I’ve been asked frequently what the steps are that you need to take in order to change your WordPress password. So I thought it would be a good idea to share the simple process with you.

• Administration access: If you need to change your password after setting up your user account and you are logged in, just click on “Users” and then “My Profile. Scroll down until you see at the bottom where you can enter your password twice. Make sure you type the same password both times. Make sure to “Save your changes”.
• User access: If you are just a regular user and are already logged in, you should see “Your Profile” on the sidebar that you need to click. If the sub-menu “Your Profile” is already showing then you should be able to see your “User” profile. Scroll down until you see at the bottom where you can enter your password twice. Make sure you type the same password both times. Make sure to “Save your changes”.
• If you haven’t logged in and have forgotten your password, you can go to the “Forgot Password” link on your website by typing: http://[your domain name goes here]/wp-login.php?action=lostpassword. You will then go through a process of changing your password. You will need to know your “Username” for your blog in order to use this process.

When you create your WordPress website, there are key pages that you should include to help your web visitors learn more about you. These key pages should have content that explains you, your business and your products/services that you can provide to your target client.

As you weigh the options of adding these pages, keep in mind that the more information you have available for people, the easier it is for them to get to know you. Below are the suggested key pages that you should have as part of your WordPress website:

• Home: this is a given as it is the page that will first herald your WordPress website to your web visitors. Make sure that the information included on this page is clear and concise so that it draws in your web visitors.
• About: on this page, include information about you and your business so that your web visitors can get to know you better. One resource that can help you understand the importance of transparency is “Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online“. It helps you understand how to share about you and your business to create a “cozy” connection between you and your web visitors.
• Contact: make sure you have a contact form that will allow your web visitors to send you a message via your WordPress website. It’s also a good idea to add different ways that they can contact you.
• Resources: include business products or services that you recommend due to their relationship with your or their level of service.
• FAQs: always include a page that shares frequently asked questions so that you can point people to it when you are asked a common question repeatedly.

When I create WordPress websites, there are 5 basic plugins that I feel are necessary. Theses plugins help me create an environment for my clients that enables them to have additional functionality. Without these plugins, simple things such as adding a table to a page or adding an anchor on a page would be a manual process.

Below are the 5 basic plugins that I feel are a necessity when creating a WordPress website:

• TinyMCE Advanced: this plugin adds 15 plugins to TinyMCE: Advanced HR, Advanced Image, Advanced Link, Context Menu, Emotions (Smilies), Date and Time, IESpell, Layer, Nonbreaking, Print, Search and Replace, Style, Table, Visual Characters and XHTML Extras.
• Page Links Manager: adds an administration panel that allows you to pick which page links are included in your site’s navigation. Adding it to your WordPress installation is as easy as ever.
• WordPress.com Stats: this a statistical system that focuses on the most popular metrics a blogger wants to track and is provided in a clear and concise interface. Installing this plugin is much like installing Akismet, all you need is to put in your API Key and the rest is automatic.
• Akismet: checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not and lets you review the spam it catches under your blog’s “Comments” admin screen.
• All in One SEO Pack: this plugin was created to optimize your Wordpress blog for Search Engines (Search Engine Optimization – SEO). It allows you to add site-wide SEO information to each page and post or you can create individual SEO for a page or a post.

I have many more plugins that I would add to this list but I figured that this is a good starting point. I chose these plugins because they give additional functionality that can help you bring a special “WOW factor” to your website.

As a WordPress website/blog owner, you may have noticed that when you first set up WordPress, the URI/URL has strange numbers at the end. It will mostly look like this: “http://yourdomain.com/?p=123″ (“123″ represent any series of numbers that could following the standard address details). Those numbers actually are part of the permanent web address link to your page, post or uploaded media.

One way that permalinks are very helpful,  is when you want to apply SEO techniques to your website or blog. To help you learn more about WordPress permalinks, I have created a video below that will show you step by step instructions on how to set up your permalinks.

If you are a WordPress website owner, then extending the functionality of WordPress is one of the things that can help enhance your online presence. To help you learn simple ways to extend the functionality of WordPress, below are a few things to keep in mind. The tips below apply to at least WordPress version 2.9+:

• If you want to add new plugins, then on the sidebar, click on “Plugins” and “Add New”. You will have different options to search for plugins. Keep in mind that you need to pay attention to the version of WordPress that the plugin says it works on.
• Adding themes and changing the look of your website has become easier. Click on “Appearance” then “Add New Themes”. You can then search for a theme by different categories. Keep in mind that not all themes are correctly designed and could cause issues with your website. If this occurs, you need to quickly switch back to a theme that you know will work on your website.
• Keep in mind that you may get mobile phone web visitors, so plan accordingly. One mobile WordPress theme that you may want to look into is Carrington Mobile. They have instructions that can help you get this installed on your website. This theme will only work on mobile phones and shouldn’t interfere with your main theme.
• Another place where you can find more details about how to extend WordPress is by visiting WordPress.org Extend section.