I started blogging a few weeks ago, and since I do not have a technical background at all, there was a lot to learn, a lot to read, tons of mistakes to make, a lot of searching and researching, and going around in circles trying to figure out how to do the simplest of things. I am still learning.

I figured that if I had found a list of all or most of the things that I needed to do, or where I needed to go to get this or that plug-in, I would have focused my attention on what I really need to do, write great stuff! So I decided that I could provide that service to people who are trying to find WordPress (and other blogging platform) stuff online, all on one page. You just have to click a link, and if you want some more stuff or something different, click a different link. If you find something that is great or helpful, you can send me an email at my website, I will check it out, and I will add it to the list, and I will put a link to your blog next to your contribution. Or you can leave a comment, hopefully people will read your comment and find the info they need. Hope this helps!

0a. Intro to WordPress: http://wordpress.org/
0b. Sign-up for a WordPress blog: http://wordpress.com/signup/
0c. WordPress support http://wordpress.com/contact-support/ and Frequently Asked Questions: http://faq.wordpress.com/

1. THE QUEEN OF WORDPRESS! Lorelle has great monetizing plug-ins for pretty much everything and everybody: http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2007/02/25/monetizing-wordpress-plugins/

2. Find broken links on your blog: http://validator.w3.org/checklink

3. Search Engine Optimization and Website Marketing… http://www.seo-writer.com/blog/

4. Build a better blog for (2007) http://www.thesimpledollar.com/category/blogging/ This guy is a financial guru, in my opinion… but if you are just starting out or you just want to improve your blog the logic and originality of his posts under the category “Blogging” will help you a great deal.

5. Blog Carnivals, to maximize exposure to your posts and blog. http://blogcarnival.com/bc/

6. The King of WordPress: http://alexking.org/ Take your pick on what you want. I usually go to the WordPress Plug-ins to see what’s new. (http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress)

7. You can find a lot of WordPress Themes here: http://themes.wordpress.net/

8. WebHosting: www.lunarpages.com you can go to my site: http://chessthinking.com and click on the Ad.. I spent several days checking out webhosting deals, and reading reviews. I finally settled with this. I am not very technical at all, but the learning curve has been pretty quick for me. I had to call customer service one time, because I was missing something- my fault - and they fixed it in 25 seconds. They had to delete some mess that I had created - and my domain went live while I was on the phone! If you have better deals, let me know… Lunarpages FAQs: https://desk.lunarpages.com/faq.php

9. Sitemap for Google, yahoo, etc: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ - if your blog is not yet indexed by Google and other search engines, this is a good place to start!

10. Google webmaster tools: http://www.google.com/webmasters/ - you will use your info from 9. above, and you will also find a lot of useful tools.

11. Add your blog to Google: http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl

12. Tubetorial: It is easier to learn when you see things and then do them, than if you just read… At least that is true for me. Here is the best of the best that helped me on my launch:

12a. backup your blog or risk losing it all: http://www.tubetorial.com/wordpress-database-backup/

12b. 7 essential wordpress hacks: http://www.tubetorial.com/7-essential-wordpress-hacks/ More search engine traffic, stop comment spam, RSS feed, Adsense, and more. Great stuff, especially if you are just starting off.

12c. HTML 101: http://www.tubetorial.com/learn-html/

13. Google adsense: https://www.google.com/adsense/login/en_US/ (STOP, see LORELLE in 1. above!)

14. Social Bookmark Links WordPress Plug-in (instructions and actual plug-in)http://www.twistermc.com/blog/social-bookmark-plugin/

15. More social bookmarking detail from elamb.org: http://www.elamb.org/howto/social_bookmarks2.htm

16. Feedburner http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home

17. If doing what Steve Pavlina (#23 below) says is hard, but you have some time that you can use to make money online: http://www.doshdosh.com/101-ways-to-make-money-online/

18. John Chow’s recommended money makers: http://www.johnchow.com/make-money-online-recommended-money-makers/

19. Backup your blog or risk losing it all: http://www.tubetorial.com/wordpress-database-backup/ I had to repeat this (from 12a. above). Very important!

20. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools Resources page from “SEOBomb”: http://www.seobomb.com/seo-tools-and-resources-page/

21. The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Blog Search Engine Friendly: http://www.seobomb.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-make-your-blog-search-engine-friendly/

22. Stupid WordPress Tricks: http://www.irakrakow.com/wptips/

23. Keep the best for last, Steve Pavlina on how to Build a High Traffic Website: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/how-to-build-a-high-traffic-web-site-or-blog/ This applies to everybody, regardless of whether you are using WordPress or not.

Suggestions, ideas, comments?

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