Building a WordPress blog people want to read

WordPress is an open-source personal publishing platform that is easy to use, flexible, and highly customizable. Although used primarily for publishing blogs, WordPress can easily be used to create and maintain complete Web sites. WordPress expert Scott McNulty takes readers through the entire process.

• Chapter 1 Why WordPress? p. 1
• The Downside of WordPress p. 2
• The Upside of WordPress p. 3
• WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org p. 4
• Chapter 2 Installing WordPress p. 7
• Getting What You Need p. 8
• Setting up the MySQL Database p. 12
• Editing the wp-config File p. 12
• Choosing Your Blog's URL p. 18
• Installing WordPress p. 19
• Troubleshooting Common Installation Problems p. 23
• Chapter 3 Managing User Accounts p. 25
• Managing User Profiles p. 26
• Adding and Deleting Users p. 32
• Chapter 4 The Dashboard p. 39
• Right Here: Right Now p. 41
• Meeting the Public: Comments and Links p. 42
• Getting Technical: Development Blog and Plugins p. 44
• Keeping Current: Other WordPress News p. 46
• Beyond the Dashboard p. 47
• Chapter 5 Futureproofing Your Blog p. 49
• General Settings p. 50
• Writing Settings p. 58
• Reading Settings p. 66
• Discussion Settings p. 69
• Avatar Settings p. 74
• Privacy Settings p. 76
• Permalink Settings p. 77
• Miscellaneous Settings p. 82
• Chapter 6 Preparing to Post p. 85
• Breaking Down the Elements of a Post p. 86
• Composing and Formatting a Post p. 88
• Adding Media to a Post p. 97
• Creating Tags and Categories p. 116
• Setting Advanced Posting Options p. 122
• Chapter 7 Publishing Your Post (Finally!) p. 127
• Previewing a Post p. 128
• Setting Publishing Status p. 128
• Posting to Your Blog p. 130
• Using the Press This Shortcut p. 131
• Managing Posts p. 137
• Managing Categories p. 140
• Managing Tags p. 144
• Chapter 8 Working with Pages p. 147
• Working with Page Settings p. 148
• Understanding Page Permalinks p. 152
• Creating a Page Template p. 153
• Managing Pages p. 154
• Chapter 9 Handling Links p. 157
• What the Heck Are Links? p. 158
• Configuring Links p. 159
• Importing Links p. 165
• Managing Links p. 168
• Chapter 10 Coping with Comments p. 173
• Comments: Bad or Good? p. 174
• Who Can Comment p. 175
• Understanding How Users Comment p. 176
• Moderating Comments p. 179
• Managing Comments p. 183
• Dealing with Comment Spam p. 189
• Chapter 11 Working with Themes and Widgets p. 195
• Viewing the Current Theme p. 196
• Installing a New Theme p. 200
• Adding Widgets for Code-Free Customization p. 203
• Customizing the Current Theme p. 213
• Chapter 12 Themes: To Find or to Build? p. 219
• Finding a WordPress Themes p. 220
• Tweaking a Stock Theme p. 222
• Chapter 13 Using Plug-Ins p. 231
• Managing Plug-Ins p. 233
• Finding Plug-Ins p. 240
• Creating a Plug-In of Your Very Own p. 241
• Chapter 14 Troubleshooting and Maintenance p. 245
• Troubleshooting Problems p. 246
• Heading off Trouble Before It Begins p. 250
• Final Words of Bloggerly Wisdom p. 255
• Index p. 257