Creating a blog, everyone seems to have one, but what if you don’t have the technical skills to create your own blog?  To someone getting started, creating a blog may seem like something left to the professionals, but we’re here to show you how you can create your own blog from start to finish very quickly, and with no technical skills needed.

When creating a blog, there are a few directions to go.  There are free blog hosting services, sites that will supply you with a domain that they host, and carries their URL.  There are professionals who will create one for you for a fee.  Or you can do it yourself, own your own domain, choose the options you want, and know that the site is 100% yours.  This is what we are going to show you how to do.

First things first, you need a domain name.  Go here to get one, it is very easy to sign up, the domain will cost you about $10/year, and we are going to use their interface to show you how to do everything.

Sign up for an account, choose your domain name (I suggest a .com name, but other extentions will work just fine as well) and register it.  I suggest registering it for more than one year, then you don’t have to be reminded to renew, but it does not matter how long you register for at this point.

Once you have a domain name, you need a place to host your site.  Use these guys, they are very good, inexpensive, and again, we will be using their platform when teaching you about creating a blog.  It is very very easy with them.  Also, if you sign up for the mid-level hosting (less than $10/month), you will be able to have an unlimited number of blogs should you get hooked on creating a blog.  You can even host blogs for family members or friends, it’s a great deal!

Ok, now that you have a domain name and a hosting account, you are all set to begin.  Open two pages in your web browser so you can navigate between the two.  One should be your hostgator account, the other your godaddy account.

On the left hand side of your hostgator account at the bottom, you will see a box called “account information”.  In that box is your nameservers, they should look something like this:

ns1992.hostgator.com

Now go to your godaddy account.  On the left hand side you should find a link that says “domain manager”.  Click on the domain manager, then click on your site name.  Across the top are a number of icons, a little more than midway across is an icon labeled “nameservers”.  Click on this.

A dialog box should pop up.  Click the radio button to note that you are going to use custom name servers, then copy and paste the two name servers from your hostgator account.  Save the changes and go ahead and exit.

What this does is tells the internet where your page is located.  Hostgator is hosting your site, and the name servers will point to that host.  If you ever want to change hosts, you just come back here and update your nameservers and you will be set.

Now that your nameservers are set, it is time to set up your blog.  Go back to your hostgator account and find the icon called “Fantastico De Luxe”.  It is located in the box marked “Software/Services” and is located near the bottom of your control panel.  If you refer to the first screenshot above, you will see the red arrow pointing out this icon.

This Fantastico service is one of the reasons I really like this particular host.  It makes installations easy, plus makes upgrades very easy.  You don’t have to install anything, don’t have to use a file transfer program, nothing, it will be done for you.  This service is worth the cost of hosting all by itself, it’s great!  Ok, so enough of that, click on the Fantastico icon, and you will be brought to the installation screen.  Along the left-hand navigation panel, under the heading “blogs” is a link for wordpress.  Click on wordpress, then click on new installation.

Creating a blog with Wordpress

Make sure your domain is selected in the top drop-down menu.  Leave the next box blank (the install in directory box where the red arrow is pointing).  The next two boxes are your admin access data, and you will need to remember what you input.  I suggest writing it down.  My personal preference is to use “admin” for the name, then use a password.  This will help avoid any confusion later on if you give others access to your blog.

Next is your admin nickname.  This is what will show up on your posts.  You can use admin again, or you can use your personal name.  However you want your posts to reference you.  Don’t worry, you can change this later!

Finally, put your site name and a short description in and press install.  Your wordpress will be installed!

 
Congratulations on creating a blog!  That was easy, and probably took 30 minutes or less.  Your blog is now up and ready.  Our next post will show you how to get into the admin area and start posting.  Don’t worry, it will be just as simple as creating a blog!