How to Run WordPress on a Website – The Complete Guide
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) used by bloggers all over the world. It’s a free and open-source software package that allows anyone to conveniently build a website without needing any programming knowledge. What’s more is that WordPress is incredibly easy to use and allows for anybody to jump in and start editing right away.
With the ever-growing popularity of WordPress, more and more people are asking themselves the same question: “How can I run a WordPress site?” This guide will tell you exactly how to do just that.
Step one: Choose a good domain name
Before you can run a WordPress website, you’ll need to decide on a good domain name. This is the web address (URL) of your site. For example, thedomainname.com is a great domain name for a WordPress website because it is easily pronounced, memorable, and has the word “wordpress” in it. Just make sure that you do not already have a website using that domain name. If you do, it might be difficult to get your site up and running using that name.
Ideally, you want to choose a domain name that is a combination of your company’s name and a word that describes your company or blog. If you are using Bluehost, one of the best web hosts out there, you can simply plug in your domain name and start building your site.
Step two: Install WordPress on your server
After you’ve chosen a good domain name, you’ll need to install WordPress on your server. To do this, visit the WordPress website and download the latest version of WordPress. Once you’ve downloaded it, unzip the archive and move the folder containing the unzipped file to your desktop. Next, visit your host’s cPanel (control panel) and create a new account if you don’t already have one. Once you’re logged in, go to the “files” section of cPanel and click on the “Upload” button. If you’re using Bluehost, just skip this step because they already have you set up with WordPress ready to go.
From your desktop, drag the unzipped WordPress folder to the “Upload” button and click on the “Select file” button. Browse to the WordPress folder you just downloaded and click on the “Open” button to select the WordPress installer file inside the archive. WordPress will then be installed on your server.
Step three: Configure your WordPress site
Once WordPress is installed on your server, it’s time to configure the site. Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on the “Settings” link in the top right corner. From here, you can configure just about every aspect of your site. The first thing you’ll want to do is change the site name. This is the name that will appear at the top of your site’s pages. To make this change, click on the “Site Name” and input the new name in the text box that appears. For example, if you named your site “My Blog”, it would now be called “My Blog”. Next, you can decide whether or not to enable comments on your site. If you do enable comments, visitors will be able to post comments on your site. When enabling comments, you can choose whether or not you want to allow anonymous comments (where visitors can post as they want) or you can choose to require commenters to register with a valid email address.
To set up a commenting system on your site, go back to the “Settings” page and click on the “Discussion” tab. Here, you can choose whether or not you want to allow commenters to leave comments on your site. If you do, make sure that you have the “Allow commenters to comment anonymously” option selected. This will make it so that commenters can post as they want and don’t have to worry about being identified.
Step four: Activate WordPress on your website
Once you’ve set up your WordPress site and you’re ready to publish your content, it’s time to activate WordPress on your website. Go to your website’s dashboard and click on the “Settings” link in the top right corner. From here, you can activate WordPress on your site by clicking on the “Activate” button. WordPress will then be active on your website.
If you’ve followed these steps, you’ll now be able to run a WordPress site using the basics. Even if you’ve never done so, creating a WordPress site is incredibly easy and only takes a few minutes. If you run into any trouble or want to learn more, just visit the WordPress website for help.