1. Blogging Basics
with
WordPress.com
Melissa A. Venable, PhD
Education Writer/Blogger
Inside Online Learning | OnlineCollege.org
PDI Workshop | #NCDA2012

2. Objectives and Materials
• Create a blog site that includes an initial blog post.
• Practice basic administrative tasks in the dashboard.
• Review helpful resources for new bloggers.
You should have:
• WordPress.com account (i.e., login and password)
• Established blog site (i.e., address, title)
• Draft first blog post (.doc, .docx, .txt)
• Image file – optional (.jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png)

3. Let’s get started!
• Log in to your WordPress.com account
• Go to the Dashboard

4. Main menu to access comment tracking,
statistics, spam, etc.
Add new, categories, tags, view list of all
Add new, view list of all
Themes, widgets, header, background, etc.
General, privacy, social media sharing, etc.

5. Add media files Edit HTML code
Insert Link
Paste from document Undo!

6. Creating a New Post
1. Open new post draft
2. Enter title
3. Copy/Paste from existing document
4. Upload image
5. Add a link
6. Save draft
7. Preview
8. Publish!

7. From the Dashboard:
• Posts
• Add New
1
2

8. 3

9. 4

10. 5

11. 7
6
8

12. How is it going so far?

13. Explore the Options
Settings
• General - blog title, email, time zone, …
• Reading – page display, # of posts, …
Appearance
• Themes – colors, columns, features, custom
options, …
• Widgets – drag and drop to add to interface
(Recent Posts, Search, Twitter, …)

14. Why WordPress?
• Free account options
• Easy and intuitive administrative side
• Future options - pro version, self-hosted
version, custom options
• Blogging community

15. careerblogbasics.wordpress.com

16. Thank you!
Melissa A. Venable, PhD
melissa.venable@yahoo.com
@Melissa_Venable
Join me at Roundtable #4-2 on Friday:
“Professional Development for the Career
Services Blogger”