This guide assumes you have already downloaded and unzipped/untarred the most current Wordpress version. These instructions do not cover the multi-user WP version.

Steps for setting up a new Wordpress (WP) blog:

1. Database created? Create a MySQL database for the domain.

Note: If you have more than one WP blog installed in the same database then open up wp-config.php and change the ‘wp_’ to something else like ‘wp2_’ so that you can run multiple wordpress blogs in the same database.

2. Edit wp-config.php with the database information. Create a subdirectory in the WP version locally so you can backup the wp-config locally there.
3. FTP all WP files to the target domain, including the customized wp-config.php file in step #2.
4. Run the install file from your browser. Default install location is:

domain.com/wp-admin/install.php

5. Record the admin username and password somewhere safe.
6. Delete the install files: install.php, install-helper.php
7. Create a primary user: Users -> Authors & Users -> Add New User
8. Promote this user to Level 9 (which is one level beneath the Admin level of 10).
9. Add whatever plugins you want to use. Here’s some you might try:

bad behavior - shut down the spambots
codesnippet - allows you to include code snippets inside posts
dashboard options - add PHP code snippets, RSS feeds and more to your dashboard
follow - removes the rel=nofollow links from comments
wp-cache 2.0 - cache pages to speed up loading
page navigation - adds page spanning 1,2,3… to WP pages
WP-Dash - replace the default admin area

10. Clean up the default Links area, adding/removing any default links.
11. Delete the test post and make a first test placeholder post. Something like “Hello World” but by this new user.
12. Choose a template or design your own. Starting with the default template might be helpful. There are detailed instructions at the WP codex for how to make custom WP templates.
13. Start posting!

This post will be updated over time as I’m using this for my own reference too, so might want to bookmark this one.