The following directions were based on wordpress.com, but are basically the same as those for wordpress.org. (Follow the links to find out the differences. WordPress.com is the free, basic version.)

I also recommend using the templates and instructions from Keynote, the Cru Blog Starter Kit, to create a Cru website quickly for your ministry.

Create a WordPress Account

1. Go to www.wordpress.com and click “Get Started Here”.
2. Choose a blog address that reflects what you want your blog to be about (example: http://equipping4eministry.wordpress.com).
3. Choose a username. This needs to be a username that has not already been taken by another user. If you need to, you can add numbers to make yours different.
4. Enter and confirm a password.
5. Enter your eMail address.
6. Select what language you will be blogging in.
7. Click the “Create Blog” button.
8. You’ll be asked to choose a starter theme. Scroll down and click “No thanks. I’ll just stick with the default theme for now”. You can change this later (See Change Your Blog’s Appearance below).

Navigate to the WordPress Dashboard.

1. Go to wordpress.com  or wordpress.org.
2. Enter your username and password in the upper left-hand corner.
3. You will see a series of tabs. Click on the one that says “My Blogs”.
4. You should see the title of your blog and, underneath, several buttons. Click the one that says “Dashboard”.

Change Your Blog’s Appearance

1. From your dashboard, hover over “Appearance” in the left-hand sidebar.
2. Several options will pop up. Click on “Themes”.
3. Scroll through the theme options until you find one that you like, then click activate. If you like the default theme, you can just stick with that.
4. At the top of the screen, click “Customize”.
5. Depending on your theme, there will be different things you can customize like header text, header image, and background color.
6. Click “Save”.
7. Click “Return to Manage Themes”.
8. Click “Dashboard” in the upper left-hand corner.

Create Categories for Posts

1. From the dashboard, hover over “Posts”
2. Several options will pop up. Click on “Categories”
3. Enter a category name in the box under “Add New Category” like Personal or Evangelism.
4. If you’d like, you can choose a parent category for your new category and enter a description.
5. Click “Add New Category”

Write a Post

1. From the dashboard, hover over “Posts” in the left-hand sidebar.
2. Some options will pop up. Click on “Add New”.
3. Type in a title.
4. Type your post.
5. If you’re using categories, choose the category for this post.
6. Click “Publish”.

Add Photos to Your Posts

1. Start creating a new post.
2. Above the box for the text of your post are the words Upload/Insert followed by several icons. Click the one farthest to the left—“Add Media”
3. There will be a pop up on the screen. Click “Select Files”
4. Select the files you would like to upload, then click “Open”
5. Once the files have been uploaded, scroll down and choose a size and placement for your photo. Captions can also be added, but they are optional.
6. Click “Insert Into Post”
7. Finish your post and click publish.

NOTES:

• Many thanks to Bethany of one dress. one year. for freedom for compiling these steps!
• Find more help on using WordPress, including: support and forums on their site and videos from WordPress.tv and on YouTube.
• Find useful posts from eQuipping for eMinistry in our blogging category.
• Try one of these complete tutorials for wordpress.com
  • From learnwordpress.com
  • From about.com