Learning to Use WordPress for Beginners

Have you been thinking about building your website? If you want to create and build a WordPress website, look no further than Bluehost. 

Here at Bluehost, we LOVE WordPress. It’s one of the best and easiest tools for creating a full-blown website. And we’re not the only ones who think so: over 50% of all new websites are built with it and over 14% of existing sites already use it! Wether you’re looking to learn WordPress for beginners or you’re an expert, we’re always here to help you accomplish your WordPress goals!

This free and open-source website builder and CMS is a versatile, self-contained platform that includes all the tools you need to create and customize any WordPress site—even if you’re a beginner unaware of coding or website development. 

Learning to use WordPress begins with getting acquainted with your new site’s administrative dashboard and creating your first post or page. Here are some basic guidelines to get you started.

What is WordPress?

WordPress began as a blogging tool, but it has evolved: now it’s a full-blown content management system (CMS), which means it lets you build a website without having to learn HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc.

Instead, you just install WordPress on your Bluehost hosting account and log into an administrative “back-end” tool (or “Dashboard,” as WordPress calls it). 

There you have several options and can upload pictures, add text, install free plugins, create pages, change the look and feel of the website, and more! WordPress handles all the complicated coding work for you, so all you have to do is click publish.

WordPress Is Made for Everyone

WordPress was designed with blogging in mind whether you are a web developer, writer, or small business. The creators wanted to make online publishing available to everyone with a message to share, so its core code includes all the building blocks of a basic website in ways experienced developers and beginners can use. 

Because WordPress is open-source software, its core code can be modified by any user with a knowledge of HTML and CSS (cascading style sheets) to create a highly customized site with an array of functions to meet specific needs. 

But, for users without that kind of experience and coding knowledge, WordPress also comes with a rich and fairly intuitive set of visual tools for creating content and changing the appearance and functionality of a site. 

Once you’re comfortable working with the basic tools of your site’s dashboard, you may want to learn more about coding to work directly with your site’s WordPress files—but you don’t need that knowledge to make your site look good and reflect your brand in every way.

Taking Your First Steps With WordPress

If you’re new to working with WordPress, you’ve most likely acquired it through your WordPress hosting provider, like Bluehost. Though WordPress can be downloaded directly from WordPress.org and installed manually to any hosting account, most new users can select it from the host.

Once your installation is complete, visit your site’s administration area using your new username and password. 

This opens access to the new site’s WordPress Dashboard, where you can manage all aspects of your new site, from changing its color and layout to managing comments and adding images and content to new posts.

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Step 1: Tour Your Dashboard

Your dashboard is the foundation for all work you will do on WordPress. It consists of a long menu on the left side that offers all the various tools for managing different aspects of the site in multiple ways. 

The best way to get to know your way around is to click on each tab and explore the options.

• Browse the themes; there are paid and free options available.
• Customize your theme with colors, headers, and social media buttons.
• Upload photos to inspire your site visitors and add clues about your values and services.
• Create your first blog post and main page content.
• Add a contact form.

Clicking each menu item opens up options for customizing that feature. And, as your site grows and evolves, you can modify those changes whenever necessary.

Step 2: Customize Your Site’s Appearance

Your dashboard’s many options include the site’s Appearance tab, where you can select a theme for your site—a template for its general appearance and layout. 

Customize your theme by changing elements such as the header, which contains your site’s title and its tagline—a brief statement of what your site is about. 

Depending on your active theme, you may change other appearance-related elements, such as fonts and colors, and add custom backgrounds and header images.

Step 3: Set Your Site’s Parameters

Your dashboard also includes tools for managing the behavior of your site and how it responds to visitors. 

Here, you can enable or disable comments, establish the total number of posts to display per page and set up structures such as the categories and tags that help visitors navigate your content. 

You can set a date and time display and customize the permalink structure that assigns a unique URL to each post and page you create.

Step 4: Work With Themes

Themes are one of the three core components of WordPress development, and you can choose from hundreds of free and premium ones to give your site the right look and feel. 

Your new site comes with a default WordPress theme, which is visible when you choose the Appearance > Themes option from the dashboard menu. From there, you can browse the directory of available themes. 

When you choose a new theme and activate it, new customization options appear in the Appearance menu. 

Step 5: Add Functions With Widgets

Widgets are another of the three core components of WordPress basics. These handy little code packages can be installed and activated on any WordPress site to add specific functions not included in the basic platform. 

Widgets can be placed in various locations on your site’s pages, and you can arrange them in various ways by dragging and dropping them to the desired place from the Appearance > Widgets option. Choose widgets from the vast Widgets directory available from your dashboard or purchase others from third-party developers.

Step 6: Create Content In Minutes

The WordPress dashboard menu offers options for creating Posts and Pages—the core of most WordPress sites. Pages contain largely static information about a site, such as general site information or a listing of services offered, while Posts are intended for shorter, timelier content that is updated frequently. 

Selecting Pages or Posts opens a text editor with various tools for customizing your text’s look and layout and adding images or video. 

You can work on blog posts and other aspects of the site in either Visual mode, which displays text and images as they appear, or in Text, which includes editable HTML. Publish your work immediately or save it as a draft for later.

Step 7: Make a Plan

The many options available for designing and managing a WordPress site make it easy to create the site you want without touching a line of code, but the possibilities can be overwhelming. 

Creating a rough plan for your site can be helpful before you begin working with the many tools on your site’s dashboard. 

Your plan should help answer questions such as:

1. Consider your brand—what colors, styles, and elements will reflect it best?
2. What do you want the site to do?
3. What should visitors do when they’re there?
4. What kind of content will you create—and how often? 
5. How will you gauge the success of your WordPress website?
6. How often will you backup the website?
7. How will you manage the security?
8. How will you manage the files and media?
9. What will the main menu look like?
10. Will products be added via WooCommerce?

A general outline makes it easier to customize your site’s parameters and search for the right theme and widgets you’ll need to make it function as it should.

Common questions about WordPress for beginners

Next Steps With WordPress

WordPress is used and loved by people worldwide, and there is no shortage of tutorials, workshops, and user communities to help beginners learn more about it and use its full potential with hands-on experience. 

Consider taking a few tutorials or courses to learn more about how WordPress works and how to make it work for you. Then, take some time to learn the basics of HTML and CSS to work directly with your site’s source files for even more control and customization.

Learning WordPress can seem daunting, but it was designed for users of all skill levels—even beginners, and the learning curve is very quick. All the tools you require to get your site up and running and look the way you like are right in your admin dashboard—with no web development experience required.

Ready to dive even deeper in to learning WordPress? Our Bluehost Academy might be the perfect thing for you!