2 WordPress questions

[Lydia123]

This is my site:

www.lydiasaoldisks.com/blog

1. Is there a way to turn the large blue header into a link that takes a viewer to the blog homepage? If not, how can I make a link that shows up on all pages that will take a viewer back to the homepage; is adding it to the blogroll the only way? Right now, if someone clicks on the categories, there doesn't seem to be an easy way back to the homepage.

2. Is there a way to do do a search to find out where my WordPress uploads are stored? We discussed this earlier; supposedly it's in my public html folder, but I can't find it. I can find a folder that says "WordPress," and there's a blog in it, but no uploads. I can access my uploads via the WordPress software itself (manager), but surely it's accessible via my cpanel, too.

n/m about 1., I figured it out ...am still wondering about 2., though. :)

[Basil]

public_html/blog/wp-content/uploads/

http://lydiasaoldisks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/polaroid-1-small.jpg
[lydiasaoldisks.com] -> public_html/
[blog] -> public_html/blog/
[wp-content] -> public_html/blog/wp-content/
[uploads] -> public_html/blog/wp-content/uploads/
[2007] -> public_html/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/
[12] -> public_html/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/
[polaroid-1-small.jpg] -> public_html/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/polaroid-1-small.jpg

[skeezix]

1. Open your WP Admin Panel.
2. Click Options.
3. Click Miscellaneous.
4. See what is says in "Store uploads in this folder". The contents of that box identifies or tells where you want WP to store your uploads IF YOU UPLOAD THEM USING THE UPLOAD DIALOG in the Write Post/Page or Manage Post/Page operations.
5. Now open cPanel.
6. Open File Manager.
7. Look for the folder name identified in Step 4.
What do you see?
It should be simple for one who has come as far down the path of blogging as you have come to locate a file online. Because you are having difficulty, I am really curious about where your uploads are!

[skeezix]

Here's a foolproof way (and the way that Basil no doubt used) to find without question where your images are stored:

1. Browse to any page on your website. Let's use your home page for example, okay?

2. In your browser menu bar, click View, Source. Your browser will show you a page containing all the code for that particular webpage.

3. Now click Edit, Find in your browser's menu bar and enter the name of one of the images in your home page. That will save you from having to manually search for the filename yourself.

4. Look at the url given for the image. That is where your image is stored but if you use the cPanel filemanager, you will start at public_html instead of your http:// blah blah address. That means you will start looking in you /blog folder. The example below is from YOUR website, and the info you want is shown in RED.

Hope this helps.

http://pipsisiwah.home.bresnan.net/images/example2.jpg

[Lydia123]

<< if you use the cPanel filemanager, you will start at public_html instead of your http:// blah blah address. That means you will start looking in you /blog folder. >>

Well, that's just it ...when I browse the public_html folder I do see a Wordpress folder, but inside there's just one file, and it says "blog." I suppose I'll need to download that file to see if it "expands" or something on my desktop. How do you, yourself, download Wordpress files? Do you just ftp the folder from public_html to your desktop or do you use the backup icon in the cpanel to do that? I've used the icon, but it downloads it as some file that I need to download something else to actually open it.

[felgall]

So go into the blog folder and you should find all the files there.

[skeezix]

Lydia, I'm beginning to think you are having trouble navigating. If you are using the File Manager, try using the LEGACY File Manager instead. Next, you mentioned you saw only one file inside public_html and that it's name is "blog". Actually, that is not a file but another folder. A "subfolder".

To open it, you click once on the little folder icon, not on the name that follows. The Legacy File manager will then display the contents of your blog subfolder.

It's kinda confusing. To open a folder, you click its icon. But to do something else like rename or delete it, you click its name. Then in the action list that appears at the upper right of the window, if you click the icon for an action, nothing happens. You have to click the icon's name (i.e. delete, edit, rename, etc.)

Hopefully that will clear things up a bit.

[Lydia123]

<< To open it, you click once on the little folder icon, not on the name that follows. The Legacy File manager will then display the contents of your blog subfolder. >>

Ok, thx. How do you personally back up your WordPress files? Is there a way to back them up so that I can see them as-is on my desktop instead of as a bunch of html code? The code is the way I see them on my desktop when I back up my blog using the Wordpress backup.

[felgall]

To be able to run a backup copy of your blog on your desktop you will need to install a web server on your computer and copy the files and the database to the appropriate spots on that server.

If you are running Windows there are two all in one web servers to choose from - XAMPP and WAMP5. Both of these will install Apache, PHP, mySQL and phpMyAdmin for you all in one go to save your having to do four separate installs and several config file changes.

[skeezix]

Stephen is right - you will need to have a little space on your hard drive that will look and act as your own little private "server". That's what he meant by installing a web server. That bit in itself can be (but I suppose not always) problematic. Next you have to create a database on your hard drive (the one you created is again, on your host). Then you have to install, yes, actually install WordPress on your computer (right now you installed it on your host).

For somebody who has done this a few times or who does these things for a living, it's all quite simple, but for folks like you and me who are pretty much just starting out with WordPress and blogs, it is a challenge. I recommend you simply back up your stuff as you have been doing, and continue editing and updating your website "live" and online as you have been doing.

After I feel really comfortable with all that, I will probably install a local "web site" on my computer, but that's a low priority for me right now - probably should be for you as well.

Hope this helps.

[Lydia123]

<< Stephen is right - you will need to have a little space on your hard drive that will look and act as your own little private "server". That's what he meant by installing a web server. That bit in itself can be (but I suppose not always) problematic. Next you have to create a database on your hard drive (the one you created is again, on your host). Then you have to install, yes, actually install WordPress on your computer (right now you installed it on your host). >>

If I wanted to design a website using Wordpress, this is what I should do, then, isn't it, if I wanted to design it on my desktop and see it "live?" I suppose I could also do it on the server, but how would I set it up so it wouldn't be available for public view until I was ready? Do you think there's any advantage to using Wordpress pages for a website vs. a CMS?

<< I recommend you simply back up your stuff as you have been doing, and continue editing and updating your website "live" and online as you have been doing. >>

Ok, but when I save my blog from inside wordpress, am I saving all the picture uploads? What would happen to them if I lost them online?

[felgall]

Save the wp-content folder as well as the database - that saves any customizations to your theme and any files etc that were uploaded.

[Lydia123]

Save the wp-content folder as well as the database - that saves any customizations to your theme and any files etc that were uploaded.

Is that the folder that I see via the cpanel? It has one file in it called "blog." Do I just copy it to my desktop? If not, how do I save the wp-content folder?

[skeezix]

When I backup my WP stuff, I create a new folder in my hard drive called, for example, "wpbackup20071217". That name tells me it is a wordpress backup that I created on December 17, 2007.

Next, I locate the folder on my host that contains the wp-admin, wp-content, and wp-includes along with all the other files. I copy those 3 folders and all the other files to folder I just made on my hard drive. I use an ftp program called "filezilla" to do that. You can use that, or another ftp program, or I think you can use your cPanel to download the stuff folder and file at a time (can't recall right now).

So now I have a copy of you blog on my hard drive, everything except the database. To copy the database, I use cPanel. I'm sure you can find instructions by poking around this forum a bit that will tell you how to copy the tables in your wp database using cPanel. Anyway, once I have the database files on my hard drive, I have a complete backup of my blog.


And once again, I recommend you continue building your site live at your host and do not complicate things by trying to set up a server on your own hard drive.

When you use the WPAdmin Panel to create your pages and your posts, below the editing window you will see something that lets you "publish" or not, depending if you check "publish" or not. If you don't check "publish", then all your work will still be on the host for you to access and see and change, but nobody else can see it. When you are happy with your page or post, then you can check "publish" and it will be released for everybody to see.