Buzz
Websites can be used for various purposes, from sharing news, selling products, to watching online entertainment content, etc. Therefore, owning a website of your own is the desire of many. However, most of them still hesitate because they lack programming skills, and the cost of hiring web design services is quite expensive. In this article, I will guide you to create a free website with WordPress from A to Z.
1. What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open-source online website creation tool written in PHP. But to put it simply, it's perhaps the easiest and most powerful content management system (CMS) for websites and blogs today.
WordPress is an excellent website platform for various types of websites, from personal blogs to e-commerce, or other fields like business, news, photography, music, etc. In short, it's a versatile CMS.
The special thing is that WordPress is completely 100% free. With WordPress, you can always design stunning websites without paying any fees (except for Domain and Hosting fees), and without the need for programming knowledge. So, what are you waiting for? If you're considering owning a website for yourself, start with WordPress now!
2. Considerations before creating a website with WordPress
To publish a website, besides designing and posting content, you obviously need a Domain and Hosting. If you're not clear about these two concepts, you can refer to them here:
- What is a Domain? Essential Domain knowledge for beginners
- What is Hosting? Explanation about hosting for beginners
You can register a Domain and purchase Hosting before starting to create a website with WordPress, or vice versa. In this article, I will focus mainly on guiding you to create a website using WordPress, while you can explore and choose Domain and Hosting on your own.
Another note is to distinguish between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. These are two ways to host a WordPress website, but they have many differences, especially in terms of actual servers (Host).
By using WordPress.org, you can download the source code and host it on your personal computer or with a Hosting service provider. That's why I mentioned earlier that you can create a website with WordPress before considering Domain and Hosting. WordPress.org offers more flexibility and control over your website. You can use your own domain, install themes and plugins as you wish. You also have access to WordPress files, databases, and source code, meaning you can customize your website completely.
On the other hand, WordPress.com hosts the website for you. You don't have to manage a web server, pay for hosting, or download software. However, advertisements will be displayed on your website. Additionally, your website will use a wordpress.com subdomain, and you won't be able to upload custom themes or plugins, nor can you edit or modify the source code.
Through the comparison above, we can see that WordPress.org is much more powerful. Therefore, in the next section, I will guide you on how to use WordPress.org to create a website.
3. Guide to installing WordPress
Before using WordPress to create a website, you need to install it via the cPanel control panel after obtaining Domain and Hosting. So, do you need to pay for Domain and Hosting upfront? As I mentioned, not necessarily, because you can register and use these two with a free package. Of course, free options come with many drawbacks, but in this guide, I will use a free Domain and Hosting service from Hostinger as an example. You can follow along or skip if you already have your own Domain and Hosting.
* Note that if you choose a different Hosting service, the steps to install WordPress may not be exactly the same as the instructions below, but since most service providers support automatic installation, the process is likely to be similar.
Step 1: Visit https://vn.000webhost.com/dang-ky-website-mien-phi, register for an account, or log in with Facebook or Google.
Step 2: After answering a few questions for beginners, you will be asked to enter a domain name for your website and a password. Enter as you like, then click on Continue (note: because it's free, the domain name will include '000webhostapp.com' at the end).
Step 3: Choose Create WordPress website. Enter some information to set up WordPress, including Admin username, Admin password, URL (the domain name you used in step 2), and language (Vietnamese for easy understanding if you are a beginner). Then click Install.
Wait for a moment while the service automatically installs WordPress for you.
Once the installation is complete, you will receive a notification that the website is ready. Click on the Go to setup page button to start designing your website using WordPress!
4. Guide to creating a website with WordPress
Finally, we come to the most important part. In reality, your website has been created by now, but it's still very basic and needs to be completely refreshed.
After clicking Go to setup page in the previous step, you will be taken to the login page to access your website's admin area. Enter your username and password (created in step 3 item 3) to log in.
And here is the admin interface of your website.
With this admin area, you can install and configure everything for your website. Let's start by changing the theme first.
Changing the Theme for your website
Depending on the purpose and content of your website, you need to choose the corresponding Theme carefully, as this is the face of your website. People will only develop initial affection for a website if they find the interface attractive!
There are 3 ways to install a Theme for your WordPress website:
Method 1: Choose a pre-made (free) Theme from the library
- On the left-hand dashboard, hover over Appearance, select Themes (or Appearance > Themes if using English).
- Click on Add New.
- Next, choose one of the thousands of pre-made Themes available. Hover over the Theme you want and click Install. Or if you want to inspect it further before installing, click Preview.
- After installing the Theme, click on Activate to apply it to your website.
Method 2: Upload a Theme via the WordPress Admin Page
Apart from WordPress's built-in Theme library, users worldwide create countless other Themes, both free and paid. If you've acquired a Theme from an external source, you can upload it through the WordPress admin page.
- After clicking Add New, proceed to Upload Theme.
- Click on Choose File, select the Theme's .zip file from your computer, and then click Install Now.
- Hover over the installed Theme and click on Activate to apply it to your website.
Method 3: Upload a Theme via FTP
To follow this method, you can use FTP software (File Transfer Protocol - a protocol that allows you to exchange any files from your personal computer to the server) like FileZilla, or the file manager provided by your Hosting service. In this guide, I'm using Hosting from 000webhost, so I'll use their file manager directly.
- On the website management page of 000webhost (not the WordPress admin page), on the left-hand control panel, click on Tools > File Manager. Then, click on Upload file.
- Here you'll see all the folders and files belonging to your website. Open the /wp-content/themes/ folder. Then click on Upload Files to upload the Theme (.zip format) from your computer here.
- Extract the .zip file you just uploaded into its own folder, rename the folder to the name of the Theme for easy identification.
- On the WordPress admin page, on the left-hand control panel, hover over Appearance, click on Themes. Then, hover over the Theme you just uploaded from your computer, click on Activate.
Customize the layout for your website
You've installed the Theme for your website. But don't think your website looks dazzling like the template. You need to customize and adjust many things, from the overall layout, colors to details like the Menu, header images, footer, font styles, and more. At this step, you have to design according to your aesthetic eye.
- On the WordPress admin page, hover over Appearance, click on Customize.
- Here you can customize everything related to the current Theme of your website. The left column includes editable components, customize them until you're satisfied.
- Besides changing and customizing the Theme, the Appearance section in the WordPress admin dashboard can also help you edit the Menu, Sidebar or Footer Widgets, or even modify the Theme code (CAUTION: If you're not familiar with web programming, never use this feature as it may break your website).
Install additional plugins for your website
Plugins are extensions that add extra features that WordPress doesn't have by default. Most WordPress websites need additional plugins to support usage. There are many useful plugins, such as Yoast SEO (SEO support for websites), WP Super Cache (cache plugin to speed up your site), Contact Form 7 (create contact forms), or Wordfence (protect your site from harmful threats), and more.
You should explore and select some suitable plugins for your website. Remember to install only the necessary ones and avoid using too many plugins as it can slow down your site.
To install plugins, you can follow one of the three methods similar to installing themes.
Method 1: Choose a Plugin from the library
In your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins, then click Add New. Select suitable plugins to install (you can search for plugins by keywords).
Method 2: Upload Plugin through WordPress admin
After moving to Plugins in the dashboard and clicking Add New, proceed to Upload Plugin. Then upload the .zip file of the plugin from your computer for installation.
Method 3: Upload Plugin via FTP
Utilize FTP protocol (using software or hosting service's file manager) to upload the .zip file of the Plugin from your computer to the directory /wp-content/plugins/, then extract this .zip file.
Similar to Themes, Plugins need to be activated after installation to be used. Once activated, customize them to serve your website in the best possible way.
Create content for the website
WordPress provides excellent support for creating content on your website, and even if the built-in features are not enough, you can still install specialized Plugins.
Creating a new page
A typical website, besides the homepage, also contains many other 'child' pages, used to categorize different sections. For example, a news website may include pages like social news, economic news, sports news, etc. To create a new page or edit an existing one, click on Pages in the WordPress admin dashboard.
Once you've created all the necessary pages, you should create a Menu (Appearance > Menu) and then add the Menu to the website's interface.
Create categories and new posts
WordPress allows you to predefine a series of categories to classify future posts, and it also integrates a relatively feature-rich editor to assist you in writing. To create or edit categories or posts, click on Posts in the dashboard.
By now, you've basically completed your website. The next steps depend on the purpose and usage of your website. You can proceed according to your own methods, such as adding social media links, integrating live chat functionality, adding admin members to the website, setting up comments, etc. These tasks can all be done within the WordPress admin panel or with the help of plugins.
Additionally, don't overlook analytical tools like Google Search Console or Google Analytics, especially for websites that prioritize visitor traffic and SEO. Overall, these are tasks for those who already have knowledge of websites and are beyond the scope of this article - Free WordPress website creation guide - so I won't delve into them further. If you're truly interested, I encourage you to explore on your own.
Wishing you successful implementation and the creation of beautiful websites with WordPress!
