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JacobBergeron
10-06-2011, 08:39 PM
Hey Everyone,

Most of you here have websites and some of you have several. I know many on the forum has a vast knowledge of WordPress and all its creature features. I have hosted my domain with GoDaddy and have installed WebPress on the account. I have accessed the control panel of wordpress for my website, added a homepage, changed the reading settings so when you go to the site you see a static page rather than blog posts. I also downloaded a slightly better theme than the default one. However I have no idea how I can edit the page I have designated "HomePage" or any other pages for the matter. I am at a bit of a standstill and there is only so much starring at the screen I can do and clicking random buttons before I realized I had hit a wall. I have watched a ton of youtube videos but none of them seem to have the information I am looking for. Does anyone have any specific tips to offer or any resources such as solid ebooks, websites, etc that would helpful? I appreciate anyone who takes the time to provide me with feedback.

Thanks so much

JacobBergeron
10-07-2011, 10:40 AM
Perhaps I am missing some valuable information out there..that I just haven't come across

vangogh
10-07-2011, 11:06 AM
No worries Jacob. We'll help you through the learning curve. Here are two sources you probably want to bookmark.

WordPress Codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/) - This is the manual for using WordPress. You probably want to start with the section Learn How to Use WordPress. The Codex is usually my first stop for any WP related question and I learned how to use WordPress by reading the section I just pointed you to.

WordPress.tv (http://wordpress.tv/category/how-to/) - lots of videos all about WordPress. The link takes you to the how-to videos and I'm guessing you currently want the videos about Publishing. If look at the navigation at the top of the page there's a link for WordCampTV which are videos of presentations about WordPress at conferences around the world. They sometimes have intro presentations.

As for editing the page, do you mean editing the content or editing the design of the page itself? There are different ways to do both.

jamestl2
10-07-2011, 07:35 PM
What are you trying to do with WP?

All themes are built differently, so answers will likely be different depending on which one you're using.

You want special looks for pages individually? Then you'll probably want to upload Page Templates:
Pages « WordPress Codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/Pages#Creating_Your_Own_Page_Templates)

There's way too much info out there to go over everything Wordpress can do in one Thread, but if you want to learn more about WP in general, then I'd probably recommend just learning about Theme Development by reading through the codex and through trial and error coding.

First you'll want to make sure you understand HTML and CSS well, with some PHP skills being useful as well.

Next I'd look into what files themes require and what files take priority over one another:
Template Hierarchy « WordPress Codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Hierarchy)

Then maybe start by learning what template tags are available that most themes use:
Template Tags « WordPress Codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags)

Also be sure to understand what the loop is and how it works (it's basically just a list of posts or pages, etc., but there's a ton of freedom in how many you want to list, from what categories you can select from, etc.):
The Loop « WordPress Codex (http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop)

There is a lot more you can do with Wordpress obviously, but hopefully that gives a good starting point.

JacobBergeron
10-08-2011, 10:56 AM
Thanks Van and james for those links. I will certainly be spending quite a bit of quality time reading and going through those resources. And Van I was talking about editing page content previously. Hopefully after reading through those resources I will have a solid basic understanding at least.

vangogh
10-10-2011, 02:15 AM
I had a feeling you meant editing page content. Check the learn to use WordPress section in the codex. I think it will answer most of your questions. That's pretty much how I learned. When I started with WordPress I had no idea what a blog was supposed to be. I spent a few days reading through that section and I had a good handle on it.

JacobBergeron
10-10-2011, 03:50 PM
Exactly, that is what I have begun to do. I am no expert but using that manual will get me by in the beginning and then I should become used to it over time :)

vangogh
10-10-2011, 08:30 PM
I'm sure it won't take you long. It really is pretty easy once you've found your way through the admin interface.

JacobBergeron
10-11-2011, 01:07 PM
I am a bit confused (as usual with tech stuff) I am in my wordpress admin dashboard and when I click view site it brings me to a page that says "future home of something quite cool" and there is text at the bottom that says if you are the owner log in to launch your site. When I log in I am in the godaddy brains of the site however I have no idea how to "launch" or make the site live. I have gone through the godaddy help center but I haven't found the solution as of yet, anyone have any suggestions? Also I am still struggling with actually building the site through wordpress. I guess I am not as savvy as I thought I was. Even using the codex I am still at a standstill and I am sick and tired of starring at the screen for hours on end trying to make progress but getting nowhere. I have looked into it and it would cost me several hundred dollars to have it built for me. Does anyone have any ideas that would be more cost effective or less expensive upfront? I am currently a part time business person and full time employee. I don't have an enormous budget or a lot of upfront startup capital. Anyway if anyone has ever been in the same boat as I am now I thought you might have suggestions or insight. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

vangogh
10-11-2011, 01:43 PM
It's because you currently have WordPress set up in a specific folder and not at the root of the account. That's ok. That's how I have things set up too. Your site is live by the way. It's just in a different location than what WordPress currently thinks. I found and if you want I can post a link to it.

To get WordPress working like you want you can follow the directions in the article below.

Moving a Root install to its own directory (http://codex.wordpress.org/Giving_WordPress_Its_Own_Directory)

You can ignore step 1 since that's where you already are. If the above article makes no sense you can PM me your admin login info and I'll take a look.