Login URL: http://miaraodesign.com/blog/wp-login.php?
Username: MRDauthor
Password: MRDwpAuthor!
CREATING A NEW POST
Once you’ve logged in to WP, find the main menu on the left side of the screen and hover over “Posts” and select “Add New”.
In Add New Post, fill in the title (this should be something unique and SEO-friendly, meaning that the title should contain keywords that someone would use when searching for this information and should be specific. It can and should ideally be clever and engaging, but not ambiguous. For example, “Kitchen Renovation”, or “Talking Textiles: Layering Patterns” are better titles than something more abstract like “Evolution” or “Layers”.
After you add your title, you can drop or type in your text. (Images will be added last). A word of caution: text written in Word and then imported into WordPress tends to get weird, so I recommend writing the text either right in the post window (you can always save drafts and not publish right away), or write the text in a plan text editor, like an email window, and then copy and paste.
Once the text is finished, we need to add a “read more” button, so that the first phrase or sentence is the only thing that shows on the main blog homepage, inviting readers to click to read more. To do this, place your cursor just after the period of the first sentence and add one return by pressing Enter or Return on your keyboard
Leave the cursor in it’s new position and go to the top of the post window and click the “read more” icon (see screenshot). This will insert the “read more” link. After that link is inserted, add one more return.
ADDING IMAGES
Up above the Post box, click “Add Media”.
In the Insert Media window, click “Create Gallery” on the left.
To upload your files, select the “Upload Files” tab at the top, and upload your images one by one. For each image, make sure to add in the Alt Text, which is good for SEO. For the Alt Text, be specific about the image (again, thinking of a user searching for this image), so use descriptive words like “window seat”, keep it short. When you’re ready to upload the first image, click “create a new gallery”.
For the remaining images in the post, click “Add to gallery” on the left, and add them one by one.
When all images have been added, and while you’re still in the “Edit Gallery” window you’ll be able to drag and drop to reorder the images. When you’re ready to insert them into the post, click “Insert Gallery” (blue button).
Next, you’ll need to add your Featured Image. This is the large image that appears above the blog post and as the teaser image for the post on the main Blog page. This image should be a horizontal image, no less than 1300 px x 650 px (and ideally exactly that size). To add this image, click “Add featured image”, and then click “Upload” and select your image. Make sure to fill in the Alt tag for the image (for SEO). Remember to be specific, descriptive, and brief, and try to use important keywords that your ideal client would use to search for your services (like “minimalist kitchen counter”). Click the blue “set featured image” button to add your image to the post.
PUBLISHING
All set! You can click Preview to preview the post before publishing, and then you have the option to click Publish, or on the left to click “Save Draft” if you’re not quite ready to post.
To edit the post later on, you can hover over the Posts link in the left-hand main menu and select “All Posts”, then click on the title of the post in question to edit it.
Please let me know if you have any questions!