Using WordPress

Now that you have learned how to set up a WordPress website, it’s time to learn the techniques for using WordPress.

Install A Theme

The first thing we will be going over as it relates to using WordPress is how to install a theme.

For the purposes of this post, I will be using the Divi theme.

Divi is a very versatile theme with nearly 200 sub-theme templates that you can use for your WordPress website.

To install Divi, go to Appearance > Themes and click the “Add new” button at the top of the page.

Now click “Upload theme” near the top of the page.

Then click “Upload File.”

Browse to and double-click on your theme’s zip file, in this case it is Divi.zip. Then click the “Install Now” button.

Click the “Activate” button.

Click “Activate” again.

Your theme is now active and you are ready to start creating pages for your website.

Create a Home Page

Create your first page by going to Pages > Add New.

Next, type “Home” in the title field. Then click the purple “Use Divi Builder” button.

Next, click the “Start Building” button.

Then click “Browse Layouts” from the center column.

For the purposes of this tutorial, I will be using the “Startup” Divi sub-theme.

Click in the search box and type in “Startup,” then click on the “Startup Home” image. Finally, click the “Use This Layout” button.

Then click “Publish.”

Congratulations! You just created your home page.

Now let’s set your home page.

Set Your Home Page

By default, WordPress sets your home page as a list of your blog posts.

If you want to set a certain page as your “home” page, you have to change those default settings.

Start by going to Appearance > Customize

Then click on “Homepage Settings” near the bottom of the page.

Under “Your Homepage Displays,” click on “A Static Page.”

On the “Homepage” dropdown box, select “Home.”

Now click “Publish”

Good job! Now your home page is set as a static page. Now whenever someone clicks the logo in the upper-left of your website header, the user will be taken to your home page.

Now let’s create a menu.

Create a Nav Menu

First navigate to Appearance > Menus

Name your menu in the “menu name” field. It doesn’t matter what you call it.

Select “primary menu” in the menu location section.

Click “Create Menu.”

To start adding pages to your menu, click the check box next to “Home.”

Then click “Add to Menu.”>

That’s it!

Your new menu is set.

If you navigate to the front end of your website, in this case sarasotacommunity.org, you will see that the menu in the upper left has changed.

Any time you want to modify your menu, navigate to Appearance > Menus and make your changes there.