Course Description

WordPress is an incredibly powerful and free blogging platform that makes creating a basic blog fun and easy to create. But did you know that you can also use WordPress to power a fully functional web site? WordPress allows you to create pages, galleries, shopping carts and more, all in addition to its blog features. There are two ways of utilizing WordPress. The first is to let WordPress host your own blog for you at wordpress.com. The second way is to use WordPress' free software on your web site. That gives you more flexibility, power and options but it does require some basic technical skills. WordPress is a great tool but blogging isn't just about tools. Blogs are a great way to keep up to date with friends, family, your hobbies, your interests and your business concerns. Blogs can be easier to set up and maintain then most other web sites, making them accessible to many more people. The other thing that makes blogs different is how they encourage and facilitate a dialog between you and your readers. Now you can have a voice on the web. This course will teach you the art and science of basic blogging. You will learn: what are blogs and how they differ from other web sites how to define your blog topic -Hint it needs to be one of your passions! how to use the FREE WordPress platform to install and manage your blog how to modify WordPress so it fits your work style how to find blogging ideas how to start conversations on your blog the relationship between blogs and social networking how to modify your blog with basic themes and widgets how to set up WordPress on your own web site the pros and cons of having WordPress hosting your site versus hosting it yourself how to include photos, video and sound on your blog which plug-ins are important in a self hosted blog Learn more about blogging and see what past students are doing at the Blogging Class Blog This is a 5 week, self-paced, online course. If you need additional help understanding the material presented, you can communicate with the instructor and fellow classmates. The instructor will monitor and track your progress throughout the class. LVS Online offers many wonderful learning tools to help you get the most out of your online course, including an online portfolio service that manages all your course registrations, certificate of completion option, a class discussion board to interact with your instructor and fellow classmates, free hosting account, and a student upload area. LVS is a Corel Training Partner. LVS students may purchase Corel products at a significant savings. Follow this link for details. LVS students are eligible to receive software and hardware at a discount. Follow this link for details. Students are also eligible take advantage of special offers made available specifically for LVS by famous software developers such as Andromeda, AV Bros, Extensis, Harry Heim, namesuppressed, Nik Multimedia, and Ulead. Details are provided in the classinfo link found in the confirmation of registration. Show off your LVS Online spirit with an item from the LVS Store If you would like to receive more information regarding this course, click on the "Contact Us" link in the Information section and we'll try to answer any of your questions within the day.

Course Requirements

Students should have working knowledge of their operating system and must understand directories and paths: Free Windows XP/ME/98 Class Here Windows Vista Class Here. Directory Structure Tutorial Here Everyone will start with a practice blog on wordpress.com but as with most free things, there are some restrictions when it comes to styling and plugins. If you decide you want the additional options that a self hosted blog provides, you will need your own web site and you need to understand how to transfer files to and from that web site. Basic HTML page WS_FTP SmartFTP To use all of WordPress features you will need a web hosting account capable of running WordPress. Make sure that your web hosting account has MySQL and PHP, these are required to run WordPress. If you do not have one, students have the option of purchasing a low cost ($49.95 per year including domain name) Starter hosting account. The low cost LVS Starter hosting account has a quick and easy installer for WordPress included. The free LVS student account and the $24.95 Student acounts are NOT WordPress compatible! Details on LVS Hosting plans is available HERE. All lessons are available in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view/print the lessons. Plan to devote approximately 3-6 hours each week to complete their course work. Part of your homework will be contributing to and commenting on other blogs. Blogging can be addicting, so your time devoted to this course will vary according to how much time you spend on other blogs.

Course Prerequisites

Class Level - This class is suitable for all levels. Those with minimal HTML and CSS knowledge can easily use style templates and plug ins to create a functional and stylish blog. Those knowledgeable with HTML, CSS and PHP will be able to take their blogs to higher levels of customization.

Course Syllabus

Lesson 1 What is a blog? How do blogs differ from other web sites? Why blog? Who blogs? Types of blogs Blogging decisions Introduction to WordPress Lesson 2 Creating your practice WordPress blog Configuring your WordPress blog-the backend Your first blog post Introduction to blog conversations Introduction to WordPress.com themes Categories and tags Lesson 3 Customizing your WordPress.com theme Configuring your blog: widgets and more Adding a single image to your blog post Lesson 4 Decision time-is WP hosted or self hosted for you Installing a self hosted WP blog Self hosted blog plugins Blog writing tips and techniques Lesson 5 Building blog community RSS feeds Blog Promotion Lesson 6 Dealing with writer's block Blog upgrade and maintenance What's next?

Course Excerpt

LESSON 1 Welcome to the first class session of Blogging basics. Blogging is an easy way to be heard in the world; you can think of it as your own soap box,corner store or newspaper. This class is designed for the true beginner, as well as for those of you who have a blog that you want to improve. You can get a very basic blog set up and running in mere minutes, and you don't even have to know a smidgen of HTML to do so. For those of you who do know HTML and even PHP, you can easily create very stylized blogs with a rich assortment of features. Continued... Please note: Lessons provide step-by-step instructions with detailed screen captures.

Course Goals

By the end of this course, you will have a styled WordPress blog with posts and archives that accepts comments and trackbacks/pings. Visit the Blogging Class Blog

Course Reviews

Rainbow: "Both Bean and Anita are very helpful, and they are fast to respond to students questions. All lessons are well prepared and very organized." More...