–NICK PEERS

YOU’LL NEED THIS

WORDPRESS SERVER

Any reputable web host will do, or you can host it yourself on your own server.

ONE OF THE SIMPLEST WAYS to get yourself a website is through WordPress. This free and open-source platform is the world’s most popular, and it’s easy to see why. Although it started out as a blogging tool, it has since expanded to become capable of handling everything from personal websites to online shops.

In the first of this new series on building a WordPress site, we’re going to start at the beginning by getting your site installed, set-up, secured, and ready for action. While the simplest way to set up WordPress is through signing up for a free account atwww.wordpress.com, we’re focusing on self-hosted solutions, whether through a third-party web-hosting platform like GoDaddy or Bluehost, or directly from your PC. The boxout opposite reveals what to look for in a web host, but if you already have web-server capabilities via a server, you can use that too (or simply use your PC to host a locally stored site for personal use or to learn the ropes).

Future tutorials will look at mastering the core skills for blogging, and look at ways you can change your WordPress site to suit your specific needs through tweaks, themes, and plugins. Let us know if there’s anything specific you’d like us to cover!

1 FUSS-FREE INSTALLATION