Everything There Is To Know About WordPress
Have you heard about WordPress? This popular blogging tool is used by thousands of bloggers around the world. If you would like to start your own blog, WordPress can offer you all of the features that you need to get going right away. Keep reading for more information about this program.
Allow all of the users that visit your site the ability to comment using Facebook. This is a very important tool that will get your name across to hundreds of thousands of people. The Simple Facebook Connect plugin can be used if you want to install this feature on your site.
Alt and Title are two important things to know about. when uploading post images. These areas give you more space for SEO keywords for your site, while simultaneously letting visitors know what the images are, in case they do not see them.
Most templates come with a landing page built in, so make use of it. This stripped down page allows you to focus their intention on exactly what you want them to look at, be it a sign-up form or a “Buy Now” link. This ensures they take the actions you want them to.
Download Akismet immediately with a fresh WordPress install. Akismet is a plugin for WordPress that basically blocks spam comments as they come in. If you don’t have it installed, you may be inundated with tons of spam. You’ll need to get a free key from the Akismet website to finalize the install.
Make use of a landing page. Instead of coming directly to current posts, users will pass through this landing page first. You can use this for a variety of reasons, whether for promoting a product or promoting yourself. Many themes feature a landing page; however, there are also paid options.
Have an easy to find library. Time is money and you don’t need to check tons of folders to find one thing. It is easier to find things in your WordPress theme when everything is in one integrated folder. This makes searching through your Media Library much easier since it only involves inputting a keyword for what you’re looking for.
You can insert media into your posts just by pasting the URL where you’d like the media to appear. For example, paste in a YouTube video just by putting the URL within the text where you want the video to play. Be sure that the URL doesn’t turn blue – if it does, highlight it and click the unlink button.
Having a theme for your WordPress site can make it much more professional. There are plenty of websites that allow you to download themes for free. However, it is very important that you download themes from a trusted source. Not doing so can result in you installing outdated or malicious codes.
If you want a post to stay at the top of the page, there is no need to set it’s date way in the future any longer. Instead, go to the post and click on Edit under Visibility. Choose the option which allows you to make the post sticky and enjoy!
As you begin getting comments on your posts, consider allowing people to post with an avatar. It helps your site feel like more of a community, and it only takes a minute to do. Simply go to the settings area of your dashboard and then click on “discussion.” You should see the option there to enable avatars.
If your have opened up your WordPress blog for comments, be sure to monitor and moderate the comments. You do not want any inappropriate comments to appear on your blog that can be offensive to your readers. When you moderate incoming comments, you can delete spam and anything that you do not want to display to your readers.
So, what is the difference between tags and categories and why should I care? Categories are broad and house many posts which fall into the same genre, such as “cleaning tips”. Tags are more targeted, detailed words which describe what is in the content of a post, such as “removing blood stains” or “getting out grass stains”.
Read user reviews of plugins. It is possible for anyone with programming knowledge to create a plugin. It is not a great idea to use plugins that have many known issues. A high rating and a lot of downloads usually signal that a plugin is safe.
If you have made a mistake in spelling of a name in multiple posts, or just want to change a certain word across your site, use the Search and Replace plugin to do the job for you. The time it takes to do this manually is horrific, so instead let the plugin get it done.
A great commenting plugin that is useful for WordPress is Disqus. This free commenting system works well with its API. You have the ability to import and back up your comments with it. It also adds essential SEO to your comments so that the search engines can index them easier.
Make sure your WordPress site has a great theme. A theme can actually make or break or your site when it comes to attracting or repelling visitors. There are many great free themes out there. You can also find affordable premium themes. Just make sure your themes don’t have a ton of messy code that makes loading too slow or that isn’t compatible with WordPress’s current versions.
The only way to learn WordPress is by practicing it. You can sign up for a free account in WordPress.com and start experimenting with its multitude of features. Change images, background color, font sizes, etc. The more you get your hands on it, the more comfortable you will feel about using it.
Now that you have finished this article, you should have learned some great tips for getting more out of WordPress. No matter how experienced you are with blogging, this advice can be very helpful to you. Start putting it to use right away so that your blog can be the best it can be.