How to Build a Website from Scratch using WordPress

Using WordPress to build a website from scratch

WordPress is a content management system and is incredibly popular due to the fact that it extremely easy to use and simple to add pages and make changes to the website. WordPress began life as a system to allow bloggers to easily manage their blogs but it has grown significantly since then to become the most popular, secure and easy to use content management system available. WordPress has a large following of developers who are constantly building and refining add-ons and enhancements for every possible use.

There are only a few steps needed to get your WordPress site up and running:

• Register a domain name
• Sign up with a hosting provider
• Install WordPress
• Select a theme and make changes to style
• Add your content

A wordpress website can range from very simple to extremely complicated in functionality. The purpose of this article is to cover the methods required for creating a simple wordpress website from scratch.

You need to register a Domain Name

A domain name will become an asset for your business and you should put in some considerable thought when deciding upon a name. If your website is intended for a commercial venture you should be mindful of the fact that your name will cause confusion to your customers if it is similar in name to other existing domain names. On the other hand if the website is intended for personal use you probably have more scope when choosing a domain name.

When you have some ideas you can enter them into the search facility of the domain registrar to see if they are available. In most cases if the .com is not available the .net or .org may be available. This is fine for a personal website but if the domain name is to be used for a commercial website you should try and secure a name that is available for all top level domains.

• A hosting provider is an essential component

There are a number of things to consider when choosing a commercial web host. These things include the reliability of the service and the speed of service. Many providers use a sharing system whereby you are using the same hardware as many other customers and all sharing the same resources. You need to make sure that the hosting provider can guarantee constant reliable performance. Bandwidth is something that also needs to be taken into consideration. How much traffic do you expect and can your hosting provider accommodate this amount of traffic? You should also check to see if the hosting provider will give support as part of the agreement or if it will cost you more for support. Some provide 24/7 support and this is certainly a bonus for those of us with little knowledge on how to build a website from scratch. You should also ensure that your hosting provider uses cPanel as the control panel to the server. cPanel is widely used and relatively easy to get to know.

• Now that you have a domain name and organised a hosting provider it is time to install WordPress.

WordPress can be installed manually by uploading a package to your website and running an installation process, but a much easier method is via the control panel interface of the hosting provider. This method only requires you to answer a couple of questions and the process of the installation and configuration is performed behind the scenes.

• An important part to learning how to create a website from scratch is selecting a suitable theme.

There are literally thousands of themes available to WordPress and the good news is many of them are free. If you want something a bit more unique you can purchase a theme from one of the many locations online or you can get one built to your specific requirements. Whatever method you choose the installation process is the same. You can upload your theme and have it install in a few easy steps or you can select a free theme from the theme library by browsing each theme and selecting the one that most suits your requirements. If you choose a free theme you still have some options available to you with changing the appearance of the theme to make it more unique. This can be accomplished from within the back-end or configuration interface of WordPress.

• Adding content is probably the most important aspect to knowing how to build a website from scratch.

WordPress offers an almost endless amount of options when it comes to content. The content can range from static text to rich media such as video. The process normally starts with the creation of a page or a post. Pages are more static in that they remain the same over time whereas posts are ever changing and add dynamic content to your website. The most important information on your website should be pages as posts will tend to get archived over time and will be less visible to your visitors.

You can configure your site to allow content from other people or you can have it configured so that external visitors have no input at all. Comments allow visitors to like or dislike your content and connect with you to provide valuable feedback. As the site owner you have control over whether or not to allow this type of interaction by your visitors. Comments can also be approved or disapproved before going live giving you full control over content. WordPress also has a built-in user registration system that allows people to register with the site before they are allowed to post comments, thus giving the site owner full control. Multiple authors can also edit and publish content should the site owner decide to allow this feature. Adding content is an ongoing process and you should constantly update your website to keep it fresh and current and keep people coming back to your website.