Practical Participation

www.practicalparticipation.co.uk
tim@practicalparticipation.co.uk
Wordpress.com is a free, hosted version of the
powerful Wordpress blogging platform. If you
outgrow the free version you have the option of
Running a blog
moving to your own fully customised version of With Wordpress.com
Wordpress. A blog is a simple publishing tool.
You can see many of the features available in
Wordpress by looking at the menu below. With a blog you can publish news, media
information and commentary to create a
Your dashboard gives you 'stream of news' about your work or interests.
an overview of your blog
– including statistics on A blog can also have static pages – so,
who is reading your blog combining these with your stream of posts, you
and where they visit from. can use a blog as 'instant website' for a
project or organisation.

When creating a post – use the Through RSS feeds you can syndicate
upload/insert tools to attach headlines from your blog across the web.
photos, videos and files Visitors can subscribe to find out almost
instantly when new content is published.
You can create a list of categories
and place each blog post in one
Blogs also allow comments to be added to
or more categories.
each post, so they can become a platform for
You can also use 'tags' to make conversation as well as shared content.
it easy for readers to find Getting Started
different blog posts on related
topics. 1) Sign up & set-up your blog
• Visit www.wordpress.com and select 'Sign Up'
When you write a blog post or
page, include plenty of links – • Enter your details to create and account then
particularly to other blogs and then select 'next' to go and create your blog.
sources of information. • Wordpress will confirm you blog activation by
e-mail. Check your e-mail for details.
Choose your comment
moderation policy in the 2) Customize your blog
settings section. Check • Log-in at www.wordpress.com and choose
back for comments often 'Appearance' from the menu bar. You can then
and be sure to reply. browse themes and add a different theme
(design) to your blog.
Once you have chosen a theme • Check the 'Settings' tab from the menu to
you can add 'Widgets' to your cutomise the title and tag-line of your blog.
blog. These are boxes in the 3) Add your first post or page
side-bars that feature recent
• Choose 'Add New' under 'Posts' in the menu
posts, the latest comments,
or other useful information. bar to create a new blog post. You can upload
images and files to your blog post.
Tip: take time to experiment and • In the 'Pages' section from the menu choose
find your own writing style for 'Edit' to update the default about page that
your blog – but don't be afraid to Wordpress have created for your blog. You can
share ideas, questions and add extra pages using 'Add New'
news!
This work is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. To view a copy of this
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Practical Participation including our URL: (www.practicalparticipation.co.uk) and use this licence for your work. Please also let us know about any
adaptations or derivative works.