Publishing Online

Publishing online with wordpress is a very simple process not unlike writing a document on Word, however there are a few extra tools and steps you should be aware of:

Getting Started

 * To start posting on your blog first make sure you are in your websites dashboard page which can be accessed by logging into your website and clicking the tool bar at the top of your page or you can type the address for your website and add /wp-admin ( Ex. something.com/wp-admin).




 * Next going to the menu on the left find and click the posts option, this will bring you to a page containing all your published posts.

-To start a new post click "Add New" from either the top of your screen or underneath the previously mentioned posts menu on the sidebar.

Tools

 * You should now be on a blank template screen where you may begin writing your posts. This process is mostly self-explanatory but there are some tools you should make note of:

- The Kitchen Sink tool: The toolbar at the top of the template may appear to be missing some tools when your first begin writing, in order to display these other tools find the "Show/Hide kitchen sink" button on the right end of the tool bar. Clicking this will bring up many more useful tools that you may wish to use while writing.

- Copying/Pasting from Microsoft Word: If you prefer to write your post on another writing program such as Microsoft Word you should be sure to use the "Paste from word" tool; this is because copying and pasting from Word normally results in formatting problems when applied to wordpress.



- Heading: When writing long posts in order to keep the attention of the reader it may be beneficial to separate the sections using different headings. To do this locate the drop down menu on the toolbar listed as "paragraph".



- Visual and Text view: At the top of the writing template you may of seen two viewing options for your writing, Visual and Text. The visual option is simply the standard writing format. The text option however is a bit more complex, this gives you a look at the code used in formatting your writing and the html view of your pictures, videos and any other media in your post. This can come in handy if you want to try and manually spruce up your formatting, but otherwise it isn't necessary for a standard blogger to fool around with this viewing option.



Images

 * If you want to include pictures with your posts start by clicking the "Add media" button, this will bring up a window showing you all the available pictures to your blog.

-To add more pictures go to the "Upload Files" section. From here you may upload any pictures saved to your computer or any other device.



- If instead you would like to insert a picture from a URL first obtain the web address of the picture you would like to use. Next copy and paste the URL into the "insert URL" option on the add media window, from here you will see various options for your uploaded image such captions, alignment, etc. Once you have your image to your specifications click "insert into post".

- Additionally if you want a specific image to be featured with your post there is the featured image option near the bottom of the page. This will associate this picture with your post, displaying it as an icon to illustrate the link to your post. Just click set featured image then either upload or choose a picture from your media library.

Tags and Categories

 * While writing your post it is important to include any tags or categories so that it can be easier to find for readers and be included in any syndicated websites your blog may be apart of:

-To add tags locate the tag menu on the lower right hand side. Next you can type out and submit each tag individually or you can type out all your tags separating each new one with a comma (no spaces in between). If you make a mistake just mouse over the error, click the X and retype the tag correctly.



- You may or may not choose to use categories for your posts, the only use being organizing your posts on your blog; however the tags themselves can be used to organize as well. To add a new category just find the category menu on the right hand side and click "Add New Category". You may also select other categories by marking the selection box near the name.

Publishing Posts
- While writing you should always be sure to save your progress every now and then; wordpress does save automatically from time to time but it still doesn't hurt to save manually. This can be done by clicking the "Save Draft" button on the right hand side. This saves your post as an unpublished draft that only you can view from your wordpress dashboard; you can access this draft by going to the posts section.
 * There are a few more tools you can use before actually publishing your post:

- Additionally you can preview how your post will appear on your blog before actually posting it. This is done by clicking the preview button, you will then be brought to a temporary private page showing an example of your published blog post; this will be gone after you close the window.

- Finally when your post is complete you may hit the publish button, this will make your post public for viewers to read on your blog.