If you have set up a blog or are thinking of setting up a blog, you may be wonderingup how you can make it look just the way you want it to and have the functions you want it to have. This is quite easy to do. Let me show you how you can do both of these things in just minutes with Wordpress.

What is Wordpress Wordpress is a very popular blogging platform right now. Why? Because they offer a great range of themes and plugins which allow you modify the look and functionality of your blog easily.

You can set up a blog at Wordpress.com in just a few minutes and it is completely free. You can either choose for Wordpress to host the blog or host it yourself on your own domain.

I would highly recommend that you host the domain yourself because you have more options to modify it. And, when your blog gets popular, you also own the address.

How do you modify the way your blog looks? You do this by changing the theme. Once you set up your blog at Wordpress.com you will get access to the admin area. Go to "Appearance" section, then "themes". Select the theme you want under "manage themes" and click "activate". Or, search for the theme you want under the "install themes" tab, install it then activate it.

If you host the domain yourself, and you buy a theme elsewhere. You install it manually by copying the theme files into the "themes" folder you will find at YourBlog.com/wp-content.

You will then see the theme appear under "manage themes" tab in the appearance/themes section in the admin area where you just activate it.

Sometimes you get extra options to modify the theme. You will find these in the menu in the admin area (left hand side) under the name of the theme. You can also modify your blog's look by using widgets which you see under the "Appearance" section in admin menu.

If you have web design skills, there is also the "editor" option under the appearance section where you can tinker with the coding of your blog.

Where can you buy themes for your blog? Sometimes the free themes provided at Wordpress.com may not be suitable for you but you can buy great themes that don't cost much at all.

At WooThemes.com, you can get 3 themes for just $70. Just do a search in Google for "Wordpress themes" for more places. How do you customize the functionality of your blog? This is done with the use of plugins. Plugins are just add ons for your blog to allow certain functions for your blog.

For example, typical plugins for a blog allow things like advertising, social media links, iphone functionality, a contact form, a site map, web stats and much more. To get a better idea of different plugins, go to the "Plugins" section in the admin area, click "add new", click "popular".

How do you install plugins? Click on "Plugins" in the admin area, click "add new", search for your plugin, install it then activate it. You can also customize some plugins, just look for the plugin name in the admin area menu for the options.

Summing up I hope you found this article helpful. But like anything, the best way to learn is to play around with wordpress, try some of the things in this article and don't worry about making any mistakes. You will then see for yourself how easy it is to set up and modify your blog.