How To: Setting Up A WordPress Blog

To set up your account, go to WordPress.com. Follow the “create account” links. You’ll need to use a “real” e-mail address Life is easier for me if you use your UWNetID as your login, because it means the blog URL (address) is UWNetID.wordpress.com.

• Give your blog a unique name (not “COM300” or “My COM300 Blog” — that’s not unique in a class of 30 students!) — and don’t worry if you decide to change it later.
• You should edit (Manage, Posts) the pre-existing “Hello World” post or create a new (Write, Post) post.
• Change the default “Presentation” by experimenting with the templates. Some templates allow you to change the header image or colors.
• Modify “Options, General” — set the time to “-8” hours so that we all have the same timestamps!
• Review (and modify if desired) “Options, Discussion.” I recommend enabling “Comment author must fill out name and e-mail” AND “Hold a comment in the queue if it contains 2 or more links” in order to minimize comment spam.
• Review (and modify if desired) “Options, Privacy.”
• Consider creating all the category tags you will use in this class.