So, you want to start a website? There really, is no better place to bring that dream to fruition than at wordpress.com. In this article, I’ll take you through the entire process of setting up a website, that will be hosted with WordPress. To help you understand the process I have placed links to step-by-step video’s to help you along. Enjoy!

1. The process for signing up for an account, is the following:
2. Go to wordpress.com, with your chosen browser.
3. Click on Signup up now, which should be in the upper right hand corner of the page.
4. Enter a Username, you will remember.
5. Enter a Password, that isn’t easy to guess and that you’ll remember.
6. Reenter that password again.
7. Enter an email address, that you’ll have on hand, to verify your account.
8. Click in the box, next to: I have read and agree to the fascinating terms of service.
9. Click on the circle, next to: Gimme a blog! (Like username.wordpress.com)
10. Click on the Next button.
11. In the Blog Domain text box, enter the name for your site. It should be short, have something to do with the content of your site, and something you’ll remember.
12. In the Blog Title text box, enter the name you’d like to use for your blog. It should be descriptive of the content you will have on your site.
13. Choose your language preference.
14. Let the privacy check box selected, unless you don’t want search engines and just about everyone else to be able to find your site. What fun would that be?
15. Click the Sign Up button, and you are done with the setup process.
16. Check the e-mail account, you gave to WordPress. This will contain a link you need to click to finalize the whole setup process.
17. Now, in a browser go back to wordpress.com. At the top of the page enter your Username and Password and click on Log In.

This is how you would manually install a WordPress blog system on Go Daddy. The process of installing manually on most all other hosting companies, like Go Daddy, is nearly identical.

Here are the directions from Go Daddy’s website.

Installing WordPress using Hosting Connection is the easiest way to get WordPress up and running on your domain. However, you can install it manually into your shared hosting account if you so desire.

To accomplish this, you will need the following items:

* A compatible hosting account which supports PHP and MySQL.

* Your FTP account login information. This includes the FTP User Name and Password for your hosting account.

* A MySQL Database for WordPress and the Database information.

* The latest version of WordPress.

NOTE:This article assumes you already have a compatible hosting account and your FTP login information. If this is not the case, obtain these items and then return to the article.

Create a MySQL Database for WordPress

1. Log in to your Account Manager.

2. In the My Products section, select Hosting.

3. Next to the hosting account you want to modify, click Manage Account.

4. In the Databases section of the Hosting Control Center, click the MySQL icon.

5. Click Create New Database.

6. Enter a description, WordPress for instance.

7. Enter a user name and password.

8. Specify your MySQL version.

9. Specify whether you want to allow Direct Database Access.

NOTE: Direct Database Access is a less secure way to manage your hosted databases which most users do not require. If you do not need to access your database remotely, then you should not enable Direct Database Access. For more information, see Why Connect Remotely to Shared Hosting Databases.

10. Verify your MySQL database settings. If everything looks OK, click OK.

It may take a few minutes to create your database. Click your browser’s Refresh button to check if your database is ready.

Once you have set up a database for your account, you can find your host name information by clicking the Pencil icon next to the name of your database. Note the following items, as they will be needed later in the install process:

* Host Name

* Database Name

* Database User Name

Now, you need to download the latest version of WordPress from their servers. This can be found at WordPress.org.

Modify wp-config.php

Extract the WordPress ZIP file you downloaded and open the WordPress folder. Locate wp-config-sample.php and open it with a text editor like Notepad. Save a copy of the file as wp-config.php. You will be working in this file from now on.

In wp-config.php, locate the section that looks like this example:

/** 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’, ‘localhost’);

Enter the Database information from your newly created Database as follows:

* putyourdbnamehere is your MySQL Database Name

* usernamehere is your MySQL User Name

* yourpasswordhere is your MySQL password

* localhost is your MySQL Host Name

WordPress includes security keys which add encryption of information stored in user’s cookies. These must be set manually in the wp-config.php file. Locate the section of the file that looks like this:

define(‘AUTH_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);

define(‘SECURE_AUTH_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);

define(‘LOGGED_IN_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);

define(‘NONCE_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);

Go to WordPress’ online key generator and insert the keys in place of the placeholder text in the wp-config.php file. When you are finished, save and close the wp-config.php file.

Install WordPress

Using an FTP client such as FileZilla, Fetch or gFTP, FTP into your server and copy the WordPress folder to your hosting account. This directory can be stored anywhere in your account, in this example it will be in the root (http://www.coolexample.com).

1. Begin the WordPress installation by going to http://www.coolexample.com/wp-admin/install.php, where coolexample is the name of your domain. This will launch the WordPress installation process where you’ll be asked for your Blog Title and Email address.

2. Enter this information and click Install WordPress.

3. The next screen will provide you with a username and password to log into your blog for the first time. Note that information, then click Log in.

4. Enter the username and password you just noted and click Log In. The WordPress Dashboard will display. This is the main administration center for your blog.

Your WordPress blog is now installed. For assistance in the set up and maintenance of your blog, see the Getting Started with WordPress page at WordPress.org.