WP Blog Host Video Tutorials » Must Know

The Super Beginners for Dummies Tutorial on RSS Feeds

WP Blog Host — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:27:48 +0000

If you want to be a blogger, one of the things you need to learn and know how to use are RSS feeds. In this video, I’ll show you how to use RSS feeds to keep up-to-date with your favorite blogs.

We’ll discuss how to sign up for a feed and be notified of a blog’s updates using 3 methods:

Email Subscriptions
Firefox’s Live Bookmarks
Google FeedReader (here’s the Firefox Add-on mentioned in the video)

If you need to set up your very own feed using FeedBurner, be sure to see my other video: A Complete Guide to Setting Up FeedBurner on WordPress.

You can read more about what RSS is by reading this tutorial here by Molly Piper.

Questions? Ask away.

A Complete Guide To Setting Up FeedBurner On WordPress

How To Create A Category In WordPress

WP Blog Host — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:45:14 +0000

When you write a blog post, it’s good to tuck those posts in under a specific category.

In this video, I’ll show you how to log into WordPress and create a category.

How To Backup Your WordPress Blog’s Database With A Plugin

WP Blog Host — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:00:20 +0000

In this video tutorial, I’ll show you how to backup your WordPress blog’s database using the WordPress Database Backup plugin by Austin Matzko.

Keeping a recent backup of your blog is a mandatory step for bloggers. Set this plugin up to email you a copy of your database at least once a week. It’s good practice to keep database backups for at least 1 year.

How To Not Track Your Own Visits In Google Analytics – Setting Up A Filter

WP Blog Host — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:49:54 +0000

Anyone whose been blogging for longer than a couple weeks will of at least heard of Google Analytics.

Problem is, it’s so damn difficult to try and figure out when you’re just starting out because there’s SO much you can do with it. One of my first frustrations with it was the fact that I couldn’t determine which clicks and visits were my own?

Obviously, you’re more interested in who is visiting your site, where they came from, and what they did to find you. You’re not interested in how you found your own website.

So here’s a little video I put together which hopefully you’ll find useful. It will show you how to set up a filter on Google Analytics so you don’t track your own movements and visits to your own website.

If you haven’t already set up Google Analytics to run on your blog, here’s how: How To Install Google Analytics On A WordPress Blog Without Using A Plugin

How To Set Up A Google Analytics Filter

How To Upgrade WordPress Manually

WP Blog Host — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:25:11 +0000

How To Create A Simple Maintenance Page

You could always download a WordPress maintenance mode plugin, but in this case it probably won’t work. When you follow the upgrade instructions on WordPress.org, you’ll notice it says to deactivate all your plugins.

So, here’s how to create a custom maintenance page without a plugin.

Step 1

Create a simple html file and place it in your blog’s root directory. Name it something like, maintenance.html. Inside the maintenance.html file you can put anything you want. “Hi. I’m out to lunch for a few moments while the construction crew is busy at work . . .”

But why stop there? Your site is better than that. Customize the page with your site’s colors and images. Maybe add a video or your latest blog post. CSSgirl wrote some tips and shows some examples on the topic of creating a memorable maintenance page.

Step 2

Ok so now you have your maintenance.html page set up; the next step is to redirect everyone to it while you’re doing your upgrade.

Navigate to your blog’s root directory in your web hosting control panel and open your .htaccess file.

Once opened, you’re going to add this code at the top:

# Use this code to redirect visitors to maintenance.html file while upgrading
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^618\.124\.259\.25
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/maintenance.html$
RewriteRule $ http://your-site.com/maintenance.html [R=302,L]

The yellow parts above are the areas you need to change. Visit What is my IP address? to find your IP address and put those numbers in under the first yellow highlight. Next add the url path to your own maintenance page in the second yellow part.

And that should do it. Your site should now show a maintenance page to everyone except you (your IP address was whitelisted). To see what everyone else sees, add a # sign in front of the IP line:

# RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^618\.124\.259\.25

The # comments lines out.

When you’re finished, leave the code in your .htaccess file for next time. To disable the code, just add a # in front of each line:

# Use this code to redirect visitors to maintenance.html file while upgrading
# Options +FollowSymlinks
# RewriteEngine on
# RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^618\.124\.259\.25
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/maintenance.html$
# RewriteRule $ http://your-site.com/maintenance.html [R=302,L]

Remember, if you need help with upgrades, visit the blog services page and use the contact form there to get in touch with me.

How to Change Your Display Name on Your WordPress Blog

WP Blog Host — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:14:00 +0000

By default, WordPress displays your username publicly as the author of your posts. This can, however, pose a security issue because you’re giving everyone your blog’s username login info. Also, it’s best to use a username that is not easily guessed which typically means you won’t be using your name.

So let’s change how WordPress displays your name to the world but at the same time not give out what your blog’s username is.

Follow The Guided Tutorial

When you install WordPress for the first time, you must either provide a Username in order to log into your WordPress account or one will be assigned to you automatically (i.e. the admin Username). If you host with WpBlogHost and install WordPress on your web hosting account, you can specify your own unique Username.

When you author a post or comment in your blog’s comment section, by default WordPress displays your Username as the author’s name (see the image above, left side).

This tutorial will show you how to change that so the name you want to display will be shown.

Step 1 – Find Users

Log into WordPress and in the left sidebar menu click on Users.

Step 2 – Edit User

On the right you should see a list of the Users for your blog. Move your mouse to the one you want to edit and when the menu shows, click Edit.

Step 3 – Choose Your Display Name

Scroll down until you see Display name publicly as and choose how you want your name to be shown in posts and comments.

Step 4 – Click Update User

Congratulations, you’ve changed your User display name.

How to Copy/Paste From MS Word to Your WordPress Blog

WP Blog Host — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:40:24 +0000

Some people like to create their posts in a Word Processor.

If you use MS Word to write your posts, you need to be careful how you copy and paste your content into your WordPress editor – a simple copy and paste doesn’t work so well. Here’s the proper way to do it:

How to Fully Backup Your WordPress Blog at WP Blog Host

WP Blog Host — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:42:22 +0000

Backing up your WordPress blog is one of the most important things you must do. To do a full backup, make sure you download both your database and your blog’s source files (i.e. all the files contained in your web hosting account).

Video Tutorial — Part 1 of 2

Video Tutorial — Part 2 of 2

How to Install a Plugin on Your WordPress Blog

WP Blog Host — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:34:54 +0000

How to log in and out of WordPress

WP Blog Host — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:32:46 +0000

If you log in to your WordPress blog from a public computer, like a library’s computer, always be sure to log out when you’re done, otherwise the next person who comes to that computer might have access to your blog.

Step 1 – Visit The WordPress Login Page

In your web browser, type in your WordPress web address (url) in the address bar with /wp-admin at the end.

For example, if your WordPress web address is in your “root” directory (i.e. your domain name), your account login address will look something like this:

http://www.my-site.com/wp-admin

If, however, your WordPress installation is in a different directory, such as /blog, your login page will have a web address similar to this:

http://www.my-site.com/blog/wp-admin

Step 2 – Logging In

Once you arrive on your login page, you will see the login box similar to the image below. Type in your username and password and click Log In.

*Tip – Bookmark your login page. Also, instead of visiting wp-admin in your address bar, you could use wp-login.php – either way works.

How To Log Out Of WordPress

It is a good idea to log out of WordPress when you’re finished, especially if you’re on a public computer. Simply closing the browser window does not necessarily mean you are logging out.

To log out of WordPress, simply go to your WordPress interface (for example, go to your Dashboard) and click the Log Out link located in the top right corner.