Online portfolio, e-business, e-representative

Step-by-Step

1. Type in title above (e.g. how to write a new post)
2. Type in an introductory paragraph
3. Type in the body of your post
4. End off with a conclusion
5. Add any thumbnails, photographs or galleries
6. Add the “Insert More” tag to separate the intro from the body
7. Type in relevant Tags for that specific post
8. Select Categories to sort/link your posts together
9. Click on Publish
10.  DONE!

This is how to add a new post in a nutshell. Looking for more details? Follow these easy steps below and you’ll be posting away in no time. 

On the Dashboard, click on Add New underneath Posts. Then you’ll get a blank page. Type in a title, then add your first paragraph (introduction) and continue with the body of the post. Afterwards add an “Insert More” tag to separate your intro from the body. Then add tags to describe that post and check off all appropriate categories. Preview your post (optional) and click on Publish.

Add title (and permalink)

Add a descriptive title for your post that will tell visitors what the post is about. By default, the title you have entered for your post also becomes the URL, known as a permalink, which stands for Permanent Link.

You can change the title of your post at any time. And you can change the URL or permalink at any time, however …

If you change the permalink after publishing, then the original page won’t be found anymore. Any visitor who tries to access that page through a search result link, or perhaps from another website, will get an “Error 404 – File not Found” message instead.

Tip: if you’d like to change the URL, do so in the beginning i.e. while you’re busy with your draft. Once you’re happy with your post and have published it, then leave the permalink (URL) as it is to prevent visitors from getting the 404 error message.

Add introduction

The introduction of your post plays a crucial role on your website. Whenever someone clicks on one of the categories or tags, they will get a list of all your posts  underneath each other, in chronological order. If someones uses the search function, then your pages will be included in the list too.

The introduction should serve as a teaser for your website visitor, giving them clues as to whether or not the information that they are looking for is included in that post.

So to make searching through these lists easier for your visitors, you should separate the intro from the body by using the “Insert More” tag – a little button which can be found between the link buttons and the dictionary button in the top row (between the title and the post).

Tip for using the “Insert More” tag

• It’s probably easiest to add the “Insert More” tag last … after you’re happy with the layout of your post.
• If you’d like the words “read more” to appear on the same line as your intro, go to the end of the sentence, press a space and then click on Insert More.
• If you want the words “read more” to appear on the next line, go to the end of the introduction, and press <Enter> to create a new, blank paragraph. Then click on Insert More.
• Then you’ll see a dotted line appear with the word “more” in it.
• A little quirk with italics … if the last words of your intro are in italics, and you add the “Insert More” tag, the codes sometimes get a little mixed up, which could result in the rest of the text being italicized on category/tag/search page, after the faulty introduction. Prevent this by italicising your words after you’ve added the more tag.

Add the body of your story

Next you need to write the “actual content” of your post. Website visitors like to scan pages to get an overall picture of what the article is about. They’re in a hurry and they want answers quickly. Give them what they want!

Use sub-headers to categorize different topics in your post. By carefully planning the information in your post, you’ll be saving your visitor’s time. If it’s too long or too boring, they’ll go elswhere … it’s just one click away.

Aside from sub-headers to separate your paragraphs, keep your paragraphs short. Say, two or three sentences per paragraph? If your sentences are really short, then it might be better to use an unordered list (the list button with the dots not the numbers).

Finally, after you’ve finished adding the text, have read and re-read it, and you’re happy that it’s saying what you want it to say, then you can add your pictures, photographs or galleries. Okay, you can add them before, but it makes editing easier if you add the pics afterwards.

Add tags

Why use tags? It helps your visitors find related posts and makes your website more interesting! While categories are used broadly, tags are specific to the post you’re writing e.g. use the main topics of your post as tags.

You can type in tags one by one and press <Enter> or you can separate the tags with a comma and then press <Enter>. If you press <Enter> straight away, you’ll add the default text, “Add new tag” as a tag, which of course doesn’t make any sense to your visitors. You can remove unwanted tags by clicking on the little x next to them.

Tip: If you type in the first few letters of a tag that you’ve used previously and let it hover a little, then you should get a list of related tags to choose from. You can also click on option “Choose from the most popular tags”. These are handy ways to prevent typos and to ensures that your posts are properly linked together.

Choose categories 

By default there is always one category that is selected. The name gets chosen during the website build, as well as a few other major categories. Categories add structure and hierarchy to your website. Select the appropriate categories for the post you’re writing.

Draft, Preview & Publish

When you’re writing a new post, it’s better to Save as Draft first, while you’re typing and moving things around. You can then click on Preview to see what it’s going to look like. When you’re happy, click on Publish.

Publish = LIVE

Your post only becomes visible to other people when you publish it.