Note: This post was improved and updated with new information on 19th July 2010.

Image by: mamamusings

Introduction

Blogs were used to be a tool used by individuals and businesses to build their online identity. However very soon the Church comprehended it’s power and learned how to adopt it as a ministerial tool.

What is a blog?

A blog (a contraction of the term “Web log”) is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. (source: Wikipedia)

Unlike traditional web sites in blogging you don’t have to depend on a professional to update it. Updating a blog is as easy as typing an essay in Microsoft Word and pressing the save button.

So let me teach you how to setup a one for your church or ministry using WordPress. You might ask why choose WordPress over other platforms?Actually there are many blogging software but WordPress is the most popular one due to many reasons (Check the graph below). Just to give you and idea, think about Microsoft Windows. Why is it so popular? It’s so easy to use. right? WordPress is like that. Besides WordPress is an Open Source product and it’s free.

1. First you must choose a domain name.

A. What is a domain name? Put simply a domain name is the address that people use to find your church or ministry blog/web site in the internet; it’s what you type in the browser’s address bar to go to a specific website. For example, our domain name is: www.virtualpreacher.org You can use any thing as your domain name provided it’s not already in use. That means you can’t use www.virtualpreacher.org as your domain name because I am using it already.

B. Choosing a domain name

Also when you choose a name for your blog make sure to choose something search engine friendly and easier to memorize. Lets say your name is “Yohan Perera” and you want to start a blog using your name as the domain name. You can choose choose something like www.yohanperera.com

C. Which domain extension (.com, .net, .org, .edu) should I use?

Good question! Frankly speaking there are so many types of extensions including the ones I mentioned above. Basically if you are planning to register a domain name for your church or Christian ministry you can use the extension .org – If it’s a personal blog you can use .net or .com – you can even choose a one corresponding to your country (Ex: Most Singapore web sites end with .sg, Australian web sites end with .au, some Sri Lankan web sites end with .lk)

However do remember just because yours is a personal blog it doesn’t restrict you only to .net or .com – If you want you can choose .org or any other extension.

D. How to register my domain name

Usually when you sign up with a web hosting company they will register your preferred domain name on your behalf. However you can register a domain name with a different domain registration company and hand it over to your web hosting company upon sign up for service.

E. Choosing a domain registration company

If you want to register the domain yourself choose a reputed and a reliable company. I recommend Go Daddy.

2. Secondly you must chose a hosting company

A. What is a web hosting company?

The hosting companies let you hire their own hardware/software resources (web servers etc.) and staff for an annual fee. Some even offer attractive discounts for blogs owned by churches and non-profits.

B. What is the cost?

The cost factor depends on the company you choose and your hosting requirements. Usually clients are offered with different packages. Each package has its own unique advantages. Given below is a list of recommended web hosting companies.

I. Lankan Host This is a Sri Lankan reseller web hosting company. They have web hosting packages for as cheap as $16 (annually)

II. Web Hosting Buzz Another reliable and a reputed hosting company. Their cheapest hosting package will cost you an annual fee of $59.40

III. Host Gator Recommended by most professionals. They also have affordable web hosting packages.

IV. Host Monster At the moment they are offering a promotional offer and you can host your blog for just $5.95/month.

C. How to choose a web hosting company? I mentioned 4 hosting companies who offer the most affordable hosting packages in the above list. However it’s not a very good idea to make a decision based on the cost factor alone. Let me give you some more tips.

I. Reputation of the company Imagine you want to signup for a hosting package with “ABC Web Hosting Services”. Find out these details about them. Are they popular? Do they have a reputed service record? What about tech support? Who else is hosting web sites with them? Get feed back from those clients. I have seen some web hosting companies disappear without a warning and the client is left behind with a broken web site.

II. Software requirements Since we want to use WordPress to setup the blog your web host should have the latest versions of PHP and MySQL to run WordPress smoothly. Find out whether the web host of your choice fully supports WordPress hosting. Some web hosts who has poor hardware resources restrict the user from running “wp-cron.php” which is a crucial part of WordPress. Ask whether they offer “Fantastico auto installer” with cPanel (This is essential if you are not comfortable with installing WordPress manually).

3. How to install WordPress in my web server?

Assuming you have purchased a suitable web hosting package lets see how to install WordPress in your web server? The following video explains how to do this?