First Lesson - Publishing With Wordpress

Welcome to the first lesson in the Publishing With Wordpress Crash Course. Over the next few days you will receive several lessons that will help you learn the ins and outs of using Wordpress to easily publish content your own online.

In this first lesson let's talk a little about what WordPress is, how it works and how you can use it to publish your own content online.

WordPress is a powerful content management system used by millions of people across the globe and it makes publishing content online extremely easy, even for people who are new to the online publishing world.

When it comes to using Word press to publish your own content it is important to understand that it has virtually unlimited possibilities, so you can feel free to let your imagination run wild and get ready to build the website of your dreams.

Whether you are planning to publish a personal blog or to use WordPress to build your business website there are a wide variety of themes, widgets and Plugins to help you get the job done. This makes it one of the most versatile publishing platforms available online today. Not to mention its ease-of- use, allowing even a complete novice quickly set up and publish content.

Today we are going go over a few of the main benefits associated with using WordPress:

First of all, as I mentioned above, it is an easy-to-use, fully functional content management system and to make it even better it requires no special skills or techy knowledge to use. As a matter of fact you can learn all the basics in just a few hours and have your website up and running the same day. It really is that easy and if you should happen to run into trouble you will find a multitude of free guides and video tutorials that can quickly help you on your way.

One of the most wonderful things about using WordPress is the ability to change the look and feel of your website at will. With thousands of free WordPress themes and a multitude of premium themes that you can purchase you can literally change the design of your site every week if you'd like, all without losing any of your content. But the flexibility and functionality doesn't end there!

Once you start using WordPress you will have access to a powerful array of WordPress Plugins, that will allow you to quickly add sophisticated and interactive functions to your website all with simple one click installation. Inside the plugins directory you will find that there are literally hundreds of Plugins that you can use to help make your website more user-friendly and attractive to your visitors.

Plugins make it possible for you to do so many wonderful things. For instance; you could set up a article directory blog, a busy portal, a membership site or even a fully functional e-commerce store. You will find a wide variety of free Plugins available from the directory inside your WordPress dashboard. You will also find that there are many specialty Plugins that you can purchase.

When it comes to choosing themes or Plugins for your website there are no shortage of options available, but it's important to be careful and choose your themes and Plugins from reputable sources, because some unscrupulous designers may try to embed harmful scripts and codes for their own nefarious purposes.

But don't let that stop you from taking full advantage of everything that WordPress has to offer. It isn't difficult find safe themes and Plugins. When you start browsing for theme's and plugins inside the directory you will notice there is a simple rating system that will allow you to read reviews and comments before you decide to use them.

If you are having a hard time deciding on which ones are reputable and which ones are not, look for recommendations from respected sources like TechCrunch, Smashing Magazine or from more experienced designers. It never hurts to do a little spy work too!

HINT: If you come across a reputable website that is using WordPress you can do a little snooping to find out what theme they are using. Most of the time you will see a link at the very bottom of the page.

Before we close this first lesson I wanted to share with you one more thing that makes using WordPress such a wise decision. WordPress makes it very easy for you to interact with your audience, customers or potential customers, helping you create loyalty among your readers and increasing your public credibility online. This real-time interaction makes it possible for you and to build a real relationship your visitors. It also makes it easy for you to increase your website's perceived value and generate income online and that's always a good thing!

That's it for today's lesson. We have a lot to go over in the next few days if you want to learn how to use WordPress to publish your own content online, so make sure you look for your next lesson soon.

We will be talking about the easiest way to install WordPress and how to access your WP-admin area so that you can begin customizing your new website!

Thank you again for joining. If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at anytime using the contact information below. I will be happy to help!