tess8

thanks jeremyclark for the reply.

yes i do want a simple site but not for a blog but for as a NEWS website for africa focused articles.
for example, the news website http://www.abugidainfo.com/index.php
says that it is using WordPress. i like it because two of the main things i want are opportunity for readers to comment easily
and secondly a capability to have an External Links sidebar on the frontpage. Check out the website above just for a minute and you will see what i mean.
if you can give me the step-by-step method to create a website like that (for example, what template to use), i would be very thankful!!

BTW, if i have a choice, i would prefer a news website like this
http://www.ethiopolitics.com/
but i am not sure if this second website uses wordpress.

anyway, if not the second one, i would still love to create a news website like the first link i gave you.

thank you so much in advance for your help.