Preparing for WordPress – Essential Downloads and Setup

This article outlines some essential downloads and setup you will need to make sure that your experience with WordPress is a smooth and happy one. Screencast coming soon!

NOTE: All the links in this article open a new browser window.

Download Applications & Plugins.

Firefox 3 – The most secure and fully featured browser.

Quicktime – An essential internet plugin and player.
Flash – Used everywhere on the net so get the latest.

Download Firefox Add-Ons.

• Google Gears – Allows you to use the Turbo function in WordPress and speeds admin functions.
• Live PageRank – Shows you the page rank for the current URL. This is an SEO tool that shows you how popular a website is. NOTE: PageRank is a meaure of inbound links.
• PDF Download – Gives you control of PDFs on the web.
• Save Complete Webpage – Downloads a whole webpage to your computer correctly.
• Explore more Firefox Add-ons here.

WordPress Admin Details

Find the adminstration links for your WordPress website.

They would have been in an email created when you first installed WordPress or sent to you by your Webmaster. They should look something like this:

Your WordPress Website Account

Public URL: http://yourwebsite.com/
Admin URL: http://yourwebsite.com/wp-admin/
Username: yourname
Password: someobscurestring

Firefox Bookmarks Setup

1. Click the Admin URL shown above, enter your username and password and press Login.
2. Allow Firefox to save the password if you haven’t already. This is only something you should do if this is a private computer. As an added level of security you can also create a master password (Options on Windows or Preferences on a Mac then Security). You will arrive at the WordPress Dashboard.
3. Open the Bookmarks menu by selecting Bookmarks (in the top menu) then Bookmark This Page. Or you can use the key stroke (Command+D for Mac and ALT+D for Windows).
4. Click the top arrow on the right of the Bookmarks window. This will open up the Bookmarks folders.
5. Highlight the Bookmarks Toolbar at the top (by clicking on it once) then create a new folder by clicking on the plus symbol at the bottom left.
6. Name the folder MyWebsite or anything you like.
7. Click Done and this will put the link to our WordPress Dashboard in this new folder that will be accessible from our Firefox toolbar.
8. From the Dashboard, click the Write a New Post button.
9. Bookmark this page to gain quick access as described above.
10. Repeat this with any other pages you want quick access to. For example I like to check out my drafts page often. Manage > Posts > Drafts.
11. In the right hand sidebar find the Shortcuts section. Right-Click on the link that says Press This and select Bookmark This Link. Navigate to the folder we just created and save the Bookmark.
12. Now we should have a folder in our toolbar with our quick links and, with your password saved, your WordPress website is just a click away!

NOTE: Select Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks to move and rename items to make things display the way you prefer.

Hot Tip: You can right click on any link and select Bookmark This Link.