This is not intended as a replacement for the installation instructions provided by Wordpress, it is to fill in some of the blanks after the basics are in place, for those of us with little to no knowledge of HTML, PHP, etc. Installing Wordpress on your webhost is the easy part, the “fun” part is configuring all the seemingly simple things to get it up and running the way you want. You will need to use some code, so I’m going to share what I learned in the process so you don’t have to spend as much time digging around for it as I did.

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There will probably be a text file that was included with your wordpress theme with some instructions on how to customize that particular theme. Aside from that, here are a few things I wasn’t able to find in any Help or Read Me files.

Using SSI (server side includes) to implement Adsense, other javascript, or images on your site:

Why would you want to use SSI? It allows you to change which ad or picture you are using without having to edit your template every time. Plus, if you are using a javascript code on several websites, you can edit that file in your cpanel and it will instantly make that change on every page or website that uses that file as a reference for the code.

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Here is a list of some of my favorite themes that are compatible with at least Wordpress 2.3.2. One of the main features that I was looking for, other than appearance, was that they were adsense and/or widget ready. You can download them directly from the theme creator’s websites. There are 1000’s more out there, but this is enough to at least get you going.

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    These instructions make reference to use as it applies to installing Wordpress, but the basic set up is the same regardless of what type of website you are using.

Go to START — COMPUTER — right click on a blank area and select ADD A NETWORK LOCATION — click on CHOOSE A CUSTOM NETWORK LOCATION –

If you have Wordpress installed on the main domain name that your web hosting account is under proceed with:

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Your credit can either be a valuable asset or a major liability, so it’s important to stay on top of it. Whether it is to fix errors on your credit report, or prevent identity theft, you should have some sort of

credit monitoring in place. Ideally, you should also be able to view a current copy of your credit reports and scores whenever you want or need to. Some of the services I recommend are:

Equifax Scorewatch is useful because it gives you your actual FICO score, whereas many of the others just give you estimated scores.  It also monitors it, and alerts you when there is a change.

Get Equifax Score Watch Now!

TrueCredit is a good one to have because you can get daily updates on your all 3 of your credit reports and scores. If I could only have one service, it would be this one. They also explain the main factors that are affecting your credit score, so you know what you need to work on.

TrueCredit

The main benefit of Lifelock is that they prevent Identity Theft from occurring, whereas the others primarily just alert you after someone has applied for credit in your name. They also offer a $1 Million Service Guarantee. The only drawback is that they don’t offer access to your credit reports, so if you are trying to improve or repair your credit, this service on it’s own will not help with that.

LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!Click here to get a 10% discount.

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Whether you just got a new computer, or you have one that you have been using for a while, there a few basics that you should really have installed to make it safer to surf the internet and more user friendly. Aside from making sure you use Windows Update to make sure that your operating system and drivers are all up-to-date, here are my top software suggestions:

1 - ANTI-VIRUS
This should go without saying, but do not go to any unknown website without up-to-date anti-virus software running on your computer. If you are not going to pay for the anti-virus software that was included with your computer after the free trial is expired, you should just go ahead and uninstall it now & put a more permanent solution in place.
The FREE Anti-Virus Programs that I suggest are:
Avast Anti-Virus
AVG Anti-Virus

2 - ANTI-SPYWARE
This is just as important as anti-virus software, except you will need to have more than one program installed on your computer to really be covered. There are several different options available, most of which have a FREE version, some have an upgrade version that includes more features.
Spyware Blaster
Spyware Terminator
Ad-Aware

3- BACK-UP UTILITY
You never know when something bad could happen to your computer, and it is much better to have a remote backup of your important data, than to have to pay someone hundreds of dollars and hope they can recover your files.

Mozy Online Backup. 2GB Free or $4.95/mo for Unlimited Backup. It’s simple, automatic and secure!

4- “IN CASE OF SPYWARE EMERGENCY”
HijackThis is software that you should have on your computer in case some spyware slips through the cracks and you can’t remove it any other way. This is more advanced, so you have to be careful not to delete anything that you actually need on your computer. If you are able to access the internet, you can copy & paste the logfile that it generates into a HijackThis Log Analyser to help you decipher what should be there and what you should probably delete. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, have someone with experience using this program handle it for you, this program will make their task A LOT easier.

HijackThis

5- INTERNET BROWSER
If you are surfing the internet using Internet Explorer, you are more exposed to threats to your computer than if you use Firefox. It also has lots of extensions available so that you can really customize the look and features to suit your needs.

Highly Recommended Firefox Extensions:
No Script
Download Status Bar

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