Steps I Took to Start a WordPress Blog and the Problems I Ran Into

Introduction

In the previous article, I wrote about why I started this blog.

This time, I will summarize the actual steps I took to launch the blog with WordPress, along with the points where I struggled.

This time, I also consulted ChatGPT about what kind of website I wanted to create and why, and I proceeded mostly by following its guidance.

The Process of Starting WordPress

The steps I followed were roughly as follows:

1. rent a server
2. install WordPress
3. Theme Setup (Cocoon)
4. apply initial settings
5. Security Settings

Overall, I was able to get the site online in about 2 to 3 hours.

How I Used ChatGPT

This time, I also used ChatGPT to guide the setup process itself.

• “What kind of structure should the blog have?”
• “What settings should I configure first?”

I asked questions like these and proceeded based on the answers. After completing each step, I continued the process conversationally by saying things like, “I finished up to this point.”

Also, when I could not find a particular setting, asking specific questions such as “I cannot find the ○○ option” often helped solve the problem smoothly.

Server Setup and WordPress Installation

This time, I signed up for a rental server service (Xserver) and installed WordPress. Xserver provides an easy WordPress installation feature, so even as a beginner I was able to set things up fairly smoothly. So far, the site has been running without any major problems.

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The server used by this blog (Xserver)

These days, hosting services provide systems that make setup quite easy, so the process went more smoothly than I expected. ChatGPT also suggested focusing only on the minimum necessary settings so I could publish my first article as quickly as possible, so I left most other settings untouched. Personally, I actually wanted to configure everything in detail one by one...

Theme Setup (Cocoon)

I use the free Cocoon theme.

Since it works fairly well out of the box, I felt it was beginner-friendly.

Initial Settings I Configured

At minimum, I configured the following settings:

• permalink settings
• site title and tagline
• removing unnecessary plugins

Security Settings

I applied basic security measures such as login restrictions.

Since this area is important, I would like to write about it in more detail later.

Problems I Actually Encountered

After actually doing it, I struggled a little with the following points:

- I could not find some of the settings that ChatGPT mentioned
→ I kept asking things like, “Where is that setting?” while proceeding. Sometimes the wording was slightly different as well...

- the costs for server and security-related settings
→ I kept the costs to a minimum, but it still ended up costing just under 1,000 yen per month. I consider that part of the learning experience.

Conclusion

Launching a WordPress blog itself was not particularly difficult, but I often got confused by the many detailed settings.

Also, by consulting ChatGPT along the way, I became less unsure about what to do next, which made the process smoother overall.

When consulting ChatGPT, I think it helps to explain the following points at the beginning:
- your level of IT skills
- what kind of website you want to create
- why you decided to launch a website