Here’s a cool little clip from Rosalind Gardner showing you how to get a blog up and running in about 1 minute using Cpanel.

Hey guys,

Here’s a quick little tip to get a spam-free contact form up and running on your WordPress blog
in 5 minutes or less.

Installation:

1. Head over to Dagon Design to grab this great plugin and download their latest version.
(Its free and under 1MB.)

2. After you’ve downloaded the plugin, of course you’ll need to upload it to your WordPress plugins directory, which looks like: wp-content/plugins on your server.

3. Log into your WordPress admin area and browse your installed plugins list. Plugins > Installed.
You will need to activate “Dagon Design Form Mailer”

Quick Configuration:

Now we just need to configure it and tell it where we want it to show up on the blog. (again, super-easy)

1. Open the “Settings” menu in Worpress and look for DDFM1.
Enter your contact page info. Ex: http://www.yoursite.com/contact and the email address you wish messages to forward to. Scroll down and click “Update Options”

2. Create a new page (not post) under the “Posts” category on the left.
Name it Contact Me or whatever you like.

3. Once the page is created, edit it by clicking the HTML tab. Make sure its not in “visual” mode or the plugin will not work.

4. Add the following line and save your page:
<!-- ddfm1 -->

That’s it.
An example can be found here on this blog if you check out the “Contact Me” link.
You’ll notice it has a nice little captcha too which can be tweaked in DDFM-Main under settings if you wish.
Dagon Design makes great plugins.. They’re free too so be sure and check out the others they have available and see if you find them useful.  I’d also recommend their sitemap generator plugin.

Have a great day,

Ryan

Welcome back to part #2 of our new tutorial series.
This week, I will be giving you a basic crash-course on how to upload files to your web server.
If you do not have your own hosting, I use and recommend ZootHost because the price and support provide the best value I’ve seen and believe me, I’ve tried them all.

Ok, lets begin..
There are two ways you can upload files to your server. They are:
=========================================

Using an FTP Client:
“FTP” Stands for File Transfer Protocol, but to keep things short and simple, Im going to cut to the chase and just show you how to “git ‘er done”.

1. You’ll need what’s called an FTP client to upload files to your server.
I use and recommend CoreFTP because it’s free, easy, lightweight and efficient
and does not contain ads or popups.

2. You’ll need to setup your profile in the FTP client.
This is easier than it sounds. Once you’ve installed an FTP client on your PC,
you simply open the program, add your website name, the URL of your website and
the username and password provided to you by your hosting company.

3. Enter and Save the data.
Once your profile has been created and all the info has been entered, you
can now begin to upload files to your server.
If using CoreFTP, click on the “Connect” button.

4. Begin uploading.
In most FTP clients, the window on the left represents the files present on your
computer, while the window on the right represents files on your server.
In the left window, you can browse for files and drag them over to the right
window assuming you have already designed your website.
If using CoreFTP, you can drag and drop files directly from the Windows desktop
and into the right side window and they will be uploaded.
If this is your first time uploading, make sure that you are uploading a file named index.html
or index.htm to the public_html directory on your server.
That’s it. You’re done!

Uploading using CPanel:
This does not require using an FTP client. However, it does require greater caution
while navigating its many options.
If your web server is equipped with CPanel, (most are) then you simply:

1. Type your domain name in your browser address bar followed by /cpanel
Example: http://www.yourwebsite.com/cpanel

2. Enter your username and password and click
3. Inside, you will see a display of various icons. Click on the folder icon that says
“File Manager”
4. Click the “Upload” icon found on the top menu.
5. Browse for a file on your computer and it will upload it for you.
That’s it. You’re done!

I hope this may have helped someone.
Questions? Comments? ideas for an upcoming tutorial?
Be sure to post your suggestion below and let me know.

Ryan

I’ve had this question asked many times, so to kick off the first post in my new tutorial series
for beginners, I thought this would be a good topic to cover first.

For this example, we will use a free utility called “ALZip”
You can download it here: http://www.altools.com/
It is free of viruses, adware, spyware and popups.
We will not use ‘Winzip’ for this tutorial because the free version of that program contains annoying popups, so I do not recommend it. Both programs zip and unzip files. However, you can do more with ALZip and it won’t cost you a dime which makes it ‘Ace’ in my book.
More on that later..
Let’s begin shall we?

=========================================

First, let’s go ahead and install the free ALZip utility.

How to Zip a file or a folder containing files:
1. Locate a file on your desktop that you wish to ‘Zip’.
2. Right mouse click on that file or folder and click on where it says “Add to (your file name).Zip
from the menu. The program will create a file for you with a .zip format immediately.
3.That’s it. You’re done!

How to Unzip a file or folder containing files:
1. Locate a .zip file on your Windows desktop.
2. Right-mouse click the .zip file and select “Extract to current folder”.
Alternatively, you may also select “extract to c:\documents and settings\desktop.
You should now have an unzipped file or folder waiting for you to open.
3. That’s it. You’re done!

Answers to common questions:
1. What exactly is a “Zip” file?
A Zip file is a just a “compressed” file, meaning that it has been made smaller and more transportable.
2. Why do I need zip files?
This format is ideal for anyone offering digital products such as ebooks or programs that you or a customer of yours may download.
Instead of having a large file, you can have a zipped version that is compressed and downloads much much faster than a file that has not been zipped.
Having zipped files helps save more space on your hard drive as well.

I hope this may have helped someone.
Questions? Comments? ideas for an upcoming tutorial?
Be sure to post your suggestion below and let me know.

Ryan