WordPress是众多流行的博客平台之一，其支持网站(support site)自信地说它是最容易设置和运行的平台之一。如果真的是这样，是否需要一本书来解释它是如何工作的？Wiley的编辑们是这么认为的。让我们看看WordPress for Dummies是否是博主需要阅读的一本书。
开始使用 WordPress
作者 Lisa Sabin-Wilson 说WordPress for Dummies是为两个最受欢迎的 WordPress 版本的新用户设计的-(WordPress—blogs)托管在WordPress.com上的博客，以及托管在使用(WordPress.com)WordPress.org提供的软件的单个域上的博客（还有另一个为多用户设计的WordPress版本，但本书并未涉及）。这两个最常见的平台之间存在差异，这本书清楚地表明了这一点。与所有For Dummies书籍一样，这本书可以按任何顺序阅读，读者可以跳过不适用于他或她的WordPress版本的部分(WordPress). 作者说她假设读者知道如何使用计算机和连接(computer and connect)到互联网(Internet)，并且她还假设读者知道什么是博客以及电子邮件的基础知识。这让她省去了很多基本技能的信息，直接开始做生意。（有关Windows 7的基本技能信息，您无法击败本网站上(web site)的教程！）第一章是对WordPress的基本介绍，并解释了两个版本之间的差异。它解释了在WordPress.com 网站(WordPress.com site)或您自己的网站(web site)上进行设置需要了解的内容，并解释了各自的优点。它还提供了博客的基本概述，并讨论(blogging and talks)了垃圾邮件等常见问题。注意：(NOTE:) WordPress会定期更新。因此，任何关于WordPress的书籍在出版时都会稍微过时。但是，正如本书所阐明的，您在WordPress.com(WordPress.com)或您自己的网站(web site)上建立博客所需的基本信息不会改变。
WordPress.com 的优点和缺点
在博客托管站点上设置博客通常只需单击几下，因此在介绍之后，WordPress for Dummies会从一个详尽的、插图精美的指南开始，以在(WordPress for Dummies)WordPress.com上创建自己的博客。博客的新手会发现大量信息和关于如何选择最佳 URL、如何决定使用哪个博客后缀(blog suffix)（有些是免费的，有些需要按年付费）以及如何选择用户名的信息和极好的说明。仪表板(Dashboard)的概述也很全面且易于理解。由于仪表板(Dashboard)可能会让初学者有些困惑，因此阅读本节将是获得信心的好方法。那一章叫“编写和管理您的博客”("Writing and Managing Your Blog")是本节真正的亮点。除了关于写作的良好、常识性建议(sense advice)外，读者还可以获得有关如何格式化帖子、如何将帖子组织成类别以及如何在帖子发布后管理帖子的说明。关于如何处理垃圾邮件（在WordPress.com上比在自托管博客上更简单）和处理其他人帖子的说明，有一个很好的解释。虽然WordPress.com的附加组件选择不如自托管(WordPress.com)WordPress 博客(WordPress blogs)可用的那样广泛，但仍有大量主题、小部件和其他有趣的功能，以及WordPress for Dummies以清晰、详细的说明解释一切。
有一个简短的部分介绍了如何将WordPress.com 博客(WordPress.com blog)从免费服务升级为 WordPress.com网站(WordPress.com site)上的付费服务（提供更多选项）。尽管免费服务的选项比付费WordPress.com 博客(WordPress.com blog)或自托管博客少，但它功能丰富且简单易用，可能是博主所需要的，WordPress for Dummies清楚而完整地解释了这一切。（说实话，如果要为博客主机(blog host)付费，我认为获得自己的域会好得多。）
自托管博客的优缺点
早在 2007 年，我就在自己的域上开始了我的第一个WordPress 博客。(WordPress blogs)那时，建立博客的过程比现在复杂得多，老实说，我觉得整个事情有点可怕。WordPress定期更新的真正好处之一是界面的巨大改进和建立自己博客的便利性。虽然它仍然不像在WordPress.com上那么简单，但在您自己的域上设置WordPress远没有以前那么可怕。即便如此，在您完成整个过程时，在您面前有良好的可靠指示是一个很好的信心建立者，而WordPress for Dummies真的很闪耀。有一个关于如何获得自己的域的简要说明，以及对域注册(domain registration)站点的一些建议。我认为这部分可能会更好，因为新手可能不知道简单地注册域名(domain name)和选择一个提供全方位服务的互联网主机(internet host)之间的区别，它不仅可以处理域名注册(domain registration)，还可以为博客提供一个家（和其他任何人想放在域上的东西）。有一个重要的警告是，在做出选择之前确实需要进行研究，因为网络主机的期望不同，以及一旦建立域名(domain name)，他们允许人们做什么。这也可以扩大一点。开始你自己的WordPress 安装(WordPress installation)您需要有FTP（文件传输协议(file transfer protocol)）软件并熟悉它的工作原理。WordPress for Dummies提供了一份流行的(WordPress for Dummies)FTP 软件(FTP software)的简短列表，并简要说明了传输的工作原理。这也可以更全面一些，因为很多人根本不熟悉FTP。
一些网络主机提供名为SimpleScripts的服务，它将为您安装WordPress。对于我们其他人来说，有手动安装方法(installation method)，WordPress for Dummies解释了它是如何工作的。我希望在我第一次投入WordPress 安装(WordPress installation)之前我有这个解释！您需要在您的域上创建一个数据库，将数据库的位置信息(location information)插入到WordPress的配置文件(configuration file)中，然后将WordPress文件通过(WordPress)FTP 传输(FTP)到它们的新位置。然后运行安装脚本(installation script). 这就是 wordpress.org 所说的“著名的五分钟安装”。虽然这个过程简单明了，但新手可能需要五分钟以上的时间。（你可以从知道的人那里得到。）WordPress for Dummies提供了一个非常有用的常见错误消息图表，以及如何修复错误。与WordPress.com 部分(WordPress.com section)一样，有一章解释了仪表板(Dashboard)以及您可以在那里找到的大量信息。自托管仪表板(Dashboard)有更多选项，可以根据自己的喜好进行更改。由于有很多东西可以通过仪表板进行个性化(Dashboard)，仔细阅读本节几乎是必不可少的。有涵盖每种配置的插图和表格。尽管我已经使用WordPress多年，但我在本章中发现了很多新信息，并且很好地利用了它。名为“建立你的博客程序”("Establishing Your Blog Routine")的章节与其说是建立一个程序，不如说是关于使用你自己的类别、链接、博客卷、永久链接、帖子和页面来个性化你的博客（如果其中一些术语你不熟悉，在阅读WordPress for Dummies之后，您会很好地理解它们）。它解释了如何处理评论（和评论垃圾邮件）以及如何设置您的RSS 提要(RSS feed). 有关于媒体管理（图像、音频和视频）的章节以及关于查找和充分利用插件和主题的章节（包括关于如何更改主题以适应自己的需要的几章）。都充满了清晰的说明和插图。不是每个人都想玩弄他们博客主题的内部工作（CSS模板），但使用书中的说明应该可以很好地了解它是如何完成的（尽管我认为应该有一个粗体警告如果一个人不知道自己在做什么，则永远不应该尝试进行更改，即使知道，也应该先进行备份！）
最后的章节
与大多数For Dummies书籍一样，WordPress for Dummies以“Part of Tens”一章结束，讨论流行的插件和主题。有一章是关于备份、升级和迁移WordPress博客的，这应该是必读的（博客应该像计算机一样经常备份，至少！）如果你阅读目录(Table of Contents)，你会看到一个链接到For Dummies网站上的更多奖励章节。那些谈论高级主题，例如使用WordPress作为内容管理系统和使用(management system)WordPress的多用户版本，以及一些使用用于内容管理的WordPress(WordPress)，因此读者可以看到它的外观。
判决
WordPress for Dummies是一本出色的WordPress使用手册(instruction manual)，无论您是使用他们的网站还是您自己的网站。它解释了任何人(everything anyone)在建立和维护博客时需要知道的一切，并提供了许多清晰的插图和真实世界的例子。作者显然是一位专家，即使不是WordPress新手也可以找到很多有用的解释，解释他们可能不知道的功能，或者可能不知道如何充分利用。即使有几年的自托管WordPress 经验(WordPress experience)，我发现我没有使用（或完全使用）许多功能，我已经开始进行改进。对我来说，这本书是一个守护者。
Book Review - WordPress for Dummies
WordPrеss is one of many popular рlatforms for blogs, and its support site confidently says that it's one of the easiеst to ѕet υp and run. If that's really the сase, is there any need for a book to explain how it works? Thе editors at Wiley think sо. Let's see whether WordPress for Dummies is a book a blogger needs to read.
Getting started with WordPress
Author Lisa Sabin-Wilson says that WordPress for Dummies is designed for new users of the two most popular versions of WordPress—blogs that are hosted on WordPress.com, and blogs hosted on individual domains with software supplied by WordPress.org (there is another version of WordPress that is designed for multiple users, but that's not covered in this book). There are differences between the two most common platforms, which the book makes clear. As with all For Dummies books, this one can be read in any order, and the reader can skip over the parts that don't apply to his or her version of WordPress. The author says she assumes that the reader knows how to work a computer and connect to the Internet, and she also assumes that the reader knows what a blog is, and the basics of email. This lets her cut out a lot of basic-skills information and get right down to business. (For basic-skills information for Windows 7, you can't beat the tutorials on this web site!) The first chapter serves as a basic introduction to WordPress, and explains the differences between the two versions. It explains what you'll need to know to get set up on either the WordPress.com site, or on your own web site, and explains the advantages of each. It also gives a basic overview of blogging and talks about common problems like spam. NOTE: WordPress is updated at very regular intervals. Because of this, any book about WordPress will be slightly out of date by the time it's published. However, as the book makes clear, the basic information you'll need to set up a blog either on WordPress.com or on your own web site won't change.
The pros and cons of WordPress.com
Setting up a blog on a blog-hosting site is usually a matter of just a few clicks, so after the introduction, WordPress for Dummies begins with a thorough, well-illustrated guide to starting one's own blog on WordPress.com. Newcomers to blogging will find a wealth of information and excellent instructions on how to choose the best URL, how to decide which blog suffix to use (some are free, and some require a yearly payment) and how to choose your username. The overview of the Dashboard is also comprehensive and easy to understand. Since the Dashboard can be somewhat confusing to beginners, reading this section would be a good way to gain confidence. The chapter called "Writing and Managing Your Blog" is where this section really shines. Besides good, common sense advice on writing, the reader gets instructions on how to format posts, how to organize posts into categories, and how to manage posts once they're published. There's a good explanation of how to deal with spam (which is much more straightforward on WordPress.com than on self-hosted blogs) and instructions for dealing with other people's posts. While WordPress.com's selection of add-ons isn't as extensive as what's available for self-hosted WordPress blogs, there are still plenty of themes, widgets and other interesting features, and WordPress for Dummies explains everything in clear, well-illustrated detail.
There's a brief section on the ways one can upgrade a WordPress.com blog from their free service to a paid service on the WordPress.com site (which has more options available). Even though the free service has fewer options than a paid WordPress.com blog or a self-hosted blog, it's feature-rich and easy enough that it may be all a blogger needs, and WordPress for Dummies explains it all clearly and completely. (And truthfully, if one's going to be paying for a blog host, I think it'd be far better to get one's own domain.)
The pros and cons of self-hosted blogs
I started my first WordPress blogs back in 2007 on my own domain. In those days, the process of setting up the blog was a lot more complicated than it is today, and honestly, I found the whole thing a little scary. One of the really great things about the regular updates to WordPress is the immense improvements in the interface and the ease of setting up your own blog. While it is still not as simple as it is on WordPress.com, setting WordPress up on your own domain is nowhere near as scary as it once was. Even so, having good solid instructions in front of you as you work your way through the process is a great confidence-builder, and WordPress for Dummies really shines. There's a brief explanation of how to get your own domain, and some suggestions for domain registration sites. I think this section could have been better, since the newcomer might not know the difference between simply registering a domain name and choosing a full-service internet host that will not only take care of the domain registration but provide a home for the blog (and anything else one wants to put on the domain). There's an important warning that one really needs to do research before making a choice, since web hosts differ in their expectations and what they allow one to do with a domain name once established. This also could have been expanded a bit. To get started with your own WordPress installation you need to have FTP (file transfer protocol) software and be familiar with how it works. WordPress for Dummies provides a short list of popular FTP software and an abbreviated explanation of how the transfer works. This also could have been a little more comprehensive, since a lot of people won't be at all familiar with FTP.
Some web hosts provide a service called SimpleScripts which will install WordPress for you. For the rest of us, there's the manual installation method and WordPress for Dummies explains how that works. I wish I'd had this explanation before I threw myself into WordPress installation for the first time! You need to create a database on your domain, insert the database's location information into WordPress's configuration file, and then FTP the WordPress files to their new location. Then you run the installation script. That's what wordpress.org calls their "famous five minute installation." While the process is simple and straightforward, it might take the newcomer more than five minutes. (You can take that from someone who knows.) WordPress for Dummies provides a very helpful chart of common error messages, and what to do to fix the errors. As with the WordPress.com section, there's a chapter that explains the Dashboard and the wealth of information you'll find there. The self-hosted Dashboard has more options and can be changed to suit your own preferences. Since there are so many things one can personalize through the Dashboard, reading this section carefully is just about essential. There are illustrations and tables that cover every configuration. Even though I've been working with WordPress for years, I found plenty of new information in this chapter, and put it to good use. The chapter called "Establishing Your Blog Routine" isn't so much about establishing a routine as it is about personalizing your blog with your own categories, links, blogroll, permalinks, posts and pages (and if some of those terms are unfamiliar to you, after reading WordPress for Dummies you'll understand them just fine). It explains how to deal with comments (and comment spam) and how to set up your RSS feed. There are chapters on media management (images, audio, and video) and on finding and making the most of plugins and themes (including a couple of chapters on how to change themes to suit one's own needs). All are filled with clear instructions and illustrations. Not everyone will want to monkey around with the inner workings of their blog's theme (the CSS templates) but using the instructions in the book should provide a good education in how it's done (although I think there should have been a bold-type warning that one should never attempt to make changes if one doesn't know what one's doing, and even if one does know, one should make a backup first!)
The final chapters
As with most For Dummies books, WordPress for Dummies concludes with a "Part of Tens" chapter that talks about popular plugins and themes. There's a chapter on backing up, upgrading and migrating WordPress blogs, which should be required reading (blogs should be backed up just as often as computers should, at the very least!) and if you read the Table of Contents you'll see a link to even more bonus chapters on the For Dummies web site. Those talk about advanced topics such as using WordPress as a content management system and using the multi-user version of WordPress, plus a selection of sites that use WordPress for content management so the reader can see how it looks.
Verdict
WordPress for Dummies is an excellent instruction manual for WordPress, regardless of whether you use their site or your own. It explains everything anyone would need to know about setting up and maintaining a blog, and provides lots of clear illustrations and real-world examples. The author is clearly an expert and even people who are not WordPress newcomers can find plenty of useful explanations of features they might not have known were there, or might not have known how to use to the fullest. Even with several years of self-hosted WordPress experience, I discovered I hadn't been using (or fully using) many features and I've already started making improvements. For me, this book's a keeper.
