It also helps distinguish your site in your browsers bookmarks and is also used in some social bookmarking sites as well. Here’s how you can easily create the file and make it show up on your website.

1. Find an image on your computer that will work very small. It should be square and can be a gif, jpg, png, or bmp file. It can have transparency as well. It does not need to be a large file as it will be reduced to 16×16 pixels in size.

2. Visit http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon (new window) and press the Browse button.

You could also try this free tool that makes a favicon from your Twitter profile image. http://www.html-kit.com/favicon (new window)

3. Navigate to the image on your computer and press Open.

4. Click the Create Icon button on the dynamic drive website.

5. In a moment you will see a preview of your icon. If you are happy with the way it looks, press the Download Favicon button.

This will download a file called favicon.ico on to your computer.

6. Login to your WordPress website.

7. Click on the Media tab and select Add New.

8. Press the Select Files button, navigate to the favicon.ico file on your computer and press Select. WordPress will automatically upload the file.

9. When it is finished you will see a small image of the file and down the bottom we are looking for the File URL section. Copy this URL.

10. Click on your Appearance tab and select Editor. Find the theme files section on the left and click on the one that says, Header (header.php).

11. Paste this code below the <link rel=”pingback” href=”/xmlrpc.php” /> line and replace the href URL with the full file path to the icon file we uploaded previously.

<link rel=”shortcut icon” type=”image/x-icon” href=”http://yourwebsite.com/uploadspath/favicon.ico“>

12. Click the Update File button.

You will need to refresh your website page to see the favicon in action. Even then it may not work straight away. The easiest way I have found to test that all is working is to use a different browser to load your page fresh.

If all is done right you should be sporting a spanking new tiny favicon. Yay!

Bookmark Favicons

This will show you how to upload and install a new WP theme that you have downloaded. It also covers how to browse the WordPress.org themes site as well.

NOTE: This guide shows the interface from WP 2.8 but also features an admin navigation plugin called “Ozh’ Drop Down Admin Menus” Find out how to install that right here.

1. Start by Logging in to your WP site.
2. Click on the Appearance tab then select Add New Themes.  (To preview themes already installed click Themes)
3. Now we can choose to browse the WordPress.org site by using Search or selecting layout elements like Black, Left Sidebar etc, then click on the Find Themes button. Or we can click the Featured | Newest | Recently Updated to see those options as well.
4. To upload a theme we have downloaded to our computer already click the Upload link.
5. Click the Browse button and navigate to the sopt of your PC where the ZIP file is located. Press Install Now.
6. Once it has been uploaded, WordPress will ask if you want to Preview | Activate | Return To Theme Viewer.
7. Pressing Preview will show you what your site would look like to visitors.
8. Click Activate if you want the new look to go “Public”.
9. You have a new theme for your site!

Screencast Tutorial – Installing Themes in WordPress

Here we show you how to quickly and easily find and add plugins to your self-hosted WordPress website.

NOTE: This guide has us install an important feature to the backend of your site that speeds up your navigation. Highly Recommended!

From the Dashboard after logging in:

1. Click on the Plugins tab. (it’s faster if you click on the down arrow that appears instead of the text link)

2. Select Add New.

3. From the Install Plugins page, you can browse all the plugins within the WordPress.org directory using either Keywords, Plugin Authors, or Tags. In addition we can Upload a zip file or, show only Featured, Popular, Newest or Recently Updated plugins.

4. Enter the exact name of the plugin into the Term dropdown field (i.e. Keywords). See screen shot for example.

COPY and PASTE the name below exactly for accuracy.

Ozh’ Admin Drop Down Menu

5. Press the Search Plugins button.

6. The plugin we are after should be at the top of the list of results.

7. Click the Install link on the right and accept the request WP gives you.

8. WP will ask if you want to Activate the plugin.

We’re done and ready for plugin configuration!

NOTE: Most often WordPress plugin options show up in the Settings tab, but it can vary.

Fortunately Google comes to the rescue here with a website they acquired last year. Feedburner.

The Pros

• Its Free! All you need is a Google account.
• Emails get sent out automatically the next morning after posting on your blog.
• You can brand your emails with a logo and a reply email address.
• Feedburner creates a consistent RSS feed url that stays the same even if your website address changes.

The Cons

• You can’t import subscribers into this system. Google is cautious that spammers will use this service. You could ask your current list to sign up again but you may lose some people.
• Emails are simple and you can’t have elaborate themes.

What on earth is RSS you ask? Read more here.

To get your newsletter sign-up form:

1. Create or Sign-in to your Google account.
2. Go to Google Feedburner: http://feedburner.google.com
3. Enter the full url of your website into the Burn a feed right this instant field: e.g. http://mygreatwebsite.com and click Next.
4. Feedburner will search for RSS feeds at your address (there can be more than one). Choose the top option which should look something like, Your Website RSS Feed: http://mygreatwebsite.com/feed/ Click the Next button.
5. Next you will be asked to choose a name for your feed, both the title and the final URL of the new RSS feed. Adjust (or not) and click the Next button.
6. On the next page you receive your feed URL from feedburner. Copy this down to put into your emails and websites as your RSS feed address. Click the Skip directly to feed management link.
7. Click on the Optimize tab at the top then the Smartfeed link on the left sidebar. Press the Activate button to make your feed readable by anything. This just increases readability.
8. Click on the Publicize tab and then the Email Subscriptions link in the sidebar.
9. Click the Activate button.
10. Feedburner will now display some code. The first, long section is for the sign-up form that will go on your website. The second is a direct link to your form that can be used in emails or as links.
11. This code (the longer string) needs to be copy and pasted into your sidebar in WordPress so that people can sign up to your sites updates easily.

NOTE: There are a few other links in the Feedburner sidebar that allow you to customize the look and feel as well as delivery time etc.  Communication Preferences, Email Branding and Delivery Options.

Here I outline instructions for WordPress but it will work fine anywhere that full HTML can be used. e.g. Blogspot, other free Blogging platforms or web design programs such as Dreamweaver.

Including the sign-up form in your WP sidebar.

1. In WordPress go to Appearance >> Widgets.
2. Drag a new Text Widget where you want the form to appear. It’s position can be changed by dragging and dropping also.
3. Call the text Widget something like “Free Newsletter” and paste into the main text field the code we just grabbed from Feedburner.
4. Press Save and open your website address in your browser to see your new sign-up form on the site.
5. Invite your friends and contacts to visit your site and sign-up!

NOTE: You can change the message above the email sign up form by editing the text within the HTML. Look for the section that says, “Enter your email address:” and change that section only.

Now anyone that subscribes to your emails will receive a full html rich email the morning after you submit a new post to your blog.

Right, now invite all your friends to sign-up!

HOT TIP: You can make the email subject the same as the article title by customizing your emails in your Feedburner control panel:

1. Login to Google Feedburner.
2. Click on the Publicize tab at the top.
3. Click the Email Subscriptions link, then Email Branding in the sidebar.
4. In the Email Subject/Title field, enter this code: ${latestItemTitle}
5. Make any other customizations and press the Save button.
6. Publish more cool stuff!

You should also subscribe to your own blog feed so that you can check what everyone is getting.
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First you need to make sure that the DNS settings in your domain control panel point to your hosting account.

Haven’t got hosting yet? Download our free PDF guide.

[download id="6"]

The DNS Settings will have been sent to you when you first purchased your web hosting server space. The Email will look something like this:

Welcome to the hostgator family!
Your Domain:     yournewwebsite.com
Your Username:   yourusername
Your Password:  cr4zypassword
Your sites IP address:
34.55.456.234
Your name servers:
ns0234.hostgator.com
ns0235.hostgator.com

These last two strings of numbers and dots are the Domain Name Servers. They tell your browser where to look for your domain. i.e. The server your site is hosted on.

Creating An Add-On Domain in Cpanel

1. Login to Cpanel and find the Add-On Domains button.
2. Click the Addon Domains button.
3. Enter your new domain into the New Domain Name: field.
4. Enter a strong password. TIP: You can write it down first on a secure text document then copy and paste it.
5. Click Add-Domain! Cpanel will take a moment to set everything up.

Now you can install WordPress from Cpanel and start building your site!

You need to sign up to his mailing list to get the free e-book. Click here to get started:

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/make-money-blogging/

The e-book is broken into in 5 chapters: Content, Design & Usability, Networking, Promotion and Monetization.

Some of the topics covered are:

• The three mistakes that bloggers make when choosing a niche.
• The three characteristics of good content.
• Why your content strategy should have one cornerstone.
• The two factors that create magnetic headlines (and how to apply them).
• A deadly mistake that bloggers make when designing their blogs.
• Practical tips that you can use to network efficiently.
• A promotional strategy that most people forget to use.
• The two requirements for making money with Google AdSense.
• The best trick available to make money with CPM deals.

Head on over to his website now and grab this great free e-book on how to make money online with blogging.

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/make-money-blogging/

We also touch on an important iPhoto management tip.

If you hold the Option key when you launch iPhoto it will allow you to create a new library or choose a previous one. Great if you have many projects and do not want them to be mixed up together.

The steps to importing a CD of images are:

1. Launch iPhoto and/or choose the correct library.
2. Create a new Album by clicking the plus sign on the bottom left sidebar.
3. Drag and drop the CD from your desktop into the new album on the left.
4. Watch the slide show as the images import.

Write to us and request a training.

Take the time and follow this guide step-by-step and WordPress will be only 2 clicks away!

First you need to make sure that all the following elements are downloaded and functional. (links open in a new window)

Downloads:

1. Firefox – make sure that first you are using the very latest version of the Browser (3.0.7 19th March 09). Mozilla often release security updates that you should allow.
2. Secure Login Add-on – This Firefox extension makes logging in to websites a simple matter of clicking once.

Click to Enlarge

Security Note: This add-on makes it very easy to login to any sites that Firefox has stored passwords for. This extension is not recommended on a public computer.

If you have a private machine but want an extra degree of security you can designate a master password by going to (on a Mac ) Firefox > Preferences > Security > Use a Master Password. Make sure you remember this!

Once you have updated your browser and have the Secure Login addon installed we need to put our WordPress links on our Firefox toolbar for quick access.

1. Open the email you would have received when you installed WordPress that contains your account login details. it will look something like this:
2. Click on the Admin URL link.  This is the link that contains /wp-admin/.
3. Enter your username and password. Allow Firefox to remember it.
4. Once you are successfully logged in, drag the URL in the top of your browser onto your toolbar (assuming you have space – you may need to create it)
5. You can right-click on the link in the toolbar and choose Properties to customize the name that appears.

Now next time you want to login to your WordPress website, all you need to do is click this new link, then click the Key icon (when it lights up) and voila, you’re in!

WordPress Screencast Tutorial

You do have a gmail account don’t you? If not fix this now by clicking here: http://mail.google.com/mail/signup

To create your language translation gadget visit this link:

http://translate.google.com/translate_tools?hl=en

On this page you can also add one-click translations from with your browser.

Pick the language of your blog or website then copy and paste the resulting code into a text widget in WordPress or in dreamweaver simply paste in the code where you want the Gadget to appear.

Thats it! Refresh your page to see the new Google language translation tool.

Subscribe to our free newsletter and download all our free trainings as full Quicktime files with chapters.

The Quicktime chapters are:

1. Intro and Log-in
2. Title, Categories and Pasting from Word docs
3. HTML Editor Buttons and Formatting
4. Uploading and Adding Images
5. Adding an MP3 Download
6. Uploading a PDF for download
7. Tags and Previewing a Post
8. Publishing & Status Sidebar
9. SEO Considerations – (Search Engine Optimization)
10. Advanced Options

Download this Quicktime Screencast now and benefit from the power of detailed video training.

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us here. Thank you and hope this empowers you to take charge of this awesome web platform

Getting Started

1. Get clear on what your page or article is about and jot down some keywords and/or body text that gives you an outline. One of the strengths of the article based format is that it encourages small bits of focused information.

2. Prepare any resources you want in your article, such as images and videos. This includes uploading movies to YouTube and optimizing your photos so that the files are small enough to load quickly on your web pages.

3. Log on to your site with your username and password. You should arrive at the WordPress dashboard.

4. If you are editing a page or post, click on MANAGE, then POSTS or PAGES. This page will display a list of the current pages or posts. Click on the title of the article you want to edit.

5. If you want to write a new post or page then go to WRITE, then POST or PAGE.

The Basics

1. The Title - If possible your title should:

• Describe what the article is about,
• contain some of your strong keywords,
• evoke some curiosity in the reader,
• and/or describe a benefit that makes it clear why they should invest their time reading your article..

2. The Body Copy – This is the main story or copy for the article. You can write this in an external editor and then copy and paste it in or you can write it within this very window. If you write your copy in a Word doc you might like to use the Word import button. Click the Show/Hide Kitchen Sink button then the Paste from Word button.

3. Choose a Category – If you’re editing a page this step does not apply, but every article must be assigned a Category. Categories give you and your visitors way to group your articles in terms of their interests. Make them succinct and descriptive.

Categories are the new Pages on the web.

You can break information down into digestible articles by assigning a category and then you can provide ongoing value AND people are more likely to keep coming back, and/or buy your product.

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