use WordPress' uploader to upload images, so it is possible to get away without an FTP client.

However, if you want to install a theme or plugin that's not part of the stock on the WordPress site (a premium theme, for example) then you will need FTP.

When you get your hosting account one of the bits of information you’ll be given by your hosting provider is your FTP password.

See the image below. When you set up an FTP client on your PC, all you need to do is put your domain name into the Host box (1), your username into the username box (2) and your FTP password into the Password box (3).

Note that your FTP username and password may be different from the ones you use to log into your hosting account. If you're not sure check with your hosting provider.

You can leave the Port box empty (4), but if there's a problem put in 21. The FTP client will do the rest and get you connected.



The domain name you enter in the host field is just the name and TLD. So if your blog address is going to be www.yourblog.com, then all you put into the Host (1) of your FTP client is:

yourblog.com

There are a few free FTP clients available, but the one I recommend is FileZilla, which is free and you can find here:

Filezilla FTP Client

Once your FTP client is set up, using it is exactly the same as using Windows Explorer. You simply drag and drop your files from the ‘local’ pane (your PC) to the ‘remote’ pane (your server).

There's more detail on how to do that here.

Note that in the screenshots above, the panes for your PC and for the server are one above the other. This is different from the standard configuration in Windows Explorer where they're side by side.

But you can change this layout in the Edit>Settings screen.

OK – so now you’ve got a domain name, a hosting provider and an FTP client. You’re all set and ready for the next step.