A Simple Guide To Get You Blogging

• Log in to WordPress
• The WordPress Dashboard
• Creating Your Blog Post
• Giving Your Blog A Title
• Visual / HTML Editor
• The Kitchen Sink
• Creating Headings
• Adding Images to Your Blog
• Categorising Your Blog Post
• Tagging Your Blog Post
• Publish Your Blog

Log in to WordPress

To log in to WordPress you must enter the domain name of your website followed by /wp-admin.

For example: www.eggywebdesign.com/wp-admin
This will take you to the WordPress login screen.

Screenshot of the WordPress Login Screen

Enter your Username and Password into the appropriate boxes to enter the WordPress Dashboard.

The WordPress Dashboard

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard

The dashboard for WordPress can be slightly intimidating if you have not used it before. There are a lot of things you can do to your website using the WordPress Dashboard, but for the purpose of this tutorial we will concentrate on creating and publishing blog posts.

Creating Your Blog Post

Open the Posts menu by clicking the link at the top left hand side of the Dashboard – highlighted below.

Click the highlighted area to open the Posts menu

This will take you to the Posts page and expand the Post options as shown below.

Screenshot of WordPress Posts page

To add a new post, click Add New, as highlighted below.

Click the highlighted area to add a new Post

This will take you to the Add New Post page – as shown below.

The WordPress Add New Posts page. Click to view full screen

Giving Your Blog A Title

Fairly straightforward, just type the Title of your Blog Post into the box that says Enter Title Here as shown below.

Used to create a title for you blog

When you have done this click Save Draft, seen in the Publish box on the right hand side of the Add New Post page.

Save your Posts regularly to avoid losing any unsaved work

When you have saved your Post you can click Preview to see how it will appear in the browser. You may also notice the Publish button, which will publish the blog to your website but it is advisable to wait until you have finished the article before publishing it.

Visual / HTML Editor

The Visual / HTML editor allows you to switch between a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor and a code editor. Since this tutorial is aimed at learners we shall assume that it would be best to work in the Visual editor. Make sure you are using the Visual editor by selecting the appropriate tab.

Select the Visual editor using the tabs as shown

The Kitchen Sink

The Kitchen Sink allows you to format the style of your blog. You can toggle it on / off using The Kitchen Sink button as shown below. For the purpose of this tutorial it is best to have extra options available.

Click this button to toggle The Kitchen Sink on / off

Creating Headings

Type your heading text and select the text by dragging your mouse over it as shown below.

Creating a heading

The formatting used is the default Paragraph. We can change this by selecting Heading from the drop down menu as shown below.

Choose your formatting from the drop-down menu

The formatting has been changed to Heading 1

Adding Images to Your Blog

The functionality of adding images to a WordPress blog is very similar to adding images to Facebook, if you can do that then you should have no trouble with this section of the tutorial.

Please note that if you using large image files will take a long time to load. Prior to uploading your images you should resize them. You can resize images using a program such as Windows Live Photo Gallery, which you can download for free using the following link.

Download Windows Live Photo Gallery

When you are ready to upload your images click on the area highlighted below.

Use this button to start adding images to your blog

Clicking the Add An Image button will take you to the following screen.

Choose your file then press upload to add it to your blog

Once you have uploaded you image you can format it using WordPress. The main thing to change is usually the Title attribute, which is visible by the user when they scroll over your image.

Format your image before you insert into post

When you have finished formatting your image click Insert Into Post and it will now appear in your blog.

If you wish to edit your image after adding it to you blog just click on it and the Edit and Delete options will become available.

The Edit & Delete buttons for images in your blog

Categorising Your Blog Post

WordPress allows you to categorise your blog posts. This allows you to display a list of categories, when the user selects a category all blog posts from that category are displayed.

You can choose from a list of categories you have already used or add new categories using the Categories section at the right hand side of the Add New Post page in WordPress.

The Categories box – found on the right hand side of the page

When categorising your posts I find a good analogy is to think of the movie E.T. The category that would fall into would be Science Fiction.

Tagging Your Blog Post

You can use tags to further identify the subject of your blog posts. Expanding on the analogy of E.T, which we categorised as Science Fiction, we could use the following tags:

• Steven Spielberg
• Extra Terrestrial
• Children
• Alien

Tags can be posted using the Post Tags section on the right hand side of the Add New Post page in WordPress.

Post Tags – on the right hand side of the Add New Post page in WordPress

Publish You Blog

All of the content is ready, you have proof-read your blog post, added all your images and it’s all looking great. The only thing left to do is get it on your website for all to see. Just click Publish and you blog will be posted on your website.

Click Publish to share your blog with the World

Don’t forget that you can go back and edit your blog at any time if there is anything you wish to edit.

If anyone has any questions or feedback about posting WordPress blogs then please feel free to comment below.

Happy blogging!

Which Is The Best Smartphone To Buy

Here at Eggy Web Design we are currently facing a bit of a dilemma, our mobile phone contracts are due for renewal and we are unsure about what handset is going the best to suit our needs.

Ultimately it came down to a choice between two handsets;
the HTC Desire vs the iPhone 4.

It must be said that both phones are very good, choosing between them has not been an easy task but after some exhaustive research our minds are made up. Read on to find out who wins the battle of the handsets.

Apple iPhone 4

iPhone 4 Benefits

• Best looking phone on the market
• Loads of great Apps
• Facetime video calling
• High resolution screen: 960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi
• Good quality Camera and Video Recording
• App Store is accessible for developers

The iPhone 4 is without doubt a classy gadget, judged purely on the look of the device the iPhone 4 wins hands down. It’s clean lines and shiny body are very alluring – but it is not without its faults.

iPhone 4 Faults

• Reception is known to be problematic
• Glass display reportedly cracks very easily
• You must use Apple approved software
• Not compatible with Flash
• The battery cannot be changed
• The storage on the iPhone cannot be upgraded
• Most expensive smartphone

All bells and whistles aside the main function of the iPhone is really to make and receive calls so the issue with the iPhone having poor reception is clearly very off putting. Apparently Apple are releasing a software update to fix the reception problem but how a software update is supposed to fix a hardware issue is baffling.

Battery Life

It is accepted that the battery life on a modern smartphone is not great. There is a high demand on the battery due to the processor handling all the various applications that are being used. If you are using either the iPhone 4 or the HTC Desire, the likelihood is that you will have to charge the battery every day.

Most of the comparisons between the HTC Desire and the iPhone fail to mention that you cannot change the battery on your iPhone. One day that battery will run out and iPhone owners everywhere will be left with a useless device. How long will the battery last? Two years maybe, just enough time for your contract to expire and by this time we will likely all be salivating over the iPhone 6.

Does this pose a broader question about the throwaway nature of modern day society and Apple’s apparent plan plan to accommodate this?

Feel free to comment.

Summary of iPhone 4

Apple devotees with argue tooth and nail that the iPhone 4 is the best thing in the World since the 3Gs.

It is a slickly marketed and desirable object but at the end of the day the iPhone 4 is by no means perfect. The research carried out for this article has exposed some flaws in Apple’s wonder device but will that be enough to tip the vote towards the HTC Desire?

Read on to find out.

HTC Desire (Android)

HTC Desire Benefits

• Customisable user interface
• Part of the Open Source Movement
• Slightly bigger screen than iPhone 4 – 3.7 inches
• Screen is responsive and is every bit as intuitive as the iPhone
• Better support for third party apps

Many online reviews of the HTC Desire are filled with enthusiastic owners who have nothing but good things to say about it. It is part of the Open Source Movement, which means that third party apps are not spoon fed.

HTC Desire Faults

• Camera not as good as the iPhone
• Difficult to see the screen in direct sunlight
• Resolution of the screen is lower than the iPhone 4
• Currently more apps available for iPhone
• The storage of the phone is a poor 512MB

Finding faults in the HTC Desire has been difficult. It seems to be a great phone and it’s a lot cheaper than the iPhone 4.

Any negative with the HTC Desire issues are seemingly being resolved.

The storage can be upgraded with a 32GB Micro SD card, which can be swapped if required.

The Android app store, which is the main marketplace for buying apps for the HTC Desire is experiencing a higher rate of growth than Apple’s app store.

The video camera has recently been upgraded to record in HD with the recent update to Android operating system version 2.2, and as for not being able to see the screen in direct sunlight, that can hardly be judged as harsh criticism.

Summary Of The HTC Desire

There is more of a sence of freedom surrounding the HTC Desire, the interface being highly customisable is a beacon of sorts for the nature of the device and the way people can contribute.

The Winner Is…

The advertising campaign used by Apple claiming “This Changes Everything – Again” seems rather brash, especially when compared to the somewhat less pretentious saying adopted by HTC – “Quietly Brilliant”.

It must be said that quietly brilliant seems to be accurate when describing this phone. If you can overcome the desirability of the iPhone 4 and compare the two phones side by said then it must be said there is not that much difference in functionality and usability.

This begs the question why should we pay more for the iPhone 4?

Head over to the website if you would like some information about the HTC Desire.

SKATE 3 Custom Graphics Creator

Here at Eggy Web Design when we are not busy making stylish and functional websites you will often find us floating around in cyberspace.

This week we have started a team in the popular videogame Skate 3. Check out the custom graphic on the skateboard and the poster in the background.

If you happen to be on the Playstation Network then you can feel free to add Eggy Web Design to your friends list. Get in touch via the Contact Form with your Network ID and we’ll get a game on.

Click Here to visit the SKATE 3 website

During an exciting first year in business, Eggy Web Design was honoured with an award from Glasgow South West Regeneration Agency (GSWRA) for Creativity.

The GSWRA have played an important role in establishing Eggy Web Design by providing priceless business start-up advice and hosting networking events.

Eggy Web Design were delighted to be awarded for Creativity at a recent awards ceremony hosted by the Glasgow South West Regeneration Agency.

Click here to see the story on the GSWRA web page.

Many thanks to everyone at the GSWRA, particularly Patricia Murray, who has went above and beyond to help Eggy Web Design.