In this tutorial I will assume you have been installed Wordpress to your host’s root directory either by manual install or by Fantastico installer provided by your hosting company.I hope this will help my comrades who are (hopefully) willing to follow my steps by having self-hosted blog. Of course this tutorial is originally written by myself based on my experience, so if you want to copy it to your please give me some credits by writing linkback to this article and please don’t modify the author name.
Errr… If you don’t have any Wordpress blog installed on your host and you want to start blogging, you should get it now. Most of hosting companies nowaday provides a fantastic "Fantastico Installer" that will guide you through installation process without even touching the source code and that damn-complicated-for-beginner mySQL database.
One more assumption is that the wordpress you have is at least version 2.5.1 because there’s some difference in the administration menu with the old version. Currently I am using the 2.6 version (the latest one when I’m writing this post). Try to always upgrade your WP installation, because there will be always nifty changes and feature in it.
1. Logging in to your account
Of course it’s the most crucial things to do. How can you manage the blog without logging in? 
Click the "Log in" or similiar link in your blog homepage (usually under the ‘meta’ sidebar) or just type at address bar http://yourblog.com/wp-admin, it will redirect you to WP dashboard if you haven’t logged in.
2. Changing your password
Now, you have a wordpress installed and you have logged in. Now the first thing to do is changing your password. This step is essential only if you installed WP by yourself (upload and install it I mean). Because the first password you get is merely random characters and almost impossible to remember. If you lost that password, you must reinstall the database. Isn’t it hurts?
Navigate to "User" tab in the dashboard and try to make some change if needed. You may also create the new user with administrator rights to replace that ugly "admin" username.
3. Configuring basic settings of your blog
Navigate to "Settings" tab in the dashboard and change some options in the sub-tabs.
I will only explain the important settings to change here.
General > Blog Title : The title of your blog, this one will appear in the browser title bar and blog header. However, the title bar texts can be overwritten by some plugin like All in One SEO Pack.
General > Tagline : It’s the tagline of your blog. Put some description of your blog here. On most themes tagline will be placed under the blog title in the header.
Writing > Size of post box : If you have 1024×768 or larger monitor resolution try to change the value to 15 or more. It will help you when typing in the post box because the default is just too small and maybe optimized to 800×600 res.
Formatting > Convert Emoticon : It’s must be turned on. You must know why 
Discussion > Email me whenever : Change to decide wether you get notfication email from the blog or not.
Discussion > Before a comment appears : Change the moderation rule for your blog commenting system.
Privacy > Blog visibility : Changes only if you think it’s right
Permalinks > Common settings : "Month and name" is the best permalink format. It’s both reader and SEO friendly.
Miscellaneous > Organize my uploads into month and year based folders : I prefer to turn this option off. Except your blog contains some photo journal.
4. Changing your theme
The default Kubric theme is nice, but it’s not unique! I wan’t to get my blog as unique as possible. Start it by changing your themes now. There are so many free WP themes in the net. If you want even more unique themes, you can hire someone to make you one or buy a premium themes (of course it’s not free). The easiset place to get the free one is from the official WP themes collection.
The default installation of WP only provide you with 2 default themes, unless your hosting company gives you some additional themes. But, most of them are not free.
You must upload your theme files to http://yourblog.com/wp-content/themes either by FTP or your cpanel file manager. The other method is with a theme uploader plugin. I will explain you how to use FTP client in another post.
Changes your desired theme in "Design > Themes" subtab.
5. Managing your sidebar widget
Unless your theme is not "widget-ready", you may want to change your sidebar.
The number of sidebar is different for each themes. e.g. 3-columns themes may have two sidebar, but 2-columns only have one. You can arrange your widget via drag and drop system, click the add button to add it to the widget list.
Recent Post & Recent Comments : Self explanatory. Very important to include.
Search : Unless your theme is not including the search bar in the header, add it. The best position is on the top.
Categories : Show the categories of your posts. I recommend you check the "show hierarchy" checkbox to keep it organized.
Meta : Put it to your sidebar for easier access to the dashboard.
RSS : You use it to put a link to another blog via RSS here. I will show the latest posts of selected feed.
6. Managing plugins
Plugins is something to give your blog more functionality by installing it. You can upload the plugin files to http://yourblog.com/wp-content/plugins. Still, the easisest place to find one is at official WP plugins site.
Activate or deactivate your plugins via "plugins" tab. From the 2.6 version, WP has a feature to mass (de)activate your plugins.
You can read my another post about plugin recommendations to install on your wp. Tune up the settings after you activate certain plugins. Some of them need further configurations to work correctly. Refer to the plugins documentation to get more information on how to make it work.
7. Managing categories
Before starting to make a post, plan your categories well. Click on Manage > Categories subtab to manage them.
A nice way to organize categories is to make them structured. Use the parent category option to make it.
8. Starting to post
You have made well preparation. At least you have done the top to-do-list. Now, it’s time to make a new post. I will tell you how to get posting idea later in the next post.
Regards,
| 3.1 |
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August 7th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Great Post. This tutorial was one of the best Ive seen in a while. Thanks again.
[Reply]
August 8th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but..
I am offering the use of over 1000 photos, free of charge for use on your blog.
Please see the following blog post for further info:-
Free Photos For Your Blog
I hope this is of interest to you (and clear enough to follow as it is my first attempt at doing it properly).
Thanks!
[Reply]
August 12th, 2008 at 11:13 am
[...] Leonhart presents WordPress After-Installation Tutorial posted at Strife Blogging, saying, “It helps anyone who wonders what to do right after [...]
October 4th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Then I suppose this content have to somewhat saved.
[Reply]
November 24th, 2008 at 7:44 am
great, good for newbies..
[Reply]