These courses are fast paced. Please do read the Prerequisite Computer Skills Required.

READ THE PREREQUISITES HERE

 

Please hover over one of the following 3 boxes

I have neither a domain name nor a website hosting account

You're truly starting from scratch. That's good. That's what this course is designed for.

Congratulations!

Perfect, in class you will register domain name and set up a website hosting account. You’ll have your own website within the first evening, and by the 3rd evening, you’ll have built enough of your site and have learned enough to continue to develop your site with confidence.  (Bring a credit card and be sure you can access your email while in class.)

I have a domain name, but I don't have a hosting account for it yet.

You own something like www.yourdomainname.com, but that's as far as you've gotten.

That's okay.

You’ll need to point your domain name to the server you’re going to use for hosting your website. It’s important to do this before the first class otherwise you’ll have nothing to do during much of the first evening.

Read more here

I have a domain name and a hosting account.

In other words, you already have a website. This course might work.

This course might work for you

This course can work for you if and only if you come to class already able to login to your WordPress Dashboard.  Be sure to bring your username / password to class.  You’ll have some down time while the class is registering domain names, setting up a hosting account, and installing WordPress. It takes about 2 to 2-1/2 hours to get everyone set up.
  1. This course is designed for someone who has NO website yet.  If you already have a website, please do take a look at my other course.  It will be perfect for you.
  2. This course is fast paced, please do read the PREREQUISITES
  3. Be prepared to do the following:
    1. Register a domain name.  (Requires credit card, but first year is free.)
    2. Set up a hosting account. This is where all your files reside.  (Requires credit card, but first three months are free.)
    3. Be able to fetch email in class.
    4. Start building your website.
  4. Be sure to have a clear idea what people would search for to find what you are selling.

DO bring a credit card to class. You'll need it for buying a domain name, setting up a hosting account, and buying a theme.

Buying a domain name is $19, but you get $20 cash back in class.  I also recommend subscribing to a stock photography company which runs about $40.  There’s also a Theme which costs $62.

This is the email you should receive from me before class.

[day of class]’s WordPress Course, “Build a Website in Three Evenings”

Hi,

If you have a domain name or a website already, please let me know before [day of class].
If you do not have a domain name or website yet, that’s perfect.  That’s what this course is designed for.
Here’s what we do in the first class.
  • In depth discussion of some of the non-obvious issues about registering a domain name.
  • Keyword research
  • You will register a domain name in class.  (The domain name is free for the first year.  We use www.hammock-registration.com since it’s pre-configured to link to the hosting account we will set up. If you use another registrar, you may need to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the evening unless you can change the DNS settings and they kick in very quickly.)
  • You will set up a hosting account.  (We use www.hammock-hosting.com.  This is free for three months, after which you’re more than welcome to move to another host.  We use www.hammock-hosting.com because it’s impossible for me to help students work with hosting companies that I’m not familiar with.)
  • You will install WordPress.
  • You will start building your site during the first evening.
Here’s a checklist for you:
  1. It’s important that you can access email in class.  We’re in a computer lab, so you’ll need to be able to login to something to fetch your email.  Alternatively, you can fetch email on your phone.
  2. Bring a credit card.  Buying a domain name costs $19 for the first year which I refund to you in cash on the first night.
  3. If you have any images you want to use, please do bring them on a USB drive.
It’s a fun class, and you’ll walk away not with the knowledge how to build a website, but rather, you’ll walk away with your very own website that you have built yourself.  It might not be 100% completed by the end of the 3rd evening, but you’ll be well on your way, and you’ll have the skills to add more content on your own.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
See you in class!