Blogger users should opt for a custom domain name instead of the default address they selected at registration (e.g., yourname.blogspot.com).
To do so, head over to Settings > Basic and use the Blog Address section of the page to specify the domain name you intend to use for your blog, as shown in Figure 5, Using a custom domain with Blogger, on page 36.
Next, in the DNS section of your domain’s registrar control panel, you’ll need to set a CNAME record pointing your domain or chosen subdomain (e.g., blog.yourcompany.com) to ghs.google.com.
More detailed setting instructions are provided by Blogger in the Blog Address section, should you encounter any difficulties.
users can either install a version that runs on Windows or use a web version of the tool (search for “web-based dig” to find some).
Note that DNS propagation can take several hours, so if you want to work with your domain name right away, you can edit your local hosts file to have the domain name point to the right IP locally. This change enables you to use your domain name instead of the IP as you configure your self-hosted blog even before the DNS records have become visible to the world. On *nix systems this is usually located at /etc/hosts. For Windows, consult the Wikipedia page at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file).
In your hosts file, you should include a line that looks like this:
174.122.8.30 yoursitename.com
Replace the fictitious IP and domain name with your real ones. If you don’t know the IP of your server, you should check the emails your hosting company sent you when you registered with them, because it’s usually located there. Logging into your hosting account will also typically provide you with this information. If all else fails, just ask your hosting company.
As mentioned earlier, the rest of this chapter will show you how to install and perform a basic configuration of your blog using self-hosted WordPress as the main tool. Tips to guide Blogger users will be provided as well. If you opted for Jekyll, Octopress, TypePad, or any other different blogging platform, the information will still be useful to you. Read on.
3.3
Install WordPress
Blogger and other non-WordPress users: Skip this section.
WordPress can be installed in several ways. I recommend that you install it from scratch because doing so is a quick, straightforward process. Taking this step will allow you to have the newest version from the get-go and then upgrade whenever an update is released.
This isn’t the case, however, if you install WordPress through a popular script library installer such as Fantastico, which is common among shared hosting companies. Fantastico simplifies the installation process further, reducing it to a few clicks and the collection of some credentials from you. Unfortunately, Fantastico’s version of WordPress tends to be several revisions behind the current version, and this could expose you to security vulnerabilities. So as tempting as it may be, don’t install and maintain your WordPress instance via Fantastico.
Requirements
Let’s get started by considering what we need in order for the from-scratch installation to work.
LAMP Stack Required
The overwhelming majority of shared hosting companies already provide a compatible LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack (or some variation of it) for you. If you opted for a VPS, dedicated server, or cloud solution, you’ll need to ensure that all these components are installed, configured, and working properly.
WordPress requires a recent version of PHP, MySQL, and the mod_rewrite module if you’re using Apache as your web server. Requirements rarely change, but you can always find an updated list of them at wordpress.org/about/requirements. Apache and nginx are the recommended web servers, with nginx being signif- icantly faster and less memory hungry than Apache.
Installation
Follow the instructions provided at codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPressto install WordPress on your server.
During the installation process you should see a straightforward wizard similar to the one shown in Figure 6, WordPress's setup wizard, on page 41.
Figure 6—WordPress’s setup wizard
Once the setup is complete, do a quick sanity check by logging in at /wp-admin and taking a look around.
Visit the home page as well to see the default look of your newly installed blog. If you don’t spot any errors or issues, congratulations on having suc- cessfully installed WordPress.
Figure 7—WordPress’s admin interface
3.4
Configure WordPress
Blogger and other non-WordPress users: Read this step.
With WordPress correctly installed, it’s time for us to start configuring the default installation. Log into your admin section again by appending /wp-admin to the URL of your blog and submitting the credentials for the WordPress account you created during the setup stage.
Once logged in, you should see a series of menu entries in the left sidebar, as shown in Figure 7, WordPress's admin interface, on page 42. We’ll start from the top and work our way down to the bottom to perform an initial configuration.