If you are totally new to blogging, as I am, you may find it difficult to find the information you need readily in the WordPress documentation, FAQs, etc. It’s hard to find really basic blogging concepts explained simply enough. Here are a couple of blogs I’ve found that have been extremely useful —
http://www.weblucent.com/blog/
Very clear explanations and important advice on writing your first post, blogging etiquette and blogging jargon.
http://bloggersblurt.wordpress.com/
Look in the right hand sidebar under WordPress Resources — there is a link to a post called “beginner resources” which is really helpful and points you to some of the information on WordPress which is helpful as well.
On the WordPress forum — often my searches in FAQs and Documentation turned up nothing — they just don’t talk my language or my questions were too basic. I have found, however, that you can get really good help in the Forum. If your search doesn’t turn up something there, ask your question. There are some really helpful WordPress members who respond to your questions with great patience and clarity!
Feel free to add anything you’ve found in comments on this post.
I never, ever thought my blog would be about blogging, but here I am posting on it. I feel there are lots of people who would find starting blogging too difficult to even get off the ground, and these are people who would really enjoy it and have lots to say. So here’s hoping we can create an environment that is really user-friendly for those of us who are not familiar with blogging and many of internet- and computer-related terms.
Happy blogging!
Hi marymusing – thank you for your kind words about my blog. I’m glad you found it clear and helpful. What else do you think would be useful information for a beginner-blogger?
Hi Lucy,
Perhaps you can address the following on your blog. When I was beginning a blog and was asked to create a username, title, profile, give an email, etc. I often wondered which things were just for WordPress administration and which things would be public or known to others. I didn’t know, for example, that my email would be available when I posted a comment on someone else’s blog (I think this is true). Knowing this kind of information would have influenced my choices.
Perhaps you could explain some of the most fundamental terms like “username” and what it’s purpose is, how it is used, who sees it, etc. (It seems you can choose a nickname to appear when you enter posts and comments, but your username shows on a forum). I still don’t know who sees the profile and thus what kind of information I want to enter!
It would have been useful even before I created the blog to know what I would be choosing. It’s so easy to set up a blog without knowing what a lot of it means!
Thanks also for the kind words about bloggersblurt. I appreciate them 🙂
P.S. Your blog looks great clothed in this new theme.
Nice blog!
Marymusing…help. My questions are similar to No. 2 above. When I registered at wp and they asked for a user name, I thought it would be my on screen name only and not my blog name. I only registered and did not get a blog name at that time.
I want to create a blog name completely different than my user name and with no reference in the title or url to my user name.
I’m soooo confused. Can you explain this to me? Please.
Hi momala,
For me to answer your question is like the blind leading the blind, but I think the following are true:
Your username will be your url (if your blog is hosted on WordPress.
You can have a different nickname (which you set on your profile page) which is the name which will appear with your posts and when you make comments on other blogs.
The title of your blog, which appears at the top of your page, doesn’t have to be the same as your username/url.
I think you’re stuck with your username being in the url, but you can check out the forum and submit a question about that if you can’t find the answer.
Good luck!