Congratulations – you have just created the beginning of a wonderful website…your very own website!
It probably looks a little plain with a simple blue header and white pages, but don’t worry, in this step we’ll show you how to change the colour or choose a completely NEW theme, to jazz it up a bit and give your new website an identity befitting its title.
INSTRUCTIONS
Login to your wordpress administration panel using the name and password you registered with. You can always find the admin panel at http://yourdomain/wp-admin/.
- Choose the “Appearance” tab in the sidebar on the left.
- Then click >> Themes.
- Test-drive any of the free themes by clicking >>Preview.
- Once you have chosen the theme that is right for you, click >> Activate.
It’s OK if you decide to change it again at any time in the future too, it’s just best to pick your theme right at the beginning so you can plan the framework, set-up, image sizes and colours that will best suit the look of your website.
Please Note – It’s important to check your website in each major browser – Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Safari, to ensure that everyone can see your website at its very best.
Even this website breaks its formatting in Internet Explorer 6 (commonly know as the web browser with the most problems).
GOOD NEWS ~ BAD NEWS
First for the bad news – The themes available through the wordpress.com platform are very limited in quantity, variety and ability to customize them to full capacity by using plugins and editing the CSS files.
However, there is some really good news – Once you have constructed your website and added the content, your website is completely transportable to your own domain by using the Tools >> Import or >> Export tabs in the left hand sidebar. You can have your blog at any domain you control, such as yourdomain.com.au, or set up a domain to automatically redirect visitors to your blog URL. You can do this through your admin control panel by going to >> Settings >> Domains.
