Summary

This is a tutorial for total WordPress Beginners that would like to make a portfolio website, but have no experience, no prior knowledge. It starts from purchasing a domain, and hosting. Goes through the basics of WordPress, Gutenberg editor, and structure of the website. And ends with necessary plugins like security and backup.

This is NOT a tutorial for people that with to learn more about Minimalio settings, and it’s capabilites.

Video

1. Introduction: What We’re Building

This tutorial teaches you how to create a simple, clean, minimalist portfolio website using WordPress. The design focuses on showcasing your work with a clear structure that’s easy to navigate and timeless in its appeal.

2. Technology Overview and Costs

The website will run on WordPress with your own domain, costing approximately $6 USD per month for hosting plus around $12 per year for the domain. WordPress powers 40% of the internet and, while it can be overwhelming, this tutorial focuses on the essentials for beginners with no coding required.

3. Domain and Hosting Explained

A domain is your website address that you register, with prices varying based on the extension (.com, .org, etc.). Hosting is a service where you rent space on a server that delivers your website to visitors when they type in your domain.

4. Choosing a Hosting Provider

Selecting a hosting provider is challenging because it’s a massive industry where companies compete aggressively for new customers, and only negative reviews tend to be trustworthy. The tutorial recommends Nixihost for its ease of use, good support, and reasonable pricing, while warning against free hosting or anything cheaper than $6/month.

5. Purchasing Domain and Hosting with Nixihost

You can register your domain directly through Nixihost.com when purchasing hosting, or use a separate registrar like GoDaddy and configure nameservers. The process involves selecting shared hosting, choosing your domain, and completing checkout while skipping unnecessary add-ons.

6. Security Fundamentals: Passwords and Usernames

Website security is critical because automated bots constantly attempt to hack WordPress sites to send spam or malware. You must use long, complex passwords and never use “admin” as your username—these simple steps prevent the majority of attacks.

7. Installing WordPress

WordPress installation happens through the cPanel interface provided by your hosting, often with a one-click install option. During setup, you’ll create your admin account with a unique username and strong password.

8. WordPress Dashboard Overview

The WordPress dashboard is your control center, with the upper portion dedicated to content management and the lower portion for settings. The main menu includes posts, pages, media, and various configuration options that remain consistent across all WordPress installations.

9. Understanding Content Types: Pages, Posts, and Portfolios

Pages are for static content like “About Me” or “Contact,” while posts are for blog entries that can be listed on archive pages. Each content type has a unique URL and can be organized differently—posts and portfolios support categories and tags for filtering.

10. Managing Media Files

The Media Library stores all uploaded images, PDFs, and videos, each with its own URL for linking purposes. Always fill in the alternative text field for images, as this helps both accessibility for visually impaired users and improves your Google search rankings.

11. WordPress General Settings

The Settings section allows you to configure your site title, favicon, language, date formats, and admin email. The Reading settings include an important option to hide your site from Google while you’re building it—remember to disable this when you’re ready to launch.

12. Permalinks and URL Structure

Permalinks determine how your page URLs are structured, with “Post name” being the recommended option for clean, readable URLs. The save button in this section also serves as a magical fix that can repair broken links after installing new plugins.

13. User Management and Roles

WordPress allows multiple users with different permission levels—administrators have full access while authors can only edit content. For security, ensure your display name differs from your username, and never use “admin” as a username.

14. Understanding WordPress Themes

Themes define both the design and functionality of your website, making the choice critically important. There are three types: free themes (completely free), freemium themes (free with paid extras), and premium themes (paid upfront)—freemium themes are recommended because they’re actively maintained and come with support.

15. Introduction to Minimalio Theme

Minimalio is a freemium WordPress theme designed specifically for minimalist portfolio websites. It offers customization through the WordPress Customizer, with premium features including portfolio post types, special gallery blocks, video blocks, and direct support access.

16. Working with Plugins

Plugins add functionality to WordPress like apps on a phone, but each one adds extra code that can slow your site and create security vulnerabilities. Install only necessary plugins, keep them updated (preferably automatically), and test new plugins on a separate site rather than your live website.

17. Widgets: Repeating Content Areas

Widgets are content blocks that appear consistently across your website, with the footer being the most common example. You edit them using the same Gutenberg editor as pages and posts, then assign them to specific widget areas defined by your theme.

18. Creating and Managing Menus

WordPress menus are created separately and then assigned to positions defined by your theme (like primary menu or footer menu). You build menus by adding pages, posts, categories, or custom links, then arrange them with drag-and-drop—dragging items to the right creates submenus.

19. The Gutenberg Block Editor Interface

Gutenberg is WordPress’s main content editor, built around a block-based system where each element (heading, paragraph, image) is a separate block. The most important feature is the Document Overview panel (list icon on the left), which shows your block hierarchy and makes rearranging content much easier.

20. Working with Blocks

Blocks can be nested inside other blocks, creating layouts like columns, groups, and rows. Each block has two sets of options: a floating toolbar for quick adjustments and a right-side panel for detailed settings like colors, spacing, and advanced attributes.

21. Essential Block: Columns

The Columns block is fundamental for creating layouts with content side-by-side, letting you choose preset ratios or customize widths. You can adjust vertical alignment, add or remove columns dynamically, and nest any other blocks inside each column.

22. Text Editing Tips

When editing text, pressing Enter creates a new paragraph block with spacing, while Shift+Enter creates a line break within the same block. You can transform blocks between types (like paragraph to heading) using the block type selector in the toolbar.

23. Revisions: Recovering from Mistakes

WordPress automatically saves revisions each time you update a page or post, accessible through the Page/Post panel on the right side. You can use the revision slider to view previous versions and restore any saved state if you make a mistake.

24. Design Customization with the Customizer

The Customizer is where you adjust your theme’s design settings, including logo, site identity, colors, typography, and layout options. Each theme has its own settings—Minimalio organizes these into sections for header, footer, typography, and content-specific options.

25. Header and Footer Design

The header contains your logo/site title and main navigation, with options for horizontal or vertical layouts that define your site’s overall feel. The footer appears at the bottom of every page and can include widget areas plus an automatic copyright section.

26. Planning Your Site Structure

Before building, decide what will appear in your main menu—typically a portfolio page, blog page, and about/contact pages. Keep it simple: fewer menu items almost always result in a better user experience.

27. Using Page Templates

Page templates like “Portfolio” or “Blog” automatically display lists of your posts or portfolio items with optional category filtering. You can add custom content above the automatic listing, such as a tagline or introduction.

28. Alternative Structures: Categories and Galleries

Categories can be added directly to your menu, creating filtered views of only posts or portfolios in that category. For image-heavy portfolios without much text, using galleries with lightbox functionality may work better than individual portfolio posts.

29. Security Plugin: All In One Security

Install a security plugin to add layers of protection beyond strong passwords, with features like login lockout (blocking repeated failed attempts) and renamed login URLs. Critical settings include enabling the basic firewall, changing the database prefix, and hiding WordPress meta information.

30. Backup Plugin: Duplicator

Duplicator creates complete backup packages of your entire website that you download and store safely on your computer. In case of disaster, these packages allow full restoration—you need both the archive ZIP file and the installer PHP file.

31. Useful Additional Plugins

RankMath (SEO) helps control how your site appears in Google search results and social media shares. Image optimization plugins like Smush prevent large images from slowing your site, and Simple History tracks user activity and login attempts.

32. Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed the video…