WordPress


 * The Basics of WordPress.com**


 * First Steps:**


 * 1) Go to the word press site [|www.wordpress.com] Click on **Sign up Now!**
 * 2) Fill in all information, be sure to check/click on, **“legalflotsam”** before clicking **Next**. Be sure the **“Gimme a blog!”** Circle is marked.
 * 3) Click **Next**.
 * 4) Fill in all information. Change the blog title to something professional you’d like. Be sure it has your name in either the Blog Title or in the tagline. Where it says Tagline: Delete “Just another Wordpress blog”. You may put something here later if you wish. Click **Signup**.
 * 5) You will be sent a confirmation to your email address.


 * Email Confirmation:**


 * 1) The email you receive will contain a link that will tell you to view your site, and will give you your sign in name and password. Don’t forget these!
 * 2) Click on the link provided in the email to enter Wordpress.
 * 3) Once in Wordpress, you will see the Dashboard area of Wordpress (**located in the very top grey area of the page**). When in doubt, come back here. This is the control center for your e-portfolio. The **Dashboard** contains links to options for building your site. First you will be choosing a design, then setting up pages and adding options. Wordpress is customizable and you may change your setup at anytime.
 * 4) **From the left hand menu, click Settings/Privacy/Click/check “I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers”,** etc. This will enable you to view your portfolio from the web. You can do this at a later time if you wish.


 * Setup /Choosing a Design**


 * 1) Choosing a Design.
 * 2) Click **Appearance** in the left hand sidebar. From the drop-down menu, click **Themes**. On the next screen, you will be able to scroll through many design templates. Remember to search for a professional looking one. You will have the opportunity to change designs whenever you like. The two column ones seem to work well, but you are not limited to those. If you’d like to filter so that you only see the two column ones, just hit the drop down **Filter menu** at the top of the page and then select 2 column.
 * 3) When you click on the title of a design, you will see an example of what the template will look like. To exit out, just hit the **“x”** in the upper left hand corner of the screen example.
 * 4) You will notice that below each design template explanation, there is a list of characteristics. If it says “custom header”, that means you can upload pictures to the header. If it does not say “custom header,” the picture(s) that appear are what you get. Remember this is free! J
 * 5) When you find one you like, click **“Activate”** in the upper right hand corner.
 * 6) Click ←**Visit Site (**located next to the title of your eportfolio in the dark gray band at the top of the page at any time**)** to see what your portfolio looks like in its current form.


 * Adding Widgets:**


 * 1) Widgets…these are tools, functions, and add-ons that you can display in your e-portfolio sidebar. Although you may add more, the **Pages** and **Calendar** widgets are **//required//** to be added to your portfolio. To add **Widgets** to your e-portfolio:


 * 1) Be sure you are in **Dashboard**, (always available either in the left hand sidebar or along the top ribbon at the top of the page).
 * 2) Click **Appearance** in the left hand sidebar and then from the drop down menu, select **Widgets**.
 * 3) The next page will display a list of available widgets to choose from.
 * 4) Click on **Add** next to the widget. You will see the widgets move to the right hand column. Be sure to click **Save Changes**. You may experiment with others if you wish. Remember…clutter is not good…information presentation is everything.
 * 5) You will need to edit the **My Pages Widget**. Click on Edit in the title of the My Pages widget. Be sure that the title says “My Pages”, “Navigation”, etc. or leave as is…this is your choice. Then click the drop down menu and select “Sort by” **Page order**. Click **Done** and then **Save Changes.**


 * Making Pages:**

Go to **My Dashboard** and then…In the left hand sidebar, click **Pages/Add new…**The title needs to be something like **“About Me”… “My Story…”etc.** This will be the first page that people will see on your e-portfolio. Eventually in the text box your will write something about yourself…but for now…just create the page. In the Discussion section below the text box, be sure the boxes in front of **“Allow comments” and “Allow pings” are UNCHECKED.** This protects your privacy and ensures that you are the only editor of this page. So don’t forget to do this step on all pages that you create. In the right hand side bar you should see an Attributes column. It may not initially appear as such, but this is a drop down menu. If it is not “open”, place your cursor over the gray ribbon with the word Attributes in it, click, and a menu should appear. Under **Parent**, be sure the drop down menu choice “ Main page—no parent” is selected. This means that this page is a stand alone page…it is meant to have its own subject. The **page order** to this is “0”. Also, Under **Publish** on the right hand side, you can click edit and then the drop down gives you three options, be sure published is selected…otherwise your pages will not be viewable to the public. Be sure to click **SAVE or UPDATE PAGE.**
 * __To make your FIRST page__:**


 * 1) AFTER MAKING THIS FIRST PAGE…DO THIS NEXT!!!!
 * 2) Click **Settings** in the left hand menu. From the drop down…
 * 3) Click **Reading Settings**
 * 4) In the **Front Page Display area…**
 * 5) Click **A static Page**
 * 6) In the Front page drop down menu click **about** or **home** or **welcome**, whichever name the template has for its first page.
 * 7) Scroll down and click **Save Changes**
 * 8) Go to **Visit Site** to see how it looks.
 * 9) If you want to edit the title of this page, click **Dashboard/Pages/then click on the title of the page you just created.**
 * 10) Click on the title of the page and an edit screen will appear.
 * 11) Be sure to click on **Comments** and **Pings** and remove both checks in this category. Since this is a professional portfolio, you need to disable the blog feature on pages.
 * 12) Always remember to go to the right hand column and click **SAVE/Update page.** Be sure the **Publish** drop down menu says **Published**.
 * 13) You can always go to **Preview button (right column) or View this site (link next to your title)** to see changes you have made after saving.


 * 1) Creating pages other than the first one.
 * 2) Click **My Dashboard**
 * 3) Click **Pages/Add New** in the left hand menu.
 * 4) Be sure to write a PAGE…If you should accidentally write a POST, you will be stuck writing post after post after post and you will have a HUGE blog section as your front page. BAD NEWS.
 * 5) After clicking Page/Add New… give the page a title (For now there are 4 Required pages: Welcome/About, My Philosophy, My Resume, INTASC Standards*…we’ll discuss this one in a bit. Create it last.
 * 6) Don’t forget to clear the checks on Comments and Pings!


 * 1) To number pages in the order you want them…go to **Attributes on the page your are working on…be sure the drop down for Parent says Main Page (no parent); and the order should be the number you want the page to be.** Click Update/**SAVE**.


 * 1) Pages that need to be made are: Welcome/About Me, My Philosophy, My Resume, INTASC Standards (*sub pages 1-10; don’t do sub pages yet…this will happen in class).