I have created this WordPress tutorial PDF to download for beginners It is completely intended for those who know nothing about WordPress Although from my past experience on using WordPress since 2008 Learning WordPress without any coding skills can be very easy
There are few affiliate links, if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you
There is no WordPress tutorial for beginners or advanced users I consider the below guide a tutorial on how to use WordPress
WordPress is a Content Management System I know you hear this a lot In very simple words, it is a web builder tool that let’s you build add your pages And your posts (if you decide to do blogging) also create your menu, Select your template (as known as WordPress themes) It is an Open source, in simple words, it is completely free to use
How does WordPress work
WordPress uses 2 essential components on the Web Server PHP and MySQL, PHP is the language WordPress is written with It is a server side language which means it runs on the web server It translates WordPress code to HTML for your browser to render your page While MySQL is the relational database which stores all your contents
This gives you a grasp of how WordPress functions few things like 1) Easy access to interface known as Dashboard 2) Ability to store historical versions of all your contents (Pages and Posts) 3) Ability to preview any theme/widget on the fly without activating them
Is It easy to learn WordPress
Yes and No, I will explain it below Yes it is easy to learn WordPress in less than a day If your plan is to build your personal blog or website You just follow every step in this WordPress tutorial You will get more than what you expected
With this WordPress tutorial, I will teach you how to use WordPress as a professional user Where I consider pouring all my WordPress experience I hope I don’t miss any tips or tricks here In this WordPress tutorial I will present my knowledge in non technical way
I have to admit, I am not a WordPress developer Nor I plan to be, I am Java/.NET developer This gave me the courage to dig into few details inside WordPress code You don’t need to know it as everything can be done from WordPress backend
What is the best way to learn WordPress
After reading and download my WordPress tutorial PDF I don’t think you will need to buy courses or books Again I am not certified to teach WordPress I am just a professional user with long experience in building WordPress sites
If you feel that I did not do a good job I recommend you go to the following sources 1) Udemy: Very cheap courses and of very high quality offered by individuals (teachers) 2) WP101 : Only courses on WordPress with professional look and feel 3) Lynda.com : Similar to Udemy in quality but it is an organization
How to install WordPress
Many times in my blog here I covered how to install WordPress I don’t see any point for repeating myself, just visit How to setup WordPress for my website
Logging to WordPress
After you complete your WordPress installation You will be presented with an administrator account (highest privileges) You can do everything with this account from Installing your required plugins to changing your WordPress theme
Just take a note of the username and password as shown below You still can change both your username and password to something you really remember
To logon just add /wp-admin to the domain name e.g. http://your-domain-name/wp-admin
Getting Familiar with WordPress Dashboard
As per the screen shot below, these are the most components All WordPress training and tutorials are based upon Make sure to watch the video below as I will describe everything there
1) Top WordPress Toolbar: Showing your blog title to the top left and logged on user to the top right 2) Dashboard: Showing you notifications and updates if required 3) Posts: Showing all posts and adding new post 4) Media: Showing all your media library or add a new image, audio, video or document 5) Pages: Showing all pages and adding new page 6) Comments: showing all your comments approved and pending ones 7) Appearance: Showing all your themes and widgets 8) Plugins: Showing all your installed plugins and add a new plugin 9) Users: Showing all users and add new user 10) Tools: Import and export your WordPress data 11) Settings: Couple of things I will discuss in my video below
Difference between Pages and Posts
Because Pages and Posts possess same features Posts are shown up in chronological order (latest post on top, earlier at the bottom) If you set your homepage to display your latest posts like in a typical blog While pages are meant to be static content as when building regular website
This means that WordPress is a multi purpose Web building tool You can create a website with menu linked to your pages or A typical blog with posts, while menu can link to both posts and pages I don’t see any point of linking menu to posts
Getting Familiar with Categories and Tags
Categories are only used in posts, same thing for tags Most of the times when you are blogging You need to associate your post to 1 or 2 words That really represents what your post is about
If you are building a blog about Parenting You would write posts about Feeding, Breastfeeding, Sleeping and Entertaining kids These words above are categories
Tags are word(s) you add to your posts to identify The main points of what your post is about
So Categories is very broad while Tags are specific points in your post
What is Gutenberg
WordPress released a new WordPress updates version 5.0 on December 2018 They changed the interface for your editor Which you use to create your pages and posts They called it Gutenberg
If you are new to WordPress You may have not seen the old Editor You may like Gutenberg but for those Who used to work with the old Editor
They will find a way around it I found a plugin called Classic Editor To revert me back to the old one
Adding a new Page/Post
The process is exactly the same between Page and Post Hover your mouse to either Posts or Pages from the left menu There will be a fly-out menu, select Add New as shown below
Creating contents for Pages/Posts using Visual Editor
As you can see below under your editor, You have 2 modes Visual and Text With Visual mode, you can change font to Bold, Italic, strike-through or even change font color
Also you can have different headings from H1 to H6 Make sure you watch the video below
Setting a featured Image
WordPress lets you upload an image Which can be used beside each post on the homepage (blog page) or if your theme allows a carousel (rotating images) Feature image enhance the representation of your website
Switching to text editor under Pages/Posts
I had some HTML background but what made me More efficient with displaying formatted contents It was because I switch back and forth between Visual and Text editors It helps you understand how things look like in Text mode
Inserting or Editing HTML Links
Very easy from inside your post or page Click on the chain icon as shown below An HTML Input field will show up as shown below
Just click on the gear icon The Insert Edit screen will show up
You can select any link from the list below And you can add any text to it
Removing an HTML Links
Removing is also easy Just click anywhere on the created HTML link And you can either edit or remove the HTML link as shown below
Saving or Publishing your contents
Save draft or Publish your contents If you did not finish your post or page You can save it as a draft meaning Nobody will be able to view it online It becomes available only when you publish it
Editing existing Page/Post
Publishing your post or page is not final You still can edit it anytime
Hover your mouse to either Posts or Pages from the left menu There will be a fly-out menu, Select “All Posts” or “All Pages”
A list of all posts or pages will Show up on the right hand side Just select the action to take Under your desired post/page
As shown above, only when you hover your mouse Over any post or page you will see the list of options
Deleting a Page/Post
Deleting a post or page is not final It will still be recoverable in the Trash Bin
To delete a post or page Click on Trash under the post or page as per screenshot above
Going back in time by using Past Revisions
WordPress stores up to 25 past revisions For all your posts and pages
I can not express how this feature is very useful All I can say I used it a lot and it saved me from critical mistakes I will explain it in the video below
Inserting an image and other media in WordPress
Without images and other media All pages will be completely dull
Beside images In WordPress you can add Video, documents or Acrobat PDF files
WordPress made it super easy to add images or other multimedia You can upload single image or multiple images Even you can drag and drop from your computer
To upload single/multiple images Hover your mouse to Media from the left menu There will be a fly-out menu, select Add New as shown below
Editing or deleting an image in WordPress
Similar to Editing or deleting a post or page You can still Edit or delete an image
Hover your mouse to Media from the left menu There will be a fly-out menu, select Library
You only have View, Edit and Delete permanently Remember you cannot recover a deleted image Also Edit will not let you change the image Edit will let you update text values Linked to your image like Caption, Alternative text and description
Inserting an Image gallery
WordPress offers a simple and nice feature from Inside both your posts and pages You can create and insert a new Image gallery that looks like below
You have to do the following From inside your post or page Click on Add Media button
From the Media Library Select multiple images Then click on create new gallery
An Edit Gallery screen will show up If you are OK with your selection Click on the Insert Gallery button as shown below
Editing or deleting an image gallery
Just go to the post or page Where you inserted your Gallery Hover your mouse over the gallery You will see 2 options Edit and Remove as shown below
Remove will only remove this Gallery It will not touch your images
Inserting Audio or Video files
Same as you upload images You can still upload Audios and Videos WordPress supports the following files M4a, MP4, OGG, WebM, FLV, MP3, and WAV.
Inserting an Audio or Video Playlist
Same as creating Galleries WordPress allows you to create Audio or Video playlists
Getting Familiar with WordPress Comments
If you are blogging, comments can be a good feature They will be displayed at the end of your posts It allows your audience to comment on your post Whether they ask a question or thank you for the information
With WordPress, you can put all comments under your approvals Meaning they will not be visible until you review them This helps fight comments spam
Dealing with Comments from inside Dashboard
Click on comments menu to the left All comments will be loaded to the right hand side
You have different options from What you see under posts or pages
I would like to discuss the difference Between Approve (or Unapprove) and Spam
First I highly recommend to review and Approve all comments manually
To do this, go to Hover your mouse over Settings menu Select Discussion, look under Before a comment appears Check both options that say Comments must be manually approved Comment author must have a previously approved comment
Regarding the latter option, it is up to you I don’t believe that if someone visits my blog and I approve his/her comment, later he/she will spam
Now Approve (it toggles to Unapprove) will always keep All comments listed there If your comment is approved, It will show up under your post or page
By default, any comment is unapproved It will not show up on your post until you approve it
Spam will eliminate it and move it to the Spam section You can still go there and move it but at least It filters what you think are really Spam
Replying to a Comment
Under the comments section where you see all your comments You can click on Reply, you will get a screen Similar to Add New post or page
Getting Familiar with WordPress Appearance
Appearance is the place where you can change your WordPress skeleton Appearance lets you change your theme (WordPress template) Under Appearance you find Themes, Customize, Widgets, Menu and Theme Editor
N.B. If you have previous plugins installed You may find extra options but what I listed above is the standard ones
Selecting your WordPress Theme
Hover your mouse over Appearance and select Themes as shown below
Previewing and customizing any theme (before applying it to your WordPress site)
If you click on any other theme not your current one You can still preview it live without committing it as shown below
Adding a new theme to your WordPress site
As per the screenshot above, if you click Activate You will switch to another theme
Modifying your WordPress theme header or background (if they exist)
Hover your mouse over Appearance and select Customize Or click on Customize on your current theme
you will be presented with all the features Which you can change for this current theme Remember if you change your theme You may see different customization options
Getting Familiar with WordPress Widgets
Widgets are independent sections of contents that can fit Into any area that can accepts widgets An example of areas that accept widgets are Sidebars (left or right), header, footer And sometimes Posts and Pages themselves
All menus will show up as shown below As you can see, you are not limited to Adding only pages but you can add category Or post even an external link
Editing or deleting an existing WordPress Menu
if you are on the Edit Menus page, just click on any menu Let’s say the Contact menu You can either change its menu name Or completely remove it as shown below
Adding a new WordPress Menu Item
I will go over this topic on the video below
Adding a Custom Link Menu Item
Same thing, I will cover this topic on the video below
Managing Menu Locations
If you click on Manage locations beside the Edit Menus You can add menu on the below shown location It all depends on your theme design
Getting Familiar with WordPress Plugins
Plugins are components that get integrated with your WordPress To add more functionality to your WordPress site Or extend an existing feature Plugins has its own menu item to the left on WordPress admin area
Hover your mouse over Appearance to the left Then move your mouse to the fly-out menu And select Theme Editor
This is the last thing I would think to touch it You will get a warning before you proceed
Getting Familiar with WordPress Users
By default WordPress gets installed with one administrator This is the highest level of privileges Using this administrator account, you can create multiple users By going to Users menu, a fly-out menu shows up with 3 options All users, Add new and your profile
Adding or deleting Users in WordPress
Hover your mouse over Users menu to the left A fly-out menu will show up Select All users option
Editing your Profile in WordPress
Hover your mouse over Users menu to the left A fly-out menu will show up Select Your profile
Getting Familiar with Tools (I don’t use it)
Hover your mouse over Tools menu to the left You will see Available tools, Import and Export If you see extra options this is due to Installing extra plugins and your current theme itself They added extra features
The Import and Export features can help you Move few posts and media from one WordPress site to another I haven’t use it at all
Getting Familiar with Settings
All WordPress tutorials confirm that Settings are the back bone of your WordPress site If you hover your mouse over Settings menu A fly-out menu will show up Look for these options General, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media and Permalinks
You may have extra options Due to your installed plugins and current theme I will cover Settings in a separate video due to its importance
At the end of this WordPress tutorial for beginners, I hope I made it clear on WordPress features
If you think I missed something, feel free to notify me in the comment section
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