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Building a Personal Website with WordPress and Free Deployment

Building a Personal Website with WordPress and Free Deployment

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

  1. LocalWP installed (download here)
  2. Cloudflare account with DNS management access
  3. Domain name (optional)

Local WordPress Development

1. Create Local WordPress Site

  1. Launch LocalWP application
  2. Click FileAdd new site
  3. Select “Create a new site”
  4. Configure site settings:
    • Site name: Choose your website name
    • Environment: Select “Preferred” (recommended)
    • Enter WordPress admin credentials
  5. Enable “One-click admin” for easy access
  6. Click “WP Admin” to access WordPress dashboard

2. Essential Plugin Installation

  1. Navigate to PluginsAdd new plugin
  2. Install and activate:
    • All-in-One WP Migration and Backup
    • Simply Static – WordPress Static Site Generator
    • Elementor Website Builder
    • Starter Templates – AI-Powered Templates

Website Customization

1. Theme Selection

  1. Go to AppearanceThemes
  2. Choose and activate a suitable theme
  3. Customize theme settings as needed

2. Content Creation

  1. Use Elementor for page building
  2. Create essential pages:
    • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Blog (if needed)

Static Site Generation

1. Configure Simply Static

  1. Navigate to Simply StaticSettings
  2. Configure URL settings:
    • Select “Relative Path”
    • Enter your website domain
  3. Save settings

2. Generate Static Site

  1. Go to Activity Log
  2. Click “Generate”
  3. Download the generated static site

Cloudflare Pages Deployment

1. Initial Setup

  1. Log in to Cloudflare Dashboard
  2. Navigate to Pages
  3. Click Create a project
  4. Select “Direct Upload”

2. Deploy Website

  1. Name your project
  2. Upload the static website files
  3. Wait for upload completion
  4. Click “Deploy site”
  5. Note your website URL

3. Custom Domain Setup (Optional)

  1. Go to Custom domains
  2. Click “Set up a custom domain”
  3. Enter your domain name
  4. Click “Activate domain”
  5. Wait for DNS propagation (up to 48 hours)

Backup and Restore

1. Create Backup

  1. Access WordPress admin
  2. Go to All-in-One WP MigrationExport
  3. Select “Export to” → “File”
  4. Download backup file

2. Restore Website

  1. Create new site in LocalWP
  2. Install All-in-One WP Migration plugin
  3. Click “Import”
  4. Select your backup file

Maintenance Tips

  • Regularly update WordPress core and plugins
  • Keep backups before major changes
  • Monitor website performance
  • Update content regularly

🎉 Congratulations! Your WordPress website is now live and accessible to visitors!


Useful References

This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.