Create a blog with WordPress
Start a blog on your own domain: install WordPress, choose a fast theme, set up the essential pages and settings, and publish your first post.
On this page
- Step 1: Install WordPress
- Step 2: Log in and tidy up
- Step 3: Get the settings right
- Step 4: Choose a theme
- Step 5: Create the essential pages
- Step 6: Write and publish your first post
- Step 7: Turn on caching
- Step 8: Make sure emails arrive
- Step 9: Back it up
- Check it worked
- If something’s wrong
- Where to go next
- Level
- Beginner
- Time
- About 60 min
- Steps
- 9
- You’ll finish with
- A WordPress blog on your own domain with an About page, a first post and backups in place
Before you start
- A Traxio account with your domain connected
- WordPress installed (Install WordPress), or 20 extra minutes to do it in step 1
- An idea for your first post
9 steps
A blog is one of the best first websites: you learn WordPress by using it, and every post you write adds value to an address you own. This tutorial gets you from a fresh install to a published post with the settings that matter done properly.
Step 1: Install WordPress
If WordPress isn’t installed yet, open Softaculous in DirectAdmin (search for “Softaculous”), choose WordPress, then Install. Choose https:// and your domain, leave the directory box empty so the blog is at the root of your domain, set a site name, and create an admin username that isn’t “admin” with a strong password. Click Install.
The full walkthrough is in Install WordPress on Traxio.
Step 2: Log in and tidy up
Go to yourdomain/wp-admin and log in. Then remove the sample content so it doesn’t end up in search results:
- Posts › delete “Hello world!”
- Pages › delete “Sample Page”
- Comments › delete the sample comment
- Plugins › delete any plugins you don’t plan to use
Step 3: Get the settings right
These settings are easiest to change now, before you have content:
| Setting | Where | Change it to |
|---|---|---|
| Permalinks | Settings › Permalinks | Post name, so addresses look like /my-first-post/ |
| Site title and tagline | Settings › General | Your blog’s name and a short description |
| Time zone | Settings › General | London (or your city) |
| Comments | Settings › Discussion | Tick “Comment author must have a previously approved comment” to hold first comments for approval |
| Search visibility | Settings › Reading | Make sure “Discourage search engines” is not ticked |
Change permalinks first
Changing permalinks after you’ve published posts changes their addresses, which breaks any links people have shared. Do it now.
Step 4: Choose a theme
Go to Appearance › Themes › Add New Theme. For a blog, look for a theme that:
- Puts the writing first, with readable text and a clear layout
- Is lightweight and fast (“block theme” or “full site editing” themes are usually lean)
- Has been updated in the last few months and has plenty of active installations
Install and activate it. WordPress’s own default theme is a perfectly good choice to start with: you can change theme later without losing posts. Choosing themes and plugins.
Step 5: Create the essential pages
Under Pages › Add New Page, create:
- About: who you are and what the blog is about. This is often the second most-visited page on a blog.
- Contact: an email address, or a contact form (see step 8).
- Privacy: WordPress includes a draft privacy policy under Settings › Privacy. Edit it to describe what your site actually collects.
Then add them to your menu under Appearance › Editor › Navigation (block themes) or Appearance › Menus (classic themes).
Step 6: Write and publish your first post
Posts › Add New Post. A few habits that help from the very first post:
- Write a specific title that says what the post is about
- Use headings to break up longer posts
- Add images with alt text that describes them, for screen readers and search engines
- Pick a category (rename “Uncategorized” to something meaningful under Posts › Categories)
- Fill in the excerpt so the post has a good summary
Click Publish, then view the post on your site.
Resize images before uploading
Phone photos are often 4–8MB each, which slows pages and fills storage. Resize to around 1600 pixels wide before uploading, or use an image optimisation plugin. Image optimisation.
Step 7: Turn on caching
Go to Plugins › Add New Plugin, search for LiteSpeed Cache, install and activate it. The default settings are a good start and make pages load noticeably faster. Don’t install a second page-caching plugin alongside it. LiteSpeed Cache for WordPress.
Step 8: Make sure emails arrive
WordPress sends emails for comment notifications, password resets and contact forms, and by default they often land in spam. Create a mailbox on your domain, such as blog@yourdomain, and send through it with an SMTP plugin. Make WordPress emails arrive.
Step 9: Back it up
Take a full backup now, before you’ve put in hours of writing. In Softaculous, open All Installations and click the backup icon next to your WordPress site, or create a full account backup in DirectAdmin and download it. Then put a monthly reminder in your calendar. Back up WordPress and prove you can restore it.
Check it worked
Your blog is ready when
If something’s wrong
- Post addresses give a 404 after changing permalinks. Go to Settings › Permalinks and click Save again; this rewrites the
.htaccessfile. - The site shows “Discourage search engines” warnings in search tools. Untick it under Settings › Reading.
- You can’t log in. Use “Lost your password?” on the login page, or reset it another way.
Where to go next
Keep writing: a blog grows with consistency more than with plugins. When you’re ready, work through the rest of the Learn WordPress path to secure and speed up your site.
Spotted something out of date or unclear? Tell us and we’ll fix it.