Is anyone here knowledgeable about WordPress blogs?

[andywild]

I walked CF and CP last year and blogged about them (let's say 40 posts for CF 20ish for CP)
I plan to walk again this year but I'm ending up with one long continuous thread and would like to have a home page with links to each individual walk so that it looks neater and is more accessable... I've tried online lessons but I'm just not technical enough.. I could do with someone helping me out for an hour or so?

 

[tomnorth]

Below is a link to an excellent post on Wordpress blogging.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/new-improved-camino-blogging-survival-guide.56732/

 

[Magwood]

take a look at my blog. Is this what you’re after? I tried to make it as user friendly as possible, but it definitely takes a bit more effort. If you think I can help, feel free to make contact.

 

[andywild]

take a look at my blog. Is this what you’re after? I tried to make it as user friendly as possible, but it definitely takes a bit more effort. If you think I can help, feel free to make contact.

That's exactly how I want mine!!
Nicely sectioned off
Preparation
Cp2018
Cf2018
And then a new section for cf2019 which I'll add to each day.

I just think that anyone new coming to my blog has to scroll through nearly 80 posts to get to the beginning and it just looks and feels clunky..

 

[Kris85]

First you need a domain
(Name of the webpage you want xxxxxx.com)
Then you need a webhost who offers auto-install off CMS-platforms like WP.
- I can recommend Servage.net (If you sign up - but dont finish your order and wait for 1 week, they send you a 50% discount code). They offer a great auto-install. And you can even use the 750GB you have as a Cloud-base backup for private photos etc.

After connecting the domain, with the webhost - and from the control panel at Servage, you can then install WP. From the CMS-system (the admin-log in system at WP), you can add templates (skins/looks for your webpage), and plugins (like social media share buttons, photo album plugins etc)

More easy told:

• Get a webhost, get a domain. Then install WordPress from the control panel from your webhost.
• After, you go to a admin-login page directly from your webpage. There you do everything.

Hope it helps. Also; Youtube offers a lot of great videos if you are new to this.

 

[Magwood]

That's exactly how I want mine!!
Nicely sectioned off
Preparation
Cp2018
Cf2018
And then a new section for cf2019 which I'll add to each day.

I just think that anyone new coming to my blog has to scroll through nearly 80 posts to get to the beginning and it just looks and feels clunky..

Andy, I use Wordpress “twenty ten” template. I create a new page for each tab section and for each sub-section (ie, each camino). On each camino page I create a chronological list of links to each day’s post.

Take a look, see if you can work it out. If not, I will happily help.

 

[El Mayordomo]

take a look at my blog. Is this what you’re after? I tried to make it as user friendly as possible, but it definitely takes a bit more effort. If you think I can help, feel free to make contact.

Love your blog. I am lucky enough to have a pequeña casita in eastern Almeria province - I am doing my first camino this summer, Frances, and will be writing a blog of course - feel free to check it out Hoping I'll love it and then will plan to do Mozarabe in the future. One of the Camino signs outside Alboloduy, seen on many a bike ride, was one of my inspirations to walk the camino.

 

[andywild]

Andy, I use Wordpress “twenty ten” template. I create a new page for each tab section and for each sub-section (ie, each camino). On each camino page I create a chronological list of links to each day’s post.

Take a look, see if you can work it out. If not, I will happily help.

I'm going to try on my laptop tomorrow but I seriously doubt I'll be able to do it.. I think I'm going to need face to face help or just fine someone online that I can give admin rights to and pay them to do it.. it'll probably only take an hour for someone who knows what they're doing. Once I'm set up I'll be flying

 

[Magwood]

@andywild I’m sure you could manage it. I have no training in the field, just a knowledge that most things are possible and a determination to make things work. Good luck.

 

[C clearly]

Maggie's blog is excellent. Just for comparison, you might look at my blog (see my signature). I simply assign a "category" to each post, and the drop down menus take care of the rest. For each new camino I need to figure out how to add the new category. I'll be looking at that soon for my spring 2019 walk.

 

[Susan Watson]

Hi Andy
Im very new to blogging but have managed to set up pages on my nenu and have a link on each page to each of my posts. Have a look under my menu item Caminos - Camino del Norte where I have a link to each day’s post. Planning on the Camino Portuguese in May. Hopefully my blogging info will improve with morr experience.
https://watsonsgowalkabout.com.au/
Please contact me via my comments if I can be of any assistance.

 

[john newman]

@Magwood recommends Twenty Ten on Wordpress, but it’s not available on my (recently purchased) app.
It sounds like Twenty Sixteen though. Does anyone have experience of using Twenty Sixteen for blogs?
John

 

[witsendwv]

@Magwood recommends Twenty Ten on Wordpress, but it’s not available on my (recently purchased) app.
It sounds like Twenty Sixteen though. Does anyone have experience of using Twenty Sixteen for blogs?
John

Twenty Eleven is similar, but I am having the same problems. Probably just not enough time to devote to this. Anyone want to teach a class?

 

[Tim Greig]

Wordpress.com is different to Wordpress.org. Wordpress.com handles all the technical stuff like domains and hosting. Depending on your subscription level, you can get realtime help from their experts who will even set up your website while you watch! And then uploading posts from your phone is straightforward. I use it and I'm very happy.

 

[BobM]

Below is a link to an excellent post on Wordpress blogging.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/new-improved-camino-blogging-survival-guide.56732/

Definitely agree about JJinWI's Survival Guide. I have written up my various pilgrimage walks here in Ivar's forum, which is fine and easy to do in the field, but WordPress gives a more professional look and feel.

Bob M

 

[cj2003]

Lots of good advice in this thread - and some great looking blogs. First of all, follow @Kris85 good writeup of the requirements and then get inspired by the many blogs and advice in here.

My own wordpress site https://wewalk.dk/ is set up like Kris85 writes and I have installed and uses the free theme Travelify - the rest is tinkering and learning and I went along!

 

[Judy's Way]

I've had success with the same wordpress theme, "Twenty Ten" which Magwood recommended: https://throughourlookingglass.ca.

 

[alaskadiver]

Wordpress isn't that hard. Just start off simple. I have my own domain and use Wordpress with the Hueman Pro theme. It's probably a lot more involved then what you want but gives you an idea of what is possible. Starting out I'd recommend to just keep it simple. My site is in my signature block but in case you are reading this on a phone here it is: musingsfromthelastfrontier.com

 

[freeflyer123]

take a look at my blog. Is this what you’re after? I tried to make it as user friendly as possible, but it definitely takes a bit more effort. If you think I can help, feel free to make contact.

Brilliant. I had a trawl around your blog and found it very interesting. And what a long way to have walked - in 2013 I rode from Bayonne to Santiago with my husband, and we managed around 900 kms, that was enough for us! We are thinking of riding the Del Norte this year but are a bit worried about a lot of things, not least the outcome of Brexit and our ages (78 and 71). If you're interested in looking at the Camino from a different aspect (on a bike rather than walking) visit my website (cyclingsofties.blog). I'm a newbie at setting up and getting a website going so it's not as well constructed as yours. I love the map on your opening page, which whets the appetite right from the off.

I checked out your Facebook page as well and will be following that as I really enjoy reading your articles.

 

[Magwood]

Hi @freeflyer123 thanks for your kind comments. I have taken a look at your blog and it is very easy to navigate, which I think is the most important aspect.
Buen Camino for the Norte.

 

[freeflyer123]

@Magwood recommends Twenty Ten on Wordpress, but it’s not available on my (recently purchased) app.
It sounds like Twenty Sixteen though. Does anyone have experience of using Twenty Sixteen for blogs?
John

John, I'm using Twenty thirteen for my blog, and love it (see www.cyclingsofties.blog for an idea of how it looks. Easy to work with as well as it has a nice sidebar which can be used to effect.

 

[john newman]

Thanks freeflyer123.
I’m still struggling so I’ll have a look at yours. I think the solution is to pick a theme that is designed for blogs rather than a general website. I’ll keep trying. I start my Camino from Vézelay in April so have a month or so to sort it.
John

 

[AndrewDavOz]

Hi Andy, (good name BTW)

The main concept you need to grasp on wordpress is the distinction between Pages and Posts.

You can regard Pages as static pages of info which contain reference info. Often people set up a page named About. That has info about the poster, where they live, what their hobbies are, how they feel about Brexit or fish. Another page may be other info. Those pages can produce links in a kind of menu format at the top of the wordpress web page.

Posts are more dynamic and fluid. They are usually posted one at a time and for the camino, I would suggest one post one Post per day or per week - however often you want to post. Randomly if that suits you. Normally posts are displayed in reverse chronological order but you can change that. Normally a post is published immediately but you can flag it as a draft, work on it later, and finally “publish” it when you are happy with it. Until you publish, no-one can see it.

Look and feel: the appearance of your blog is dependent on the Theme you choose. Importantly, the theme is not locked, you can change it as many times as you like. Start with one, look at another, upgrade it, whatever.

Photos and other graphical content is usually uploaded to the Media section of your wordpress account. When you want to add a photo to a post or page, you select it from the saved images in your Media store. If it isn’t there already, you upload it.

I have used wordpress for a few years now, including the basic account at wordpress.com and a paid account, also have self hosted a site using wordpress software, this gives the most flexibility but comes with the greatest complexity. Go for simple to start with.

As you have found, having a continuous post or page that gets longer and longer is hard to use, hard to read and is not indexed. Whereas wordpress will automatically generate a menu of your posts, either in an Archive list or in several other options. You can decide on what your pages look like, what lists and indexes are included on the side of your page, if your chosen theme allows for that. Some themes put indexes and tag lists at the bottom of the web page.

If you dream up categories and tags you will allow your site to be searchable on those categories and tags. A suggested category list would be to have one category per walk. Eg. CF2019, CP2016. And tags could be allocated per day, per starting point, per ending point or per albergue. You can use as many tags as you like on each post or page.

Hope this helps...

Andrew
In oz.

 

[Robo]

Some great Blogs shared here. Better revamp mine, it's looking dated in comparison

Something you might want to consider @andywild is the post sequence.
A pet peeve of mine.
Maybe it's because I have poor attention (I have ADHD)

But most blogs have the posts set in date sequence, with the newest post at the top of the list.
I think that is the default setting.
This is great if people are following you 'live' back home.
They see your latest post at the top all the time.

But........

People will want to read your posts weeks, months, years later.
And you'll have tabs for different Caminos etc etc.

So for blog posts that are not related to a 'live' ongoing Camino,
Why not change the date sequence to oldest post at the top!
When you get back home. It's one easy setting......

Otherwise people have to read about your journey in reverse.
I just can't do it. So I tend not to read those ones.
It's like reading a book from the back to the front.
And even if you find the first post, it's not always easy to read them in the right sequence depending on the way the blog is structured.

If you look at my Blog, you will see each past Camino starts with the logical first post.
They are sorted oldest post first. http://robscamino.com/

Then if you have blog posts that are 'between' Caminos, you could add tabs for those too.
Equipment, Planning, Stories, whatever.

Just a thought, to make reading blogs easier.
But maybe it's just me and my poor attention

 

[andywild]

Hi Andy, (good name BTW)

The main concept you need to grasp on wordpress is the distinction between Pages and Posts.

You can regard Pages as static pages of info which contain reference info. Often people set up a page named About. That has info about the poster, where they live, what their hobbies are, how they feel about Brexit or fish. Another page may be other info. Those pages can produce links in a kind of menu format at the top of the wordpress web page.

Posts are more dynamic and fluid. They are usually posted one at a time and for the camino, I would suggest one post one Post per day or per week - however often you want to post. Randomly if that suits you. Normally posts are displayed in reverse chronological order but you can change that. Normally a post is published immediately but you can flag it as a draft, work on it later, and finally “publish” it when you are happy with it. Until you publish, no-one can see it.

Look and feel: the appearance of your blog is dependent on the Theme you choose. Importantly, the theme is not locked, you can change it as many times as you like. Start with one, look at another, upgrade it, whatever.

Photos and other graphical content is usually uploaded to the Media section of your wordpress account. When you want to add a photo to a post or page, you select it from the saved images in your Media store. If it isn’t there already, you upload it.

I have used wordpress for a few years now, including the basic account at wordpress.com and a paid account, also have self hosted a site using wordpress software, this gives the most flexibility but comes with the greatest complexity. Go for simple to start with.

As you have found, having a continuous post or page that gets longer and longer is hard to use, hard to read and is not indexed. Whereas wordpress will automatically generate a menu of your posts, either in an Archive list or in several other options. You can decide on what your pages look like, what lists and indexes are included on the side of your page, if your chosen theme allows for that. Some themes put indexes and tag lists at the bottom of the web page.

If you dream up categories and tags you will allow your site to be searchable on those categories and tags. A suggested category list would be to have one category per walk. Eg. CF2019, CP2016. And tags could be allocated per day, per starting point, per ending point or per albergue. You can use as many tags as you like on each post or page.

Hope this helps...

Andrew
In oz.

It kind of helps... The things you suggest are the things I'm trying to achieve.. unfortunately I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't even know of my basic template that I chose allows the links/menus options.. I wish there was a company that I could pay to sort it out for me and then I can just carry on waffling in ignorance, knowing that it still looked pretty and accessible

 

[andywild]

Some great Blogs shared here. Better revamp mine, it's looking dated in comparison

Something you might want to consider @andywild is the post sequence.
A pet peeve of mine.
Maybe it's because I have poor attention (I have ADHD)

But most blogs have the posts set in date sequence, with the newest post at the top of the list.
I think that is the default setting.
This is great if people are following you 'live' back home.
They see your latest post at the top all the time.

But........

People will want to read your posts weeks, months, years later.
And you'll have tabs for different Caminos etc etc.

So for blog posts that are not related to a 'live' ongoing Camino,
Why not change the date sequence to oldest post at the top!
When you get back home. It's one easy setting......

Otherwise people have to read about your journey in reverse.
I just can't do it. So I tend not to read those ones.
It's like reading a book from the back to the front.
And even if you find the first post, it's not always easy to read them in the right sequence depending on the way the blog is structured.

If you look at my Blog, you will see each past Camino starts with the logical first post.
They are sorted oldest post first. http://robscamino.com/

Then if you have blog posts that are 'between' Caminos, you could add tabs for those too.
Equipment, Planning, Stories, whatever.

Just a thought, to make reading blogs easier.
But maybe it's just me and my poor attention

That's what I'm after!!
Intro page with various tabs to chronological posts of each Camino.. I'm just rubbish at doing it!!

 

[AndrewDavOz]

Hi Andy,

The post sequence (normally reverse chron, ie. most recent at the top) is only a problem if someone is reading your blog next year, ie. in retrospect. But then, if each post is its own unique item, it will be indexed by date in the Archive index, so it is relatively simple to just browse through the whole blog, one post at a time, by selecting the date wanted. The ability to reverse the sequence (with the oldest post at the top) is not immediately obvious to me on the free version of wordpress, but it may be available from specific themes.

I have read a number of the blogs noted in the thread about blogs, by using that technique.

I suggest using the standard tools to write a new post, then see what that does. Add category codes and tags and see what that does. Nobody was born knowing how wordpress works, we all learned one bit at a time. You can do it!

cheers

Andrew

 

[andywild]

I think perhaps you bestow me with too much intelligence.. have you read my blog? I'm a blithering fool. I'm just going to to pay someone to get the format right. I can focus on waffling inanely

 

[AndrewDavOz]

I mentioned earlier that there was an option available to change the order to chronological instead of the standard reverse order (most recent displayed first). That was incorrect. To get wp to display posts in chronological order requires nonstandard methods that free blog accounts do not have. I was misled by having used the self hosted form of wordpress where such things as plugins were available.

The default order of the posts if you go to the site address is most recent first. I think the best way for a reader to view posts “oldest first” is to use the archive list, provided the blogger has opted to add that to their page using the “widgets” options.

Apologies for misleading anyone.

Andrew

 

[AndrewDavOz]

I think perhaps you bestow me with too much intelligence.. have you read my blog? I'm a blithering fool. I'm just going to to pay someone to get the format right. I can focus on waffling inanely

Hi Andy,
Engaging an editor would require you to add them to the user list for your blog. Then they could add some options that would provide some of what you want, and they could advise you on how to add new pages or posts as required.
A web search would find professionals able to do that, but perhaps you will find someone suitable here with what you have already stated. I can’t offer to do it myself as I am fully occupied with family matters.
Wishing you every success in your writing.
Regards,
Andrew