Please help a complete beginner
 

Right I am trying to set up a website at http://mattlevanecologist.com/, I know *absolutely nothing* about coding, programming etc and chose wordpress because I was told it was easy for a beginner to use and attahualpa because on browsing the themes I came across something saying it could be customised easily.

Unfortunately I'm stuck on trying to get it looking how I want, I've tried browsing this and other forums for questions similar to mine but the answers are all over my head being along the lines of 'open the xyz file' or 'go to this line of code'. I need instructions in very very simple terms telling me where to click on the screen, what to type etc.

With that in mind I hope someone can help with the following I want to do.

1. Put the site title and tagline in the header bar - with the tagline appearing once.

2. Move the row of buttons linking to different pages to below the header bar.

3. Make a page called News that is listed in that row of buttons and carries my blog posts

4. Tak the links to subscribe to posts and comments off the pages that are not blogs

5. Make it so home only appears once in the row of buttons

6. Take off the line where it says uncategorised.

I realise this reads like I'm asking someone to design the site but I am extremely stupid with computers and could spend the rest of my life trying to work this out be randomly fiddling with things or trying to understand how to guides. If anyone can just point me to where the controls for these things are it would be a massive help.

OK I got the posts and comment buttons off, it does look like some of this can be done from in Appearance>attahualpla theme options but I don't know if all of it can

Welcome to Atahualpa and blogging. Take your time and look thru the theme pages, there are a lot of options and you won't figure them all out in a hour. Lets look at your questions
I assume you mean overlay the blog title/tagline on the header image - look in Atahualpa Theme Options (ato for short)->Header Image

look in ato->Style & edit HEADER AREA

go to wordpress dashboard->pages->add page
can you point to an example?

if you added a page called 'Home' look at ato->MENU 1 (Page Menu)
Uncategorized is the default label for any post that you do not assign a category to. If you are talking about it in the header, then look at the options at ato->Style & edit HEADER AREA

it's very helpful if each time you open a thread you give the version of Atahualpa and WP you are using and don't say "the latest' because next week it might not be. Also providing your URL is very helpful.

Also, it looks like what you're trying to do is to create a static front page, with the "News" page as your blog page. Right? If so, then read http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page.

In fact, browse the Wordpress codex for all kinds of information about WP.

RE: "uncategorized"
You need to create some new categories and assign posts to them in order for the category names to appear on the "live" site.

And as Juggledad says, go through each part of the Atahualpa theme options, where you'll find a wealth of help.

Thank you both, I will do my best to work through the Atahualpa Theme Options and the codex. Some of the options appear to be descriptions only not changeable options but I'll see what I can do. It is very confusing and I'm impressed you guys can do this stuff.

Sorry I didn't add all relevant info, the theme is Atahualpa 3.4.9 and its on Wordpress 3.0.1, also when you provide URL do you mean something other than the web address (http://mattlevanecologist.com)?

In addition to the issues you are raising, there is a common newbie issue that you might consider.

You have chosen to remove both sidebars, making every page and post the full width of the page. This adds an un-necessary level of reading difficulty that is not obvious to inexperienced web site layout designers.

There are a number of factors that affect the ease of reading of text. Line width is only one of them, but as a simple rule, for those who want a standard, the easiest layout to read includes the following features.

• fewer than 70 characters per line
• fewer than 5 lines per block of text
• text left justified, right ragged
• generous use of organizing tools (list, sublists, etc.)

Navigation menus can be easier to use if they are in two places, horizontal (as you have it) and in the left sidebar. That way, site visitors can use whichever menu they find more comfortable.

The great majority of WP themes put the nav menu on the right side of the text, a practice that totally escapes this old former newspaper editor. In this culture we read from left to right. By putting the menu in the left sidebar, the reader is offered a constant and intuitive sense of the three elements of navigation

• where you are
• where you have been
• where you can go

A three column layout is the easiest to navigate because it usually presents a clear picture of everything on the site.

Not everyone will agree with me on those points, but they are one man's opinion. Hope they help.