The XXX-Coach Blog Expert

If you still feel unconfident to install your WordPress Blog on a webserver, Coach Erwin can support and help you setting up your blog.

Coach Erwin uses phone/Skype to support you, and also uses, in need of, the Remote Assistance function with Windows Live Messenger.

A basic setup can be done in an one session of one hour, where you at the end:

• have WordPress installed and working;
• WordPress installed in your language, if needed;
• and have a blog ready to mold and use.

A more complete setup contains, next to the basic setup:

• support in uploading and installing your theme;
• installation and explanation of the most important plugins.

Want your WordPress Blog installed? Contact Coach Erwin at info@xxx-coach.com

Basic setup: €50 excl. VAT (to be paid before the session).

More Complete Setup: depending on your requirements.

To make the installation process as easy and quickly as possible, you will need to do the following steps before the session:

• have a webserver where you can have your blog. If you do not have one yet, Coach Erwin recommends Lonex. Coach Erwin already works more than 5 years with Lonex, and is really satisfied with their service and support.
• download the most current WordPress software version: Download .zip format or Download .tar.gz format
• have a FTP manager installed and functioning. Coach Erwin uses and recommends SmartFTP.

I have received quite an amount of requests of other coaches if I would explain to them how they can use the Admin Panel. To be able to give you all a general but a somehow detailed overview of the Admin Panel, I have created a three-part video where I go through all the parts of the Admin Panel.

Your comments and feedbacks are more than welcome.

Enjoy the video and have a great and excellent day.

Coach Erwin

You have the possibility to install your WordPress blog in the language you want. To be able to do this, you will have to do some extras steps, which I will explain here.

1. Go to http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_in_Your_Language and select your language from the list, and download the file to your hard disk.
2. Once it is unzipped, open your FTP Manager and select on the server where you installed the WordPress files, the folder ‘wp-content’.
3. Under the folder ‘wp-content’ create a subfolder named ‘languages’.
4. In your FTP Manager, on the harddisk browser, go to the place where you have unzipped the language file.
5. Select the file with extension ‘.mo’ and upload it to the folder wp-content/languages/
6. Finally, open the wp-config.php file, and go to line 17 (define (‘WPLANG’, ”);), and enter between the ‘ ‘ your language code. For Spanish from Spain that would be es_ES.
7. Save the wp-config.php file and upload it to the server.
8. And that is it. Well done. You have just installed WordPress in the language of your choice.

If you have any question, comment or feedback, feel free to use this post’s comment form.

Have a great and excellent day.

Coach Erwin

As you know, you have a certain amount of videos available that supports and helps you to install and start working with WordPress. But for those people that really want to have a quick step-by-step guide at their hand to use as backup after they have seen the videos, I have here that quick guide:

1. Download the latest WordPress:
   • Download .zip format
   • Download .tar.gz format
2. Uncompress the dowloaded WordPress file. I would suggest that you make a specific WordPress folder, as later on you will also download themes and plugins, and that way you will keep an easy overview.
3. Once uncompressed, login into the administration panel of your webhosting service, and create a MySQL database. (Please consult your webhosting service for support if needed, as creating a MySQL database differs from hosting service to hosting service). In one of the videos, I explain how you can do this if you have Lonex as hosting service.
4. Once you have created the MySQL database, you will need to configure the wp-config-sample.php file, which you find directly under the folder ‘wordpress’. When you have found the file, open it and you will have to change the following parts:
   define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘putyourdbnamehere‘);    // The name of the database
   define(‘DB_USER’, ‘usernamehere‘);     // Your MySQL username
   define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘yourpasswordhere‘); // …and password
   define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost‘);    // 99% chance you won’t need to change this value
   The fields that I have highlighted in yellow are those that you need to change. When done, just close the file and save it. !!!MAKE SURE THAT YOU SAVE IT AS IT IS, I.E. UNDER A .PHP EXTENTION!!!
5. Before you continue, you need to ask yourself the following question: how have you foreseen the structure of your domain name and blog. Basically, this question asks you if you are going to use this domain name solely for this blog, or if you are going to use in combination with other tools. If you are going to use it soley for the blog, than you can upload the wordpress files (next step) directly under the domain name. If not, than I would suggest to create a folder under your domain name and upload WordPress under that folder, as I have done with the XXX-Coach Blogexpert.
6. Open now your FTP manager, like SmartFTP (I really do recommend this one to Windows users as it is free), select all the folders (wp-admin,wp-content,wp-includes) and all the files, and upload it to your hosting server.
7. When the upload is completed, change the file name ’wp-config-sample.php’ to ‘wp-config.php’.
8. Open now your internet program (Internet Explorer, Firefox, …) and type the following url in the address path: yourdomainname/nameof folder(if any/wp-admin/install.php (example using this blog’s url: www.xxx-coach.com/blogexpert/wp-admin/install.php)
9. If you have done all steps correctly as mentioned herefore, you will be at the first page of installation, where you will have to type in your Blog Title, and your email address. !!!!MAKE SURE THAT YOU TYPE AN EXISTING EMAIL ADDRESS HERE AS YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL WITH YOUR ADMIN PASSWORD!!!
10. Click on the bottom ‘Install’.
11. Congratulations. Well done. Now click on the wp-login link and enter to your admin panel.
12. Last but not least, open your FTP manager and on the server, click on the folder wp-admin, and delete the file ‘install.php’. !!!!THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT AS THIS WILL PREVENT OTHERS TO REINSTALL WORDPRESS AND TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR BLOG!!!

I hope that this is an useful step-by-step install guide for WordPress. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave theme here in the comments’ form.

Have a great and excellent day, and enjoy your blogging.

Coach Erwin

This is an important and very valuable question, and a lot of people do not know the answer to. But do not worry, I will explain you here in some more details about plugins and which ones I recommend.

First of all, what are plugins? A plugin is small piece of software that you upload and activate in WordPress, and that will give you extra features to WordPress. This is actually one of the main reasons why I suggest people to install the wordpress software on a hosted server. It allows you to install and activate all kinds of plugins, which you cannot do when you set up your account under WordPress.com.

The procedure for uploading and activating the plugins is quite simple, but I do recommend one thing: PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS OR README FILE BEFORE UPLOADING. I do speak out of own experience. I have uploaded one day a plugin without looking at the readme file, and was standing in front of a nightmare. So, read the readme file or installation first and carefully.

On top of this blog, you find the page ‘Used Plugins’. This is the place where you can see which plugins I use and recommend. If you want one or more of them, just click on the name, and you can download the plugin.

The sites that I recommend to look for plugins are the following:

• WordPress Plugin Database
• WordPress Plugins Offical Page
• WordPress Plugins Database
• WordPress Plugin Sort by Function at softplug.net

If you know of another interesting and good website that has a selection of plugins, please let me know by using the comment form with this post, and if the evaluation is good, I will add it to list and put your name in brackets to thank you.

I hope that this is helpful to you and happy blogging.

Coach Erwin