WordPress For Dummies, 4th Edition [Paperback]

Lisa Sabin-Wilson (Author), Matt Mullenweg (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1118073428 | ISBN-13: 978-1118073421 | Edition: 4

The bestselling guide to WordPress, fully updated to help you get your blog going!

Millions of bloggers rely on WordPress, the popular, free blogging platform. This guide covers all the features and improvements in the most up-to-date version of WordPress. Whether you are switching to WordPress from another blogging platform or just starting your first blog, you'll find the advice in this friendly guide gets you up to speed on both the free-hosted WordPress.com version and WordPress.org, which requires the purchase of web hosting services, and figure out which version is best for you. You'll be able to take full advantage of the flexibility and usability of WordPress.

• WordPress is a state-of-the-art blog platform that emphasizes aesthetics, web standards, and usability
• Previous editions of this guide have sold more than 85,000 copies, and interest in blogging continues to explode
• Illustrates how to set up and maintain a blog with WordPress and how to use all the new features
• Covers both the free-hosted WordPress.com version and WordPress.org, which requires users to purchase web hosting services
• Written by an expert who works directly with developers and the cofounder of WordPress

This guide helps bloggers quickly and easily take advantage of everything this popular blogging tool has to offer.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Discover the wonders of WordPress and learn easy ways to power up your blog

Ready...set...blog! With WordPress and this book, it's almost that easy. WordPress pro Lisa Sabin-Wilson walks you through setting up WordPress, choosing and installing themes for personal or business blogs, migrating an existing blog from another platform, dodging spam, picking plugins, and even using WordPress as a CMS to create a full website.

• Start here — discover the benefits of WordPress, how to start a blog and post content, and why you should join the WordPress community

• To host or not to host — compare the hosted WordPress.com solution to the WordPress.org version you host with your domain name and web server

• You can do this — set up either type of blog, work with the Dashboard, and create a profile

• Make your blog blossom — add photos and video, use plugins to add versatility, and get creative with themes

• Branch out — find out how WordPress can power a website and run multiple sites

Visit the companion website at www.dummies.com/go/wordpressfordummies to find free, original WordPress themes designed by Lisa Sabin-Wilson, complete with instructions for downloading and using them.

Open the book and find:

• Ideas for organizing your blog

• Ways to make your blog appealing to visitors

• Advice on choosing a web hosting service

• How to register a domain

• All about arranging and using the Dashboard

• What you should know about using themes

• How to host multiple sites with WordPress

• Ten great plugins that add functionality

Learn to:

• Set up a hosted or self-hosted WordPress blog

• Take advantage of all the new WordPress features and upgrades

• Install, activate, and manage plugins and experiment with themes

• Migrate an existing blog to WordPress

About the Author

Lisa Sabin-Wilson is founder and Creative Director of E.Webscapes Design Studio. Lisa is a frequent public speaker at events like Blog World Expo and WordCamps on the topics of WordPress, design, and social media. She is the author of WordPress All-in-One For Dummies and WordPress Web Design For Dummies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 4 edition (September 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1118073428
• ISBN-13: 978-1118073421
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

E.Webscapes Design Studio
http://ewebscapes.com

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/LisaSabinWilson

Facebook:
http://facebook.com/LisaSabinWilson

I design because it makes me happy to create. I write because it makes me happy to share. Other than that? I breathe. I drink espresso. I love my family.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Beginner/Intermediate Book on Wordpress February 5, 2012

By Marcus Valdes

Format:Paperback

I just don't understand the reviewers who gave this book only one or two stars. I would give it a hundred stars if possible. I've looked at a lot of Wordpress books and in my opinion this is the one to start out with. It covers Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org (the book explains the difference and it's a big one). It starts out with the basics of getting your site up and running and then moves on to the more advanced topics like plug-ins, widgets, pages, posts, etc. (don't let any of that terminology scare you). Lisa also explains how to choose your domain name and set up a hosting account.

This past weekend I was able to attend WordCamp Atlanta and meet Lisa as well as Matt Mullenweg (the co-founder of Wordpress and a genuinely nice guy). I found out that Lisa is a great presenter as well as a great writer.

My recommendation to any beginner looking to learn about Wordpress is 1.)buy this book, 2.)find a Wordpress meetup in your area via meetup.com, and 3.) find the nearest WordCamp and attend (inexpensive and worth it).

If you follow this advice, I guarantee you that before long, you will be hooked on Wordpress and have a killer looking website or two!

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete and unbalanced, good for absolute beginners only. February 10, 2012

By Christopher J. Maler

Format:Paperback

I must not be the intended audience for this book, as I have had run several blogs and managed my own sites using other software, just not with Wordpress. I figured this would give me a overview of all of the features and an example of their use. Instead I got a primer on how to blog, how to upload an image and how to make a post....ugh. Almost nothing is mentioned about the CMS features of Wordpress, which is why I wanted it in the first place.
In my opinion this book is for absolute beginners only.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thorough and Useful manual October 18, 2011

By William Polm VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Massive amounts of well-written and helpful information and detail and step-by-step instructions. This is a worthwhile book to have if you have or want to start a blog at Wordpress. It extensively covers both the freebie Wordpress.com and the Wordpress.org program you can download free .
I am starting my second blog at Wrodpress, and I would not be without it. I refer to it frequently.

But be advised: I bought the Kindle edition, same content but, as far as I can tell, it lacks the index this print version has. Perhaps those that configured the book for Kindle thought that the Kindle search capacity would suffice. It just doesn't always work well for me, though, so I miss the index. So I would give the Kindle edition only 4 starts.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Should have bought this sooner! November 25, 2011

By DebDeb

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Great book as a resource to using Wordpress. I downloaded lots of information from the Wordpress forums and thought I had a good idea on how to get my blog to look professional. I customized it and now I find out I should have used "child themes" what a great feature. If only I had bought the book BEFORE I customized the site. Haven't visited the website as discussed. Looking forward to learning more. Good investment even if you hire someone, you'll know what work is involved.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Saved Wordpress for me November 22, 2011

By Scott

Format:Paperback

I gave up on Wordpress a couple years ago and switched to tumblr, which I found to be much simpler. However, I've recently started writing a lot on my blog, something tumblr isn't great for. So I switched back to Wordpress. I would've switched right back to tumblr, or maybe move to Blogger, but this book saved Wordpress for me. It enlightened me to the fact that the site has made a lot of improvements over the last couple years (since I stopped using it) that make it worth sticking around and getting used to.

So this was the perfect book for me, switching from one site back to the old one I once loathed. Now I'm loving it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Okay March 15, 2012

By LA VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I've had a website for years. I created it myself by learning and implementing html. Since I'm not a professional web designer I wanted a new look and realized my limitations with html. I decided to redesign my site using WordPress because I wanted a more professional look as well as the ability to easily edit the site.

This was the only WordPress guide that had not been checked out from my library, so I gave it a shot. It got me up and running and definitely provides a solid overview of WordPress and its features.

Now that I am tweaking my site, however, I'm finding the book to be less helpful than simply Googling specific search terms. I'd be interested in checking out other WordPress books because this one is not working great for me as a resource.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Still, I think, the best guide to WordPress February 6, 2012

By Jerry Saperstein HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the fourth edition of "WordPress For Dummies" - and the fourth edition I have purchased.

Lisa Sabin-Wilson is an undisputed master of WordPress, her research is thorough and her writing style makes the knowledge she conveys very accessible.

There is a misconception that WordPress is easy to use. That is true for the hosted WordPress, which requires virtually no understanding of information technology, computers, etc. But the moment you step out of the cocoon of the highly protected hosted environment, you'd either better have at least a moderate knowledge of CSS, PHP, HTML, FTP, server operations and a few other subject areas. The author does indeed do a good job of explaining what you need to know, but if it is all new to you, it is very easy to get lost.

I am a bit puzzled as to what all is new in this fourth edition. One chapter I personally consider important on using WordPress as a Content Management System has been removed from the book and is available on the web. There is now an appendix on upgrading, backing up and migrating and the book, as a whole, is about 40 pages longer. Granted that WordPress is a program that is substantially changed, on occasion, from one version to another. But I think author or publisher or both should explain what is new in each edition.

At this point, I use "WordPress For Dummies" primarily as a reference. Substantial portions of it are old news to me, but I have found that I can generally find the information I need quicker in this book - and in better written form - than searching for the same information on-line.

Overall, whether beginner or pro, this is an excellent WordPress introduction, guide and reference.... Beginners should understand, though, that WordPress is not drop-dead simple once you contemplate modifying it and especially when you leave the security of the hosted version.

Jerry Read more ›