How to Set Up a Blog on a Website
Blogs have become such a popular online medium because they work well in a variety of situations. Want a place to stick press releases and announcements on your small-business website? Create a blog. Want a place on your personal website for friends to see what you've been up to lately? Create a blog. Want to create a big magazine-style website? Blogs work for that, too. Whether you want something big and fancy or small and simple, it's possible to set up a blog on your website in a single afternoon.
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Instructions
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Steps
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1
Log into your website's control panel and go to the "Databases" or "MySQL" section. Choose the option to create a new database. This will involve giving the database a name and assigning it a user (you) with a username and password. (Depending on your web host's setup, the database name and username might be the same.) Jot down all this information and set it aside.
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2
Go to your website's file manager and create a new folder in your root directory called "blog" (or whatever you like). This way, people can access your blog by going to yoursite.com/blog. If you'd like to install your blog in the root directory so it appears on the homepage, skip this step.
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3
Select a content management system (or CMS) to use. A CMS is a program you install on your server that provides a simple user interface through which you can manage your site. A number of free CMS packages exist that you can use for blogging, such as Drupal, Blogger, and Textpattern. WordPress is one of the easiest to install and one of the most popular, so that's what these instructions focus on. Download it from WordPress.org (see Resources below) and unzip it onto your desktop.
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4
In the main "wordpress" folder, there will be a file called "wp-config-sample.php". Open it and input your database name, username and password in the specified places. Change "localhost" to the name of your server (it will usually, though not always, still be "localhost"; if you run into an "Error connecting to the database" message, contact your hosting service to find out your server name). In the four spots where it says "put your unique phrase here," input a series of 10 to 15 random letters and numbers (for security reasons). When you're done, save the file as "wp-config.php".
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5
Upload everything inside the "wordpress" folder to the desired directory on your site, retaining the folder hierarchy.
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6
Open a new browser window and navigate to "/wp-admin" of whatever directory you installed WordPress in; for example, if you installed it in a "blog" folder, you would navigate to yoursite.com/blog/wp-admin. If you updated the database information correctly, you should be able to enter the title of your blog (which can be changed later) and your email address. Then click "Install."
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7
Log in to your WordPress "dashboard" (control panel) using the login information provided upon installation. On the left sidebar, select the "Settings" option and each of its sub-options to set up your blog's basic settings.
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8
Change the look of your blog by selecting the "Appearance" option and then the "Add New Themes" sub-option.
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9
Start writing your blog by selecting the "Posts" option and then the "Add New" sub-option.
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