Once you’ve clicked the affiliate link to GoDaddy and set up your account there, you’ll need to give me the login credentials. Once I can log in to your new domain, I’ll install Wordpress and the SQL database, making sure your blog is placed in its own subdomain if you need that.
And just so you know, there’s no way I can get at your financial info while I’m on the GoDaddy site. Poke around over there and you’ll see for yourself. They have an incredibly secure site.
You might wonder at this point, “Why GoDaddy?” I’ll give you just the 2 most important reasons.
1. GoDaddy is an American IT company which does not outsource any of their work. Bob Parsons, the guy who created GoDaddy, is very adamant about that. Several years ago, instead of outsourcing his customer call centers to India like everyone else was doing, he spent millions of dollars building a call center in Arizona. When you call them, you can understand what they’re saying.
2. Another thing is that I am a GoDaddy customer. I have been for years, and that by itself should tell you something. There are thousands of companies who could host my sites, but GoDaddy does a great job at a good price and it just never occurs to me to switch. I know they are reliable.
Anyway, once GoDaddy has finished what they do (usually within a couple of hours), I’ll log back into your account and install the theme you chose, including any editing we’ve agreed on. I’ll also install the basic plug-ins listed below. You’ll be wanting these, and when you’re just starting out, they can be hard to find. So I’ll make sure you’ve already got them. Here’s the current list of plugins with author’s descriptions:
Current List
Akismet
Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use it. You can review the spam it catches under “Comments.”
Cleaner Dashboard
Cleans up your dashboard by removing the WordPress news and making the “zeitgeist” more horizontal.
Contact Form 7
Just another contact form plugin. Simple but flexible.
Edit Comments
Allows users to edit their comments for up to 30 minutes after posting. To change the time limit, configure it in this plugin file.
Flare Smith
Plugin to insert FeedBurner’s javascript to support FeedBurner Stats and FeedFlare units on your WordPress site.
Google XML Sitemaps
This plugin will generate a sitemaps.org compatible sitemap of your WordPress blog which is supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO. Configuration Page By Arne Brachhold.
Ozh’ Admin Drop Down Menu
Replaces admin menus with a CSS dropdown menu bar. Saves lots of clicks and page loads!
Platinum SEO Pack
Complete SEO solution for your Wordpress blog.
Sociable
Automatically add links on your posts, pages and RSS feed to your favorite social bookmarking sites.
StatPress Reloaded
Improved real time stats for your blog.
Subscribe To Comments
Allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that are posted to an entry.
TweetMeme Button
Adds the TweetMeme button into your posts and RSS feed.
WordPress Database Backup
On-demand backup of your WordPress database. Navigate to Tools → Backup to get started.
WP-RecentComments
Show the recent comments in your WordPress sidebar.
