Title: Share a walkthrough of setting up a WordPress site Author: Mel Choyce-Dwan Published: January 18, 2017 Last modified: January 23, 2017 --- [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/melchoyce/) [Mel Choyce-Dwan](https://profiles.wordpress.org/melchoyce/) 10:22 pm _on_ January 18, 2017 Tags: customization, [editor ( 4 )](https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/editor/), [user-testing ( 19 )](https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/user-testing/)    # Share a walkthrough of setting up a WordPress site A really powerful way to share your experiences using WordPress, is to actually show us how you use it to build sites. As the Editor and CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. teams start working on researching and designing better experiences for coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., now is a great time to share examples of how you use them in your day-to-day work. **So, what does that mean?** Please walk us through your process of setting up a new WordPress site. I’d suggest is to pick a subject — for example, today I’m going to redesign my blog, or I’m going to build a website for a local restaurant — and then walk through the setup process, from installing WordPress, to picking a theme, to setting up some pages and writing some blog posts, to completing something you’d feel comfortable launching. As you do your walkthrough, be sure to take notes about your experience and keep a list of any bugs you encounter. Once you’ve reported back from your own experience, asking someone else such as a friend, family member, a coworker, and even a client would also be helpful. For some useful pointers as to how to run user tests, you can check out this [handbook link](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/user-testing/). **What format is useful?** How you report your walkthrough is truly up to you.The important thing is to feel comfortable with what you share. Here are some suggestions: * Video (with or without audio) - If you do a video with audio, please also create a transcript. If you do a video without audio, feel free to just highlight the biggest pain points, “ gotcha!” moments, and bugs. You can post your video to Youtube, or upload it somewhere like Cloudup or CloudApp to share. * Screenshots - You can do a series of screenshots. With each screenshot, add a caption or comment about what you’re doing, along with any highlights or observations. * Text - If you’re not comfortable or capable of doing video or screenshots, it’s also okay to just post your observations via text. Lots of times when I’m casually testing a feature, I’ll write some freeform, stream-of-conscious style notes. These are good for capturing your state of mind while you’re working and revealing particularly frustrating moments. However you decide to do your walkthrough, please post your results here as a comment. If you’re comfortable submitting bugs you find to TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.[https://core.trac.wordpress.org/](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/)., add those tickets to your comments. Otherwise, describe the bug you encountered and we’ll create a ticket for you. Thanks! +make.wordpress.org/flow [#user-testing](https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/user-testing/) [#editor](https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/editor/) [#customization](https://make.wordpress.org/design/tag/customization/) (Thanks to [@karmatosed](https://profiles.wordpress.org/karmatosed/) for getting the draft for this started!) ### Share this: * [ Threads ](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/18/share-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site/?share=threads) * [ Mastodon ](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/18/share-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site/?share=mastodon) * [ Bluesky ](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/18/share-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site/?share=bluesky) * [ Facebook ](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/18/share-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site/?share=facebook) * [ X ](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/18/share-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site/?share=x) * [ Reddit ](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/18/share-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site/?share=reddit) * [ Email ](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/18/share-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Share%20a%20walkthrough%20of%20setting%20up%20a%20WordPress%20site&body=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fdesign%2F2017%2F01%2F18%2Fshare-a-walkthrough-of-setting-up-a-wordpress-site%2F&share=email) 1. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6a97b9fdf799797b7e29604f11d3c6ba1da31e57f4fdb9f76dba09cb052770b1? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 2. [Joy](https://profiles.wordpress.org/joyously/) 11:49 pm _on_ January 19, 2017 3. Whether redesigning an existing site or creating one for a client, there is not one set way I would approach it, but whatever approach I take, I do it on my local test site. I clone the site to my computer or just create an empty one (unzip WordPress). None of the work is done on the live site until it is all ready to go. Then for an existing site, I install the plugins and theme I want to use and then import the database from the local test bed to switch it over all at once, or install WordPress in a subfolder, so I can leave the existing site intact until the new one is ready, and have the client approve the live version before I switch it. 4. I don’t look for plugins from within WordPress. I go directly to the PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory [https://wordpress.org/plugins/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. Directory and search. I usually download and test multiple plugins for one function, to find the one that does what the client needs with the fewest problems. I have a list of plugins that I use for most sites, so there aren’t that many searches. 5. I usually use one theme for all my sites. It is a very customizable theme that I can make look any way I want, so I don’t ever go looking for new themes. 6. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f3be1972cdd27bfc2f3d5ffeae483bb4982a9d6659d1af51f1f9d2e6b1db3173? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 7. [Nick Halsey](https://profiles.wordpress.org/celloexpressions/) 11:08 pm _on_ January 21, 2017 8. Here is the process that we taught students at USC Annenberg to create their personal portfolio sites: 9. * [http://www.annenbergdl.org/tutorials/getting-started-with-wordpress-twenty-fifteen/](http://www.annenbergdl.org/tutorials/getting-started-with-wordpress-twenty-fifteen/)– this video is for WordPress 4.1 and the Twenty Fifteen theme and begins from the frontend of a fresh install. It includes a verbal explanation of content structure and other considerations and is still fairly close to what we recommend despite being a couple of years old. * [http://www.annenbergdl.org/tutorials/build-a-portfolio-website-in-an-hour/](http://www.annenbergdl.org/tutorials/build-a-portfolio-website-in-an-hour/)– this is a screencast recorded from a live workshop that walks through the entire process from getting a hosting account and installing WordPress (manually) to adding content, customizing, selecting a theme, etc. This uses WordPress 4.6. 10. Both of these setup flows were developed specifically to work around a number of bugs and long-standing flow blockers, many of which have been improved since they were made. However, they show pretty clearly that while you can set up a site in an hour (if your content is already prepared), this is a complex process unless you know exactly what you’re doing. There’s a lot of room for improvement. 11. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0e4b198b1a384130e239db654f966b4ad306bf05d3fa38c23700d071987f9df7? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 12. [gusepo](https://profiles.wordpress.org/gusepo/) 10:10 pm _on_ January 22, 2017 13. I made a screen recording of me setting up a personal blog on localhost using latest wordpress version. You find the video with subtitles on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN1CYfKoVIQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN1CYfKoVIQ) 14. I’ve got a good experience with WordPress set up and development, but I tried to act as a pure user for this exercise. If you find it helpful I can make another one with a friend. 15. * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/85cd797876de53531b77ed37565fcf9fd5a7bae47d5139120cec9f63d17b706b? s=32&d=mm&r=g) * [Luke Cavanagh](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecavanagh/) 9:56 pm _on_ January 26, 2017 * Would be interesting to find out how many new users will hit the customizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. on new install, against editing posts and pages in wp-admin. 16. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ee688e454076072936e2f07ceea1727351cda523c1c8925b90e5040a858463e1? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 17. [Carolina Nymark](https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/) 6:13 am _on_ January 27, 2017 18. Here is a video of me setting up a theme demo this morning, using the theme unit test and Jetpack. (After 5-6 minutes I’m mostly using the editor and adding menu items.) “Gotcha” moments: -Having to install the WordPress importer -Is this step necessary, why is it not installed by default? -Trying to activate the theme by hovering over and then clicking the theme preview area in the customizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. but not finding an activation button. -Unable to create a new menu after clicking on “menu location” in the customizer, having to go back one step. 19. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/586ddd1c7549f9f5af42b4737abdee3fc393b57b691abe1a5f35d6b6a8fea946? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 20. [WP Site Care](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpsitecare/) 1:02 pm _on_ January 27, 2017 21. The context for these user tests doesn’t exactly match what you’re describing, but they should still be useful to discover some of the behaviors you want to evaluate. (No transcript for the videos currently. If someone knows of a service that will transcribe the videos I’ll look into it). 22. We did 60 user tests comparing some common tasks including adding pages, uploading media, creating galleries, and changing the theme. 23. Here’s a synopsis of our entire approach: [https://www.wpsitecare.com/improving-wordpress-user-experience/](https://www.wpsitecare.com/improving-wordpress-user-experience/) 24. We tested the same tasks on Wix and SquareSpace as well. Not sure how pertinent the tests of the other platforms are to what you’re after, but should provide some interesting insights into how other platforms approach these UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think‘ how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing./UXUX UX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they are doing’ and less about how they do it. decisions. 25. Here are the videos [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLROcdfSaZhgCDU_DymLwqN_HvMo5DqzXA](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLROcdfSaZhgCDU_DymLwqN_HvMo5DqzXA) 26. Again, this isn’t exactly what you asked for, but I still believe there’s some real value so figured I’d share it. Do with it what you will 🙂 27. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/85cd797876de53531b77ed37565fcf9fd5a7bae47d5139120cec9f63d17b706b? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 28. [Luke Cavanagh](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lukecavanagh/) 7:10 pm _on_ January 27, 2017 29. This is not my setup, but I thought this setup of a site with five pages was worth sharing. Comments are closed. # Post navigation [← What makes a great customization experience?](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/13/what-makes-a-great-customization-experience/) [This week’s design meeting agenda for January 19th →](https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/01/19/this-weeks-design-meeting-agenda-for-january-19th/)