Lynn, if you have the free blog option, it shows on the Wordpress website that the features for it are very limited. When you say that the only support you have available is from a forum it suggests that's what you have. More than likely the that's why you can't customize it the way you are hoping to. wordpress blog site

No, I paid for it. $99/year. No ads.

1. Passwords - Each administrators needs a unique password. These should be as long as possible and include at least 1 capital letter, 1 number and 1 special symbol (above the numbers). I set up a spiral password book as there should be a record. Also, do not create an "admin" log in as it invites hackers. Use unique login names.

2. You can get a Registration Plug in for the site. That allows users to register. They have their log in name and they can access the site when they are logged in.

3. Email addresses are part of a log in name. Someone can set up a special email address just for that. It's essential to have those to verify who is registering, and the email address must be accurate. Otherwise you will have problems.

Wordpress is not easy and you will need coding and help. A stand alone site requires a developer at some point. I have an excellent and honest one I can recommend if you contact me privately at yahoo. He isn't inexpensive and he's not in a US time zone. But he is reliable and extremely knowledgeable. Alternately, there is Codeable.io, which is a reliable task for hire site where you specify the task, tech bid for the job and you choose. They require Paypal or a credit card & will need passwords and login info which should be changed after they finish the task for security.

Thank you, Graywings and Rococogurl. Am heading out the door in a few minutes, but will be home later today and will show your info to DH.

Gray: sadly, I did not see that, but wish I had before I spent the money and time to create this headache for the clinic.

Rococogurl: I agree, I definitely need technical help to fix this problem and getting ready for our patients. Let me talk to DH this evening and go from there.

Many thanks to you all for your help. Now, who is up to writing a "Setting Up Websites & Blogs For Dummies"? I will be first in line to buy it!

You could make the site a little less private:

Site Visibility Options

1. Allow search engines to index this site. – This is the setting used by most blogs. It allows everyone to read your blog and enables your blog to be included in search engine results and other content sites.
2. Discourage search engines from indexing this site. –
   If you want all human visitors to be able to read your blog, but want
   to block web crawlers for search engines, this is the setting for you.
   (Note: Not all search engines respect this setting.)
3. I would like my site to be private, visible only to myself and users I choose
   – Select this option to create a private blog. If you want others to be
   able to view your private blog (and add comments, if you’ve enabled
   them) you’ll need to invite them to be a viewer.

Now, who is up to writing a "Setting Up Websites & Blogs For Dummies"? I will be first in line to buy it!

Ahem:

Now I feel all virtuous because I do some writing (though not about web stuff) for a competitor and deadly enemy of the Dummies series. :-)

My non-profit changed our website to a wordpress site, and I agree that it is not easy and we have also had to hire a coder to help us. There are multiple plug-ins to deal with which the average person cannot possibly understand. You are not a dummy!

Thank you for all that info. I've emailed Nephew and offered to hire him to finish/fix this for us. If not, I am taking your advice and hiring someone else to do it. All of this coding and multiple plug-ins has made me realize that I need professional help with this.

For plug ins, just go to plug ins and search by subject. The possibilities turn up. Most are free. I read the reviews and look at the number of users. Then at the top of the plug ins, go to add new. Select the one you want and it should install itself. Then you just tick Activate and it should be enabled. Some require settings; others don't. The documentation is sometimes Greek but often it's not that complicated.

Thanks Rococogurl, you make it so much more clear than their own directions! I swear, they should not allow computer geeks to wrote directions for most sites! People like you are much more succinct in explaining things.

You're supposed to know what they are talking about. I never do. The worst is Google actually. None of it makes sense and then you're invited to evaluate them but clearly they ignore that as they don't change anything. Most of it is not that hard but it takes years to figure out. Each segment is a little world of it's own. It's set up to create business not to serve it. I've learned most when things go wrong.

We did it!!! After reading all of your suggestions about security, coding and plug-ins, etc., I realized that I was in way over my head technically! I emailed Nephew and offered to pay him to fix and finish this for me. He was so sweet and told me that he'd be more than happy to do it, and no way was he wanting any payment for it. He's such a busy guy, with his job, new house and a great wife. As I mentioned earlier, he was so sweet to help me start this back in December, and I've been trying to finish it up on my own ever since then. But WordPress had me so confused! Anyhoo, I told him what you all suggested and he fixed everything for me! And when he went back in yesterday to make the changes, he said that he was really impressed with what I'd done with the blog and that it looked fantastic. I am so relieved and happy that he likes it, as he does this for a living, working for some tech company in Denver. He told me that he's had to go in and fix or help companies and individuals start up their own websites and blogs and mine is the nicest he's ever seen.

And so, many thanks for helping me with this. I am very, very grateful. Our clinic's blog website is now ready for our patients and I can breathe again!

Lynn

Brava Lynn!