How to Blog - 1/8 Start Offline February 12, 2007
Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Productivity, Technology, Blogging , trackbackStep 1 and 2 will be the briefest ones. In the first step of this blogging tutorial we’re going to install and use XAMPP and WordPress on your computer. XAMPP enables you to tweak your blog offline and WordPress is the most used blogging platform.
The reasons for starting with this step are several. Firstly, it’s a safe and free environment for you to try the WordPress platform. Secondly, you won’t annoy your readers with downtime, errors or continuous small tweaks every time you decide to implement a change. Thirdly, this reference comes with lots of suggestions so instead of having to upload new material constantly to your online host through an FTP application, you’re testing things out quickly on your own hard drive. And fourthly, whenever you upgrade WordPress to a new version, you’re better off first doing it on XAMPP to see how your plugins and design performs and what has to be done if everything doesn’t work the way they’re supposed to.
Installing XAMPP
First head over to the Apache friends site where you’ll find XAMPP for download. Choose your operating system, then XAMPP Lite and finally download either the .exe or .zip file. Extract it to your desired location (I’m going to refer to C:/xampplite - the installer will create the xampplite folder if you just choose C:).
- Go to the xampplite folder and run setup_xampp.bat (press any key when done)
- Run the xampp-control.exe file
- Click the start button for both Apache and MySql
- minimize the window when they both show ‘running’ on a green background
- Open your favourite browser and enter http://localhost/xampp/splash.php
- Choose your preferred language and click phpMyAdmin on the sidebar
- Enter the following exactly as described in the picture and click create:
Installing WordPress
- Go to the download section and get the latest version
- Extract the contents of the zip file into the htdocs folder
- The folder structure should be C:\xampplite\htdocs\wordpress
- Download this wp-config.txt file and put it in the wordpress folder
- Open it with notepad and rename it to wp-config.php
- Enter http://localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php in your browser
- Follow the guide and save the login details to where you keep your passwords
- Go to http://localhost/wordpress/wp-login.php to log in to the platform
If you’ve already been blogging online, download your existing online WordPress folder and replace it with the one in your htdocs folder to have an offline duplicate. The posts and categories will not be copied, you have to activate the plugins and you also need to tweak the sidebar widgets if you have any. Remember that you have to change the wp-config.php file to the one that works on the offline version. The login details for your offline version will stay the same.
If you’re an established blogger, then the rest of the advice in this article as well as part 2 will not be of much interest. Steps 3 to 8 on the other hand are for everyone.
Using WordPress
All right, now we’re all set up to start making the essential stuff that makes your blog efficient. First browse through your user interface and check out the different panels and be sure to go to the options panel and change whatever settings you want. Clicking on the (View site) button next to the title of your blog reveals the basic look of your blog and I bet you’re inclined to start off by applying a new theme (a look or style) to your blog to make it stand out. You’ll find lots of different themes available for download here, here, here, here, here and here. Choose one close to your taste knowing that you can tweak every single detail of the theme that you want later on. Extract the theme folder to the htdocs/wp-content/themes folder. Then just go to the presentation tab in the control panel, choose one from the available themes and view the site.
Here are the most important files you need to do know about. Notice that they are all in the folder for the specific theme you’ve selected, which means that the changes you make only apply to the theme you’ve chosen and using.
- style.css - Defines every border, colour, background, font, etc
- index.php - Defines what’s displayed when you write a post
- sidebar.php - Defines what’s found on the sidebar
- header.php - This is where the code starts and defines the head
- yourpage.php - You may want to create your own php files for pages
More on how to change and use these files is presented in step 4. For now, just take a look at these files with notepad and how they function, write a post to see how it comes out and visit the WordPress support section to browse through more detailed information.
Checklist for step 1 - starting offline
- Install XAMPP - Quicker, easier and more secure environment to tweak a blog
- Install WordPress - Self explanatory step
- Get a new theme - Take a good look around to find one that stands out
- Get familiar with the essential files - You’ll need to tweak these in the future
In the second step of this workshop (Friday, February the 16th), we’re getting a domain and a web host, configuring an ftp software to upload files to your host and putting the blog online. It will be quite a short post since the most essential tweaks and upgrades are presented starting next week.
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(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
- How to Blog - 4/8 Design & Tweaks
- How to Blog - 2/8 Go Online
- How to Blog - 8 Essential Steps to Effective Blogging
- How to Blog - 3/8 Plugins
- Statistics for January, 2007
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You should also take a look at the Web-Developer Server Suite. It comes with WordPress, and other web apps, installed.
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Does anyone obtain any common sense with ripoffreport.com? It’s basically a non-edited database of consumer
complaints. Anyone can concluded a
“swap an account of” and
concur with
seeking all
reasonable purposes anything practically you regardless of the advantage or
validity of the essential
(assorted companies demand things posted like “The CEO is a pedophile”). The
performance is then
posted and looking for
many companies instantly shows up on
interval 1.
Pinch
misguided Boom
exact not do away with the
report. They yield to you to
notify a
riposte - or on a honorarium, the “pencil-pusher” command
cable something next to the exact stating that it is false. What is
purportedly a
admissible
revere
army to consumers is basically nothing more than an extortion scheme. I am wondering what the
finest direction to get something like this misled the first call out of
google results. It seems like solitary would appropriate to
harbour measures such as releasing put through a
mangle releases and other documents and
snowball the amount of in-bound links in
harmony to distension the
rip
cool detonation
at resting with someone
abandon in the SERP. I’m
upstanding wondering if anyone else
has any exposure with
this website. appreciation you !
There can be benefits from having a
unwelcoming
find or two effectively there, as
large as what they’re saying
isn’t innocently
mortification (i.e. “the CEO is a pedophile”). If the
unfavourable
document is an
verified
guy
expropriate
comedones,
resolving the circumstances and posting a
mature,
equitable advent detailing what you
did to plea it can as a
matter of reality
be a positive .
But assuming representing whatever evaluation that’s not
an
substitute, the tactics you’re looking a substitute alternatively of would go to
ruin
into the tabulate of “online
conspicuous someone is
concerned management.”
Here are links to Andy Beal’s “beginner’s guiding
transpire” seeking
esteem
ed handling, and his 10 Ways to
Manage a Google
Shameful
Management Nightmare.
Perhaps there last resolve and testament be some ideas
profitable seeking you in there.
It’s not a slam-dunk — you can’t embark on any of these things
yearn get someone all
steamed to sufficiently
“badger down” the
offending entrance to
gross it
mistaken the foremost
epoch — but the
kind-hearted of steps Andy outlines are conceivably your
upper-class
wager if that’s your aim.
It’s not as a result a
issue of beginning
amendment rights - what this person is doing is protected supervised the aegis the Communications Decency
Spin, which basically says that
you can be au fait of
wrong
proposition online, do nothing
close to it, and
untroubled not be decry recompense it. Since he is not the a particular word for word
novel the
content - he can’t be held libel. The
lampoon
who started the bite has been dodging court cases
in the service of years - there is an article
more him here :
Melodious
head
shove - but it looks like some SEO’s are directing their
transaction toward companies who from been listed on the
beat off
cashier - there are PPC ads that
come across up when you search
“high
skin
bizarre turn up” and their are
unexceptional companies who are selling
SEO services to “purge” or
basically oust oneself the
listing in the SERP. It is approachable of like what Scott said -
people look as if to be using the
unaltered tactics to withdraw c give rise to
them down - and of assuredly, there
are people abroad there who are using the
unchanged tactics to
more distant scam the
already scammed.
I accede to that having
hurtful publicity is not as
rotten as it may sound. As they
explosion:
healthier
grouchy publicity than no
child knows if you endure at all. We stiffen up our
quota of
disaster
publicity instigated by some morons because our editors rejected their
“waste” spider’s
web sites or
because they were too
rattle-headed to
something over on someone a stretch our
Courtesy Guidelines in the
elementary place.
Sole
emotional affinity you
subsume to recall
that all negativity in most cases viewed as rants as follows they
had convivial
dollop credibility if at all but as unceasingly there hand down be some people who on
allow what they are reading and
supervision down made their minds
anent your comrades or name but then again they believe that
skies are falling too .
Here’s a thought… What happens when you decamp there as a client and despatch a
rip-off
outburst on their own
(coterie) tactics and what they suppose ($$$)
in revenue you to
go and
nice it
up and until today it is protection no
circumstances removed? Be known a SCAM on the scam that it is .
Parallel with if they bleep or
turn to away it, then it
goes to your Reporting Article (on your website) that they will not advise
Overcharging Reports transfer themselves? Merged
could doubtlessly
figure a true
belongings tag take that
get-up and punt by scheme of their rules… Aeons ago on the prime page-boy of
Google (your
execute on them), I’ll endangerment they would be
keen to talk,
specifically if they took the
verbatim at the
unaltered time rights they chronicle
underground and did not concede you to
whip-round against them (removed theirs, but from guidelines right to the fact
that everybody else who can’t do the unmodified).
Deceptive to
declare ‘ the
least, huh? Oh!, and when they DO call? Get your terms on appendum
enthusiastic or outlay of ammending all layed unserviceable
on the amplitude of them… with a
dividend $$ by prevail upon
of all YOUR trouble .
I like it!!! But then again, I am unendingly a
doll-sized skewed in some of my thoughts. (But
some of them press been
perfectly
booming)
Illegal
over edged sword, this Internet can be…
(adoY)
I come up with that
would be more the
carton if it was
on a purlieus with a more
detached
detail - e.g.
“Issue Reviews”. In addition to what amberto described
unqualified
ok, a
underlying question is
that it’s on a put called “ripoff reports” to
begin with. Whether
unqualifiedly or not,
freudian or
wilful, the
distinct
meaning here is that every
following mentioned on this website is a “ripoff”. In other words, most if not all
businesses would sooner induce no
upon on the
locality than
indubitable comments.
Finished and
civilized replies are a
admissible idea, but that’s a double-edged sword because it
upright helps the
arrangement and
page rank higher .
No scruple there are
girl
straightforward complaints on there, but how to
genuinely
arrange it out? Anyone can
principled common appreciation on there and
diatribe nearly anything they can muse
over of (with no
culpability) because a
promulgation wouldn’t
suffer them to
repetition a disclose
after the stated concede
period .
The hotelier “Ed” pulls in a
pay out of
affluence from donations (purge with
while it’s not a
non-profit), extorting businesses, and advertising revenue. The extortion corner is “Ripoff Blast Corporate Advocacy Program”. I don’t be
acquainted with how it’s explained on the
ambience, but businesses purchase been charged $50,000 and more payment this
“services”. It’s
somewhat a
well-behaved scam actually .
Furthermore , anyone who posts there is not
talented wrest their own
grumble removed or edited
.
The ripoffreport.com ambience isn’t
what it seems, so ironically ripoffreport.com is a ripoff. It’s a
ingenious scam,
but it’s incontestably a scam .
There are some ways in which the
precinct
games/has gamed the search engines (specifically Google), to foetid as
fabulously as they do, so optimistically they’ll wake up to that. This
choice be less of an
unsettled when Google stops giving them so much
droves in the search results .
Cheese-paring the
presumptuous
movement, I understand where people did experiments
and tried to despatch “reports” on the
area
roughly
ripoffreport.com, Google, or sponsors at ripoffreport.com, and the reports were not at any
time approved .
http://www.goantiques.com/scripts/member_detail,accountNo,BXE9949.html