One question that you might have in mind is... Why WordPress? Why is WordPress more preferred than the other blogging platforms? Or perhaps, what exactly is WordPress?

What is WordPress

WordPress is an open source blog publishing application. it is an innovative and revolutionary self-hosted blog publishing system that allows bloggers to develop and maintain their own blogs or websites with minimum computer experience required. WordPress evolved from a little-known blogging platform called B2/Cafe, created by Michael Valdrighi in 2001. In 2003, after the shutdown of B2/Cafe, one of the users, Matt Mullenweg decided to incorporate B2/Cafe''s codebase into his own software to enhance the typography of blogs. Mike Little and Michael joined him shortly after, and together, the team created the largest, most dominating user-friendly blogging platform in the history of the Internet.

Benefits of using WordPress

• It is free, open source, with a lot of developers constantly improving itself to meet the demands and requirements of modern web technologies.
• Themes and plugins are constantly being created to enhance the dynamic structure of WordPress
• Excellent support and knowledgebase

So let''s put the pieces of the puzzle together. Now you''ve got a good domain name, a reliable web hosting service provider, the last thing you need is a good CMS blogging platform. WordPress is the last piece of the puzzle. You are now ready to explore and start your blogging career.

Installing Wordpress

Step 1: Obtain the FTP access information to your web hosting space. Connect to it using a FTP client. We recommend FieZilla, downloadable at http://filezilla-project.org/

Step 2: Download the latest version of Wordpress at http://wordpress.org/download/

Step 3: Setup a MySQL database and copy down your "database server address", "database name", "username", and "password".

For GoDaddy, see http://help.godaddy.com/article/5110

Step 4: In the WordPress folder that you just downloaded, make a copy of wp-config-sample.php and rename it to wp-config.php

Step 5: Edit wp-config.php. enter in your "database server address", "database name", "username", and "password", then save the file.

/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define(''DB_NAME'', ''putyourdbnamehere'').
/** MySQL database username */
define(''DB_USER'', ''usernamehere'').
/** MySQL database password */
define(''DB_PASSWORD'', ''yourpasswordhere'').
/** MySQL hostname */
define(''DB_HOST'', ''yourserveraddresshere'').

putyourdbnamehere is your MySQL Database Name

usernamehere is your MySQL User Name for the Database

yourpasswordhere is your MySQL password for the Database

yourserveraddresshere is your MySQL Host Name

Step 6: Rename the WordPress folder and upload it to your web hosting space using a FTP client.

Step 7: Launch your web browser and go to the installation file at http://www.yourdomain.com/wordpressfolder/wp-admin/install.php

(replace "www.yourdomain.com" with your domain name, and "wordpressfolder" with the new name you changed to in Step 6)

Step 8: Follow the instructions on the page and complete the installation. Make sure you change your admin password.

For additional assistance, see http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress