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Having your own blog isn’t just for the nerdy anymore. Today, it seems everyone—from multinational corporations to a neighbor up the street—has a blog. They all have one, in part, because the folks at WordPress make it easy to have one. But to actually build a good blog—to create a blog people want to read—takes thought, planning, and some effort. From picking a theme and using tags to choosing widgets and building a community, creating your blog really starts after you’ve set it up.
In Building a WordPress Blog People Want to Read by blogger extraordinaire Scott McNulty, you’ll learn how to:
Ch. 1 Why WordPress? 1
Ch. 2 Installing WordPress 7
Ch. 3 Managing User Accounts 25
Ch. 4 The Dashboard 39
Ch. 5 Futureproofing Your Blog 49
Ch. 6 Preparing to Post 85
Ch. 7 Publishing Your Post (Finally!) 127
Ch. 8 Working with Pages 147
Ch. 9 Handling Links 157
Ch. 10 Coping with Comments 173
Ch. 11 Working with Themes and Widgets 195
Ch. 12 Themes: To Find or to Build? 219
Ch. 13 Using Plug-Ins 231
Ch. 14 Troubleshooting and Maintenance 245
Index 257
¿Building A WordPress Blog People Want To Read¿ by Scott McNulty is a new book on setting up and running a successful blog. McNulty has written an easy to understand and at times amusing introduction to getting started with what is currently the most popular blogging platform.<BR/><BR/>Both well written and well illustrated, the book covers everything from downloading and installing the software, to setting up the database, defining system parameters, and selecting a template. What is really excellent about these explanations is that McNulty tells you not only what are the best choices, but what impact those choices will have on your blog in the future. There are many selections you can make when setting up a new WordPress installation that can seriously affect how your blog operates in a year or two when it is getting lots of hits, and McNulty helps you to make well informed decisions.<BR/>¿While the book was written based on version 2.6 of the WordPress software and version 2.7 has now been released, there is very little other than administrative interface that does not apply. Most of the setup choices and database decisions are still the same. It would be great to see a physical or on-line update of the book for WordPress version 2.7, but I think that is just me being greedy.<BR/><BR/>If you are new to blogging, know what it is, but don¿t have any experience getting blog up and running, this is the perfect book to start with. You will be given clear and concise instructions on what you need to do and why. If you follow along with the book, by the time you are done you will have a solid blogging platform up and running. Everything will be ready for you to start writing, and there in lies the only real problem with this book -- the title.<BR/><BR/>While the book expertly covers the ¿building a WordPress blog¿ half of its title, what it really is not written to address is the what ¿people want to read¿ component. With a title like this one I would have expected chapters on what to write, how to interact with your audience, how to optimize for search engines and attract traffic. Also perhaps a few lessons from McNulty¿s vast experience on what not to do. Scott McNulty is the founder and author of some important blogs and websites. I would really like to have been privy to some of that experience.<BR/><BR/>This is a very good book, but it should have been titled, ¿Building A WordPress Blog: A Guide to Installation and Setup¿.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.hwhall
Posted January 4, 2009
Scott McNulty's Building a WordPress Blog People Want to Read is the perfect jumping off point for people who want to start blogging (or site-building) with one of the world's most popular platforms, especially if they have no idea where, or how, to start. <BR/><BR/>Using a brand of wit familiar to fans of his tech and personal blogging, McNulty lays out the fundamentals of getting started, from the benefits of using WordPress to installation and effective utilization. But it goes beyond technical advice to practical ideas for being a better blogger -- something the author also knows a bit about.<BR/><BR/>As a veteran WordPress user, I can attest to the accuracy and utility of the techniques explained clearly and concisely in Building a WordPress Blog People Want to Read. It even offered me a few helpful pointers for streamlining my own blogging process.<BR/><BR/>If you're a current or prospective WordPress user looking for a guide to getting the most out of your experience, you may want to skip past the guides catering to idiots or dummies and check out this simple yet smart offering.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.DeterminedReader
Posted February 11, 2010
The book's title suggests that this is a book about building blogs that "People Want to Read". I wanted a book that would help me think through ways to make my new blog appealing, enlightening, and interesting. In short, I wanted advice about ways to create a blog that "people want to read". I wanted to learn about best practices for creating drop-dead wonderful blogs. This book did not answer to my expectation, rather, this book told me how to set up a blog after I download the tools from WordPress. Perhaps useful info for some; but not why I bought the book. The last 5 paragraphs, under the heading "...Bloggerly Wisdom", thinly scratch the surface with the kind of content I expected to find throughout the book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The book covers basic information about how to get around wordpress. This is a good choice for people who don't want to know the gory details like PHP, theme development/customization, and plugin development/customization. It certainly covers all aspects of usability of wordpress.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 2, 2009
I Also Recommend:
This book is ok from the sense open source platforms like WordPress are hard to keep up with as they are changing all the time. Great book on the basics of getting a WordPress blog setup and that people will want to read. A nice place for WordPress and other blogging ideas check out BloggingElements dot com they have awesome writers and content about WordPress blogs.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.McNulty actually uses the product he writes about which should endear all WP bloggers to this book. This may be the best I have seen of the not super tech/geek/uber_proficient blogger books for using the Word Press system.
This is actually fun to read relative to many application guides on the market today.
A weakness is inherent in the approach that it guides the user through only a particular work flow, and is not a complete guide to all things Word Press. There are however invaluable insights into making a blog work that are not limited just to this tools approach to the blogoshpere.
If you are a blogger who wants to know about or be more comfortable working in this environment, this is your top choice. Support and development people should add this to the library, but as a secondary or added development resource.
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Posted January 6, 2010
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Posted September 6, 2010
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Posted May 16, 2009
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Posted January 2, 2010
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Posted March 16, 2009
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Posted February 26, 2009
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Overview
Having your own blog isn’t just for the nerdy anymore. Today, it seems everyone—from multinational corporations to a neighbor up the street—has a blog. They all have one, in part, because the folks at WordPress make it easy to have one. But to actually build a good blog—to create a blog people want to read—takes thought, planning, and some effort. From picking a theme and using tags to choosing widgets and building a community, creating your blog really starts after you’ve set ...