www.diaryofapom.com - Newbie starting out with first travel writing website

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www.diaryofapom.com - Newbie starting out with first travel writing website

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Started 3 years ago by matthew
Latest reply from Trisha Miller

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matthew
Member

Hi Trisha,

I have now installed WordPress via my hosting company 'Just Host' using a programme called 'Fantastico'. I am hoping that this the right way to do it and will now set about learning to use it and re-building my pages using WordPress.

One thing I dont quite understand though is how I will go about updating my pages. At the moment I use Dreamweaver and update the pages on the laptop, uploading them to the server as and when I get chance.
With WordPress I am assuming that I will need to be connected to the web to build the pages and to upload and update them. Is that correct?

Many thanks

Posted 3 years ago #
Trisha Miller
Administrator

Hi Matthew

Yes, Fantastico is what a lot of people use to install & upgrade Wordpress (although I advise doing thorough research first before upgrading to a newer version to be sure that all your plugins and Theme files will be compatible, to save yourself a headache)...so that is a good way to go.

On editing your pages and posts the answer is yes, you do need to be connected to the web to add content, but you can use a program called Windows Live Writer (free) if you're a Windows user to create your content offline, then it "published" to your wordpress installation for you when you are online and you tell it to. I don't use it since I am a Mac user, but a ton of people do use it and like it (for Macs I like Mars Edit even though it's not free).

When you're transferring everything to the new site, you can either copy & paste the plain text into WP, then "style" things in the visual editor where you see the buttons for things like bold, italics, colors, etc. OR you can copy the HTML from your DW file into the HTML editor (just the content section, not the whole file) but be careful about any style declarations you've made in the HTML (such as id=" or class=") to be sure those id/classes are in your Theme's stylesheet.

There is no "uploading" like you do with DW - you just "publish" the page or post when you're satisfied with it, and even when it's published you can go back and edit if necessary, but be cautious of too many edits on posts - WP will "ping" google whenever you publish or edit a post, and they don't like too many pings on the same post - it gets annoying to them.

If you want (or need) to modify your Theme's files to customize them (which I only recommend to those that are very adept at HTML and familiar with PHP) you can do that on your laptop (keeping a backup copy of the files of course) and then upload them to your theme's folder to overwrite and modify the original theme files.

A great place to learn more about WordPress is at http://wordpress.tv/ - click on the link at the top that says "How To" and browse through their video tutorials.

Posted 3 years ago #
matthew
Member

Hi Trisha,

I have spent a while now looking at WordPress, and must admit that I am more confused than ever. I have got it installed and can access everything OK, I just get it at all.

I have tried out many free themes, but even though there are supposidly editable, I cant seem to edit them. They all seem to have things like 'pages', 'categories', 'blogroll', 'archive', down the side of the page, but I cannot see either what they are for or how to get rid of them. I also cannot see how I would get my posts for each day of the diary to appear on the correct page i.e. 1st August diary entry onto the August web page. It seems that all my posts will end up on the home page in one long list.

So I have decided that I probably wont persue Wordpress and will instead carry on with Dreamweaver, as it seems to be a lot easier to get what I want, I can edit pages offline and upload as and when I get a connection, and can put content wherever I want on the site, which I just cant seem to do with Wordpress.

Thanks again for your help though.

Posted 3 years ago #
Trisha Miller
Administrator

Hi Matthew

I hope you won't give up because once you get past the learning curve you will be glad, as WP is much easier than DW for creating and modifying pages......I have used Dreamweaver for many years, but now only use it to modify some of my php and html code in the theme's template files themselves before uploading to the site, instead of modifying them live at the site (which you can do, but I only recommend that method for folks that don't have an HTML editor like DW, and only after backing up the files)......

I would recommend that you start at http://www.wordpress.tv - click on the link at the top that says "How To" - there are a bunch of short video tutorials, organized into categories......this is a great way to get familiar with the back end and all that you can do - start with the videos that deal with the preferences/settings, then try some on adding posts and pages, then finally to some of the ones on customizations.

Most of the "customizing" is done using Widgets (and there are plenty of videos there on widgets), and also via your stylesheet (which you can modify using DW)

You mentioned that you don't like having a long list of posts on the home page - that is controlled via the Settings > Reading - where you can set the number of posts to display.....set it to whatever you do like, say for example the three most recent, after which older posts can still be easily accessed via the Archives listings either by month or category.....

As you add your older content, you can "back date" it to stay in chronological order by their correct dates simply by changing the Publish date to whatever you want (a past date to back date, or a future date to "schedule" a post).....

Feel free to post some questions here, and also at the http://wordpress.org Support Forum - there are a lot of people there willing to answer questions too.....

Posted 3 years ago #
matthew
Member

Hi Trisha,

I took your advice, stuck with it and am please to tell you that I have made the change, and whats more I am very glad. Wordpress has given me a much more professional looking site, and as you said is easier to use, once you get the hang of it. Once I have finished putting all of my diary over to the new site I am sure it will have been worth the effort, but it does take a lot of time. But then the best things come to those who wait, so they say!

But seriously, once again, thank you for your support and guidance.

Matthew

Posted 3 years ago #
Trisha Miller
Administrator

I'm so happy to hear that! I just took another peek at your site, and I really love what you've done - nice theme choice! VERY clean and professional looking, and I like the olive green color at the top!

Now you just need to add a bit of social networking links so people can follow you on Twitter and maybe a Facebook page, and soon you'll be getting more site visitors too!

Good luck with it - and be sure to drop by now and then to let us know how it's going!

Posted 3 years ago #
matthew
Member

Hi guys,

I wonder if anyone out there can help me.

As you can see from previous posts, I am a UK resident and am currently travelling Australia. I have a travel blog and it has advertising on it. If and when the adverts generate some income, where do I pay my tax, in the UK or in Australia? Also, I am planning to travel Europe next and will have the same issue there I assume.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Many thanks in advance

Posted 3 years ago #
Trisha Miller
Administrator

Hi Matthew - that's a really good question! I can't speak for either the UK or Australia, but I know that here in the US it depends only on where your "company" (in this case your website) is located.

To be certain that you pay correctly, I'd strongly encourage you to consult with a tax expert in the UK, since that is where you are a citizen and full-time resident, even if you happen to be presently traveling abroad. Since the revenue is earned by your website, it shouldn't matter where you are, but where your website is domiciled, but an expert in UK tax matters will be able to tell you definitively.

I'd be interested in hearing whatever you find out!

Posted 3 years ago #

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