WordPress is a powerful website building tool. It is arguably the best free website builder to create your own business, personal, portfolio, or blog site.
There is little to no coding needed for simple website building. In fact, my writing portfolio was made in a short time period without any programming. Some careers you may want a portfolio for to showcase work samples include writing, photography, art, design, or law.
This article won’t go too deep into the process of constructing a website. The information is meant to be a basic introduction to WordPress. It will give you some tips and tricks so you don’t get stuck and have to backtrack while using the tool.
The WordPress concepts we will cover are registering an account and following the directions to get started; picking a theme; setting your site as a website, portfolio, or blog; customizing your navigation menu; editing your pages; and using plugins. Upon finishing this guide, you should no longer be intimidated to make a website. Hopefully, you will be motivated to begin one.
These ideas may be easier to understand if you are using WordPress while reading this page and following along.
Getting Started With WordPress
Creating an account with WordPress is easy: you make a user name and password. The free website builder will give you some basic directions to get started. You must name your site, design your menu, update your homepage, and confirm your email address. It also gives you the option to launch your project afterward, but you will need to do more work than following the basic setup to get it ready.
Selecting the Best WordPress Themes
Here’s how to choose a website theme. On the left side of your browser is the WordPress navigation pane. Under the appearance dropdown, you can choose a theme for your website. Depending on whether you want to make a business, personal, portfolio, or blog site, you must choose an elegant theme that matches your objective accordingly. You can do a google search on which ones work best for your specific purpose.
It is also important to pick a theme that is mobile-friendly. I used the lodestar one, which is good for portfolio websites and works well on mobile phones.
Choosing Between a WordPress Website, Portfolio, or Blog
Your site is set as a WordPress blog by default. It is best to change that as soon as possible if necessary so you don’t have to make adjustments to your website later.
This is how to get rid of the blank blog entries on your homepage: under the appearance dropdown, click on customize on the tool’s navigation pane and go into your homepage settings. Set your homepage as a static front page.
If you’d like to build a portfolio website, go into your settings on the WordPress navigation pane and then select writing. Turn on your portfolio by displaying it as a certain number of projects per page. From the builder’s dashboard, click on add a page under the quick links menu, and from the next screen you can add pages to your website including one to feature your portfolio. Alternatively, you can add a page under the portfolio dropdown on the tool’s navigation pane by clicking add new.
To post an entry to your portfolio, click on portfolio below the site dropdown on the navigation pane, and then add new. You will need to select the block (e.g., the photo) in your portfolio and assign it a hyperlink to the article when editing your page.
Reshaping the WordPress Navigation Menu
In the initial step-by-step directions, you can set up the WordPress page navigation. From the appearance dropdown on the tool’s navigation pane, by clicking on customize you can modify your site’s menu.
Also, under the appearance dropdown, there is a section for adding widgets to WordPress. This is where you can set up your footer with a photo of yourself, your address, links from your menu, links to your social media, etc.
Editing WordPress Pages
Manage your pages by using the edit page button at the bottom of each page. You can insert a WordPress featured image and other aspects to a page with the page button on the right.
This is how to add an image to WordPress. From the editing screen, if you click on the block button next to the page one, it will allow you to do so. Blocks are certain features such as bodies of text, a submit form, and social media buttons. By clicking the button that looks like a plus sign on your page you can add one of these options.
Using WordPress Plugins
WordPress plugins are additional pieces of software available for WordPress. To buy them, you first need to purchase the site’s $25/month business plan. There are some that can be useful. Plugins provide your site with additional themes, edit content, and perform other WordPress functions.
One add-on I’d like to see included with the free version is used to delete extra pages that cannot be found (so your pages don’t get labeled with a “-2” in the URL). I initially had the end of my URL as “/portfolio-2/” while building a portfolio website. I was finally able to locate the missing page and discovered it is being used as an archive. I had to rename my page so that “projects” was in the URL instead of “portfolio.” This proved to be a satisfactory solution.
While applying for a freelance writing position, I was asked if I could use the Divi plugin. This add-on is a popular drag and drop tool that provides additional themes and designs to your page. I was able to figure out how to harness Divi’s power by watching some YouTube tutorials. It is very simple to learn.
Final Thoughts on WordPress
Those are some of the basics of getting started with the WordPress page builder. Hopefully, you have found my knowledge useful.
Take the plunge into using WordPress for your business, personal, portfolio, or blog website! I promise you will find it rewarding and beneficial.
If you have any personal stories that provide helpful information on using the tool or questions on what I’ve covered, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!
Published by Kevin Cassidy
I’m self-employed as a freelance content writer, copywriter, and executive resume writer. My published work has included many articles pertaining to toys, outdoor products, and foodservice. I’ve developed copy for websites, brochures, social media posts, Instagram and TikTok video scripts, and email marketing campaigns. Furthermore, I can help my clients with making a resume.
Kevin Cassidy, Writer 