About this guide

I ♥ Wordpress.

I use it for nearly everything now, and am delighted that its scope will be expanded with version 3, which is due out in the not-too-distant future.

One of the strengths of Wordpress is how user-friendly it is.  Clients of mine who are not particularly tech-savvy are using it and blogging and editing away.  Once they know the basics, I find that they rarely come back with problems.  However, the basics are sometimes tricky to find all in one place.  Wordpress.org’s documentation is comprehensive and excellent, but is aimed more at the expert/administrator/developer level and there isn’t much basic info there for people who simply want to post and edit their content.

I’ve created a Guide to Wordpress 2.9 for Editors, which I send to clients once their Wordpress site is set up.  I’m sharing it here as I think it might be useful to other designers.  It just runs through the basic functions of adding a new post or page, editing posts and pages, adding and editing links, and managing comments.  It also includes a brief introduction to Wordpress and explains the difference between categories and tags.  It’s a short (five page) pdf that can be saved and used as a reference.

So feel free to download and share this document. I just ask that you leave my credit on the footer, and that you comment below with your feedback if you have a spare minute.  Do you think the document is useful?  Any ommissions or errors?

How is it done?

1. Go to your Facebook page (or create a new one here)
2. Click on the Notes tab in the top left hand corner (you  may have to click on the plus sign to display it)
3. Select ‘Write a new note’
4. Once you’re in this window, you can access the Notes settings.
   
5. On the right-hand side of the Notes area, you can choose to import a blog.
   
6. Copy and paste the location of your blog’s RSS feed.
7. The page will then import your blog.  After you have posted to your blog, the post will show up a little later in your Facebook page.

Updated – Dec 2009

Facebook changed this option slightly after I wrote this post, and many commenters ran into problems with their feed appearing on their personal page instead of on their fan page.  Big thanks to commenter Leela Robinson who identified the correct way to do this. In short – use the Notes tab at the top of the page, not the one at the bottom right.

Facebook page?

A Facebook page is different to a Facebook profile: a profile is a personal account and must be linked to an identifiable individual, whereas a page can be set up by an individual to promote a brand, product or service.   The advantage of a page is that people can become fans of that page and can be contacted en masse, sent updates, use discussion boards, upload photos, etc.  Updates to your page will then appear on their Facebook homepage.

Why import a feed?

If you are creating a Facebook page to promote your blog, importing the blog to the page means that all your blog posts will automatically appear on your Facebook page.

What’s difficult about it?

Facebook is strangely user-unfriendly when it comes to setting up and editing pages, groups, etc.  The process is a bit counter-intuitive, as you can see above.

Lots of blogs give pointers on how to import a feed into your profile, but I had trouble finding one that gave instructions specifically for a fan page.  So I noted down the instructions here in a rare fit of helpfulness.

Some of my Facebook pages:

• Oxjam Ireland
• Oxfamhome, Belfast
• CheapEats.ie