How to Use WordPress - the MacGyver Way

by Alison Weir-Smith, 30 Apr 2018

Who remembers MacGyver? The guy who could turn any situation around with just a couple of every day items. WordPress is kind of like the MacGyver of content management systems. You can do some pretty awesome things with just a few tools, if you know what you are doing.

Some essential tools

MacGyver always had a few essentials that he liked to use. They were pretty everyday items, but he made them awesome. If you want to learn how to use WordPress like MacGyver, here are your essential tools:

  • Free templates
  • All-in-one-SEO plugin
  • Contact Form 7
  • Logic and brain power

With these simple tools, you can make one awesome WordPress site.

How to use WordPress

There are dozens of articles out there on how to use WordPress, so I am not going to go into detail on how to install and get WordPress started. Let’s assume that you have a vanilla, default installation of WordPress’s most recent update installed on your server. If you don’t know how to install WordPress, read here: https://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Famous_5-Minute_Installation

Now login to your site so that we can get going on making your MacGyver WordPress site.

Get some theming going

In the spirit of keeping things simple just like MacGyver, we’re going to use a prebuilt WordPress theme that is readily available from your WordPress backend.

Take a look on the left of your screen – that’s right, the sidebar. Look for the “Appearance” button and click on it. Then choose “Themes” and click on “Add New”.

Now search for a theme that you like the look of. Hover over that theme and click on the “Install” button that appears.

Once your theme is installed, you will need to click the “Activate” button.

Now for the plugins

Anyone interested in how to use WordPress like MacGyver is going to need some plugins to get their website really humming along.

The two that you need to install are:

  • All-in-one-SEO
  • Contact Form 7

Take a look at the left sidebar again, click on “Plugins”. Now click on “Add New”. Then, just like with the themes, search for “Contact Form 7” and “All-in-one-SEO”. Install and activate them.

Now you are ready to go - almost

Now you just need to run through your theme, change all the settings and run through the WordPress Settings and set those up the way that you want them.

From there it is just a matter of adding content and publishing everything. Quick, simple and effective – at least in appearances. Just like MacGyver’s solutions to any catastrophe!

Need more information on how to use WordPress? Contact us!