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!

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.

Download This Page as a PDF Now.

Keep in mind that if you use WordPress for your website, the contact form can be configured to send to any email address. This effectively bypasses the need for a domain email account like greatguy@effectiveclassywebsites.com and it means you don’t get any spam. Yay!

Here are some of the benefits of a Gmail account:

1. A permanent email address that hopefully will never have to be changed.
2. An email account that you can check from your favorite email client OR from anywhere in the world through a browser on the net.
3. A huge storage space (3GB and growing) means that you’re very unlikely to go over the quota and miss emails. You can also send email attachments up to 10MB. Very cool.
4. Access to loads of other free services that automatically come with a Gmail account. Things like, Google Calendar, Maps, iGoogle home page, Language Tools, Analytics (for website monitoring), Google Desktop and many more other free goodies.

So if you don’t already have a Gmail account I guess its time to get one!

Sign Up for a Gmail Account here.

How to setup Gmail with your favorite email client:

In this tutorial I will use screen shots with the instructions to guide you through setting up Gmail in your POP mail client.

1. Start at your inbox in Gmail.
2. 
3. On the top right of the screen click the Settings link.
4. From the settings page you are look for the Forwarding and POP link.
5. 
6. Now we want to configure this page to enable POP access. We have 2 choices. We can set it to receive all mail, both previous and in the future, or just from now on. Its up to you.
7. 
8. We can also choose whether we want the mail we check from our client to be automatically archived on the web Gmail or kept in the Inbox. I prefer the archive choice so that when I check my mail from a browser I see only new mail that I haven’t already checked with my computer.
9. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
10. Now we want to configure our mail client to send and receive from our Gmail account.(this will open a new window) Go to the Supported POP Client list page on Google.
    
11. From here we can see all the mail client applications. Each one has a unique setup. Click on the link for your mail client.
12. For your reference I have collected the specific information you will need here as well. Make sure you follow the instructions to the letter and enter all details Verbatim.

Do it once thoroughly and you will be up and running in no time.

• Incoming Mail Server : pop.gmail.com
• User Name : yourname@gmail.com
• Password : *********
• Outgoing Mail Server : smtp.gmail.com
• Server port: 587
• Check the box next to ‘Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
• Use authentication for sending mail by entering your full username and password into the outgoing server section.

And here again in Google Format

Servers tab

Outgoing Mail Server: Settings

Advanced tab

If you followed these instructions you should be able now to send and receive mail to your email application. You are Gmailed up!