WordPress

WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System) blogging tool, kind of like a diary. You can use it to post stories, pictures links to cool stuff. You can visit WordPress's website for more details and to see examples of it being used. http://wordpress.org/

WordPress is a PHP-based weblog ("blog") publishing tool.

DreamPress
DreamHost offers customized WordPress managed hosting, called DreamPress. It's perfect for middle-of-the-road users who need a little more than Shared hosting, but aren't quite ready for a VPS.

One-Click
Installing WordPress on Dreamhost is really simple: just go to the goodies section on Panel and use the One Click Install.

Reusing the Database
If you plan to use the same MySQL database for more than one WordPress install before running the Install.php go to the directory where you installed WordPress and edit the wp-config.php file.

Go to this line: $table_prefix = 'wp_'; // example: 'wp_' or 'b2_' or 'mylogin_'

Change the  to something unique like.

This will create a separate section in the database.

DreamHosters
When you want to move your site from your old host to us, often you want to minimize downtime. You can use our DreamHosters domain to set up your site and design it before changing your DNS, however it's best to do it in this order:

Import your post content and make the site look how you want. This is where you'll be adding in your users, posts, etc etc. Enter  in the box (you will need to change   to whatever your WordPress DB Prefix actually is, you can look in your wp-config.php file to see): Click Go and your posts will be edited. Press Go and it will come back with this: (In this case, there were no posts) This will cause your site to stop working as domain.dreamhosters.com It can take up to 72 hours for this to propagate world-wide, but normally only takes a couple hours.
 * 1) Create your domain with us (don't worry about DNS and name servers yet, just fully host your domain - domain.com)
 * 2) Make a dreamhosters account and when you set it up, have it mirror domain.com
 * 1) Install WordPress on your domain, but keep in mind that you can only import your content from the mirror at domain.dreamhosters.com (so the link for domain.com/wp-admin/install.php can only be accessed at domain.dreamhosters.com/wp-admin/install.php).
 * 1) Edit your posts to change all domain.dreamhosters.com references to domain.com - You can do this in one of two ways:
 * 2) SQL: In PHPMyAdmin, click on the 'SQL' button
 * 1) Plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/search-and-replace/ can go in to Tools -> Search & Replace, and in the bottom section check only content, and put in your URLs. It'll look like this:
 * 1) Change the home and site URLs from domain.dreamhosters.com to domain.com
 * 1) Change your DNS so that you use our name servers

That's it! Your new site will be active!

Good plugins to help search/replace:
 * http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-migrate-db/
 * http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/search-and-replace/
 * http://wordpress.org/plugins/velvet-blues-update-urls/

Upgrading
If you have an "Advanced Mode" install, you can use the upgrade links within the wordpress admin control panel to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress. Note that by doing this, the Dreamhost control panel will not be aware that you have upgraded your software, and will report the wrong version.

After upgrading to WordPress 2.3 (either manually or with DreamHost's One-Click Install), you might experience HTTP errors when accessing your blog, such as:

Too many HTTP redirects

or:

Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

This is caused by an incompatibility between the new canonical redirection functionality in WordPress 2.3. It conflicts with the setting in DreamHost's Domains control panel that, when enabled, removes the "www" prefix from all URLs. When both features are enabled, all page requests to the blog get thrown into an infinite loop.

To fix the problem, go to the WordPress admin page, and switch to the Options > General section. For the WordPress address and Blog address entries, make sure that the "www" is removed from both URLs. (This assumes that your blog's domain is configured in the DreamHost control panel to have the "www" removed.)

For more information about canonical URLs, see here. If necessary, this feature can also be disabled with a simple plugin.

Importing
After installing you can go to http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/import.php to import from other blog software like Blogger, Movable Type, etc.

Importing Content requires additional plugins depending on which platform you're importing from.

Blogger
You may get errors when trying to import from Blogger. If you have problems, follow the directions exactly as usual, but add the following in:

Before you go to the import page above, login to blogger. If you currently publish to FTP, change your publishing method to blogspot by choosing a unique blogspot address. Logout of blogger and then go delete any blogger cookies. Then run the import.php above by logging in and going for it.

WordPress 2.2 has a bug; you may not be able to import the posts directly from the new Blogger. In such a case, follow the instructions available at this blog post.

There is another good guide about migrating from Blogger to Wordpress. It explains in details how to save your traffic, permalinks, pagerank, feed subscribers etc.

Moving A WordPress Installation
If you already have a WordPress installation running on another host and you want to move it to DH, see Move WordPress to DreamHost.

There is also an excellent guide to Moving WordPress on the WordPress Codex which you should review before attempting the move. When following those instructions, the only real considerations that you will have to allow for in the Dreamhost environment are:
 * On Dreamhost, you can only create a new database via the Control Panel's Manage MySQL screen
 * By using an "existing" database (that you created via the Control Panel), you may have to edit the exported .SQL file from your previous installation to remove any "Create Database" commands (whether or not this command exists in your exported SQL file depends upon how the export settings employed when exporting your data from the old database).

You should also review the WordPress Codex article referenced above should you wish to relocate your WordPress installation within your own DH account (possibly to facilitate other software installation, or to change the url of your blog).

Customizing

 * WordPress Troubleshooting
 * Fine Tuning Your WordPress Install - Improving performance
 * Speeding Up WordPress - Caching and speedup
 * ZOMG! My WordPress site was hacked!

Resources
There are many places one may find themes and resources for developing them yourself. Here are just a few:
 * Official WordPress Themes Directory
 * Official WordPress Plugins Repository