Why Use WordPress? How do I get started?

WordPress is arguably the largest and best open source blog publishing application available.  Due to it's open source nature coders from all over the world are constantly writing and adding new plugins to increase WordPress's functionality.  What does this mean to you?  It means that you can use WordPress to design an incredible blog or website easily and quickly whether you are new to blogging or a seasoned pro.  Oh, and did we mention it is free?

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

In a nutshell WordPress.com provides a basic, hosted blogging platform that allows you to have a blog but without much ability to customize.  It's a solid blogging platform and easy to use but doesn't begin to offer the powerful features that WordPress.org does.  WordPress.org gives you an endless ability to easily customize and create a blog or website that you'll be proud of.  WordPress.org allows you to install plugins to extend WordPress to do almost anything you would want or need your site to do.  WordPress.org also enables you to install custom themes that really make your blog stand apart from the crowd.  This is where the Blog Theme Creator (link to BTC homepage ) comes in!

How To Get Started

First you will need a domain name and hosting account to host your blog. There are many options for hosting available.  One we have experience with and recommend is GoDaddy. GoDaddy is an affordable hosting and domain registration site.  The big bonus here is that GoDaddy will create a dedicated WordPress hosting account for you by installing all the latest WordPress software!  No need to download the software from WordPress or figure out how to install it on your hosting platform.  GoDaddy does this for you!

Blog Theme Time

Now you're ready to install your new Blog Theme Creator theme and start blogging!  Visit our tutorial that will quickly show you how to upload your theme to your blog from the WordPress admin area.