For those of you who have installed WordPress 2.0.x or 2.1.1 or indeed WordPress.com, there is the tremendous temptation to ‘play’ with the software to see what you can do. This article is for helping you to get started on customizing your blog.
How much ‘playing’ are you intending to do? A lot of the features can be changed but it depends on the theme you choose what functions you can alter. So if I may, I’d like to suggest a three step program for customizing your website.

1. When you installed the software, you would find in Presentation >>> Themes about 50 different themes (depending on your host) you can choose from initially. Look through the themes first then try to pick one or the elements of one that you like more than the others. Then use this to guide you in choosing which of the themes seems most pleasing to you.

2. If you really can’t find one, or if you would prefer another theme, you can visit http://themes.wordpress.net/ and have fun there. You will download a zip file. Expand that then upload the files to your domain.com/wp-content/theme folder as instructed by the them. Once uploaded, go to Presentation Themes again, and find it and click on the theme to activate it.

3. You can customize your layout using widgets. If your theme is widget enabled, then you can go to Presentation >>> Theme >>> Widgets sidebar (which are quite flexible). In the text widgets you can add html/java/javascript and such like. If you choose the better themes, you’ll find that the Theme has its own ‘settings’, too.

I will be adapting the above comments. I hope it helps you get your first blog up and running. Please note: a blog/CMS is, in my experience, a kind of evolving website with a hugely social dimension. Both of these separate it from a traditional static website in a number of ways, but with the tools available, you can drive a lot more traffic to your site. In other words, you get visitors! The last and critical aspect that makes a blog/CMS owner happy is that the content and the design are largely separated, so you can work on one without worrying too much about the other: they take care of themselves.

That’s it. Three easy steps to customising your first WordPress blog. Once you’re familiar with these three steps, I will provide more tips on how to tweak your theme, customise your website and where to find more help. I hope it helps you get your first blog up and running.