Blog Tipz

New to WordPress? At first, it may seem like you’ll never know how to optimize your blog correctly to achieve the best results. There are so many great resources out there (free) on the web, but many have opposing views, so some people feel it is just better to learn from a single source, such as a book. Top bloggers insist on picking up a copy of them to learn the ins and outs of subjects you are unfamiliar with, and you’ll see higher impacts than devouring over your computer monitor reading conflicting views and opinions of millions of other bloggers.

There are some great books out there on the WordPress system, how to set it up correctly, and the concepts of blogging related to the WordPress platform. Below are several high selling, highly rated books available to help you quickly learn WordPress. Follow up posts will be released discussing other topics of blogging.

WordPress For Dummies

By: Lisa Sabin-Wilson (Author) and Matt Mullenweg (Foreward)
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0470149461
Price: $13.09-$24.99 (list price)
Type/Pages 408 Pages, Paperback
Language: English

WordPress for Dummies was designed as a guide to help seasoned pros, wannabes, and anyone looking to get the most out of your WordPress blog. Written for people wanting to keep family and friends updated on your latest adventures, posting pictures of your family/pets, or communicating your passion (such as blogging) with millions of readers worldwide. It was listed as one of the top selling blogging books on Amazon for several weeks.

Lisa Sabin-Wilson, the author, has been using the WordPress software since it was first released in 2003, and has since provided support to thousands of bloggers around the world, using both her personal site (2002) (justagirlintheworld.com), blog hosting company (2003) (blogsabout.com), and design business (1999) (ewebscapes.com).

The book discusses various topics, such as the benefits of WordPress, and how it can be used to create your “own” blog. Because it is a part of the “For Dummies” series, it was written to explain all the topics for even computer illiterate people.

Inside the book, you’ll find specific information on how to sign up, install and administer the different levels of WordPress accounts – free (WordPress.com), using WordPress.com to host a blog, hosted (WordPress.org) and the WordPress MU (multi-user) systems.

More in-depth tips include how to find themes, plugins, and consultations to create a better blog, using tags to integrate with your template, administering your blog, and finally, places to find support and resources for the WordPress software.

All in all, WordPress For Dummies is a great resource for both new and previously using WordPress. Reviewers of the book say that it is the best WordPress book so far, many wish that they had it when they started blogging and using WordPress.

Sample excerpts and pages can be found in the Amazon book reader and on Lisa’s personal blog.

Purchase WordPress For Dummies from Amazon

WordPress Complete: Set Up, Customize, and Market Your Blog

By: Hasin Hayder
Publisher: Packt Publishing
ISBN: 978-1904811893
Price: $39.99
Type/Pages 404 Pages, Paperback
Language: English

WordPress Complete serves as an introduction to WordPress. The author, Hasin Hayder, mentions how WordPress has become the premier blogging system and its main benefits. Like many other books on the subject, it guides you through the process of setting up your blog as painlessly as possible, providing introductions to blogging communities, posts, comments, feeds, and what it takes to build a successful blog. Targeting beginner WordPress users, the book was designed for people who want to create their own blogs in a simple and straightforward manner without any detailed knowledge of skills such as programming or web development.

A breakdown of what you’ll learn:

• Installing/configuring WordPress on a local development machine or a web hosting service
• Managing posts and comments
• Working with image galleries, calendars, etc.
• Organizing users and communities
• Linking to the outside world
• Customizing and creating themes to create a unique blog
• Customizing Widgets and Plugins
• Using WordPress as a regular Content Management System (CMS)

Purchase WordPress Complete from Amazon

Building Online Communities With Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress

By: Robert T. Douglass, Mike Little, and Jared W. Smith
Publisher: Apress
ISBN: 978-1590595626
Price: $26.99-49.99
Type/Pages 560 Pages, Paperback
Language: English

While not designed exclusively for WordPress, this book is also ideal if you want more information on Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress. The book is authored by a team of experts – the creator of a popular Drupal-powered website, a founder and contributing developer of the WordPress project as well as a long time support team member of a phpBB hacks site (themes/modifications), and has been using the forum software since the first beta release.

The book explores the more technical side of some installations, so it may be for more advanced users. Nevertheless, it has more than 100 pages dedicated to WordPress – from installing it on your server, configuring the file upload options, basic post options, to keeping your content fresh, the book focuses on many popular themes.

Purchase Building Online Communities With Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress from Amazon

WordPress 2 (Visual QuickStart Guide)

By: Maria Langer and Miraz Jordan
Publisher: Peachpit Press
ISBN: 978-0321450197
Price: $19.79-$29.99
Type/Pages 312 Pages, Paperback
Language: English

Another release in the popular best-selling series, this WordPress book focuses on the benefits of WordPress, influencing bloggers the reasons to switch to WordPress from a traditional website to a blogging platform such as WordPRess. Easy-to-follow and step-by-step guides provide clear concise explanation on how to install, use, and customize WordPress to get the most out of the software. The authors also include possible problems and solutions by informing readers before they make the costly mistake.

Note: A new version is expected to be released in May 2008.

Purchase WordPress 2 (Visual QuickStart Guide) from Amazon

WordPress Themes

By: John Godley
ISBN: 978-0321450197
Price: $5.61 (Download) or $12.00 (Paperback Book)
Type/Pages 93 Pages, Paperback/Download
Language: English

The WordPress Themes book was created similar to today’s bloggers discussing modifying WordPress themes as it is a coil binding of 8.5″ x 11″ paper. The guide introduces installing WordPRess, and explains how themes are created. As a conclusion, an online accompaniment provides all themes and graphics for download, as you create three sample themes through the guide. A good guide for people who haven’t created themes before.

Note: Published in 2005, when WordPress wasn’t as advanced as it is today.

Purchase WordPress Themes