Edit .bashrc in your home directory -or-
edit /etc/bashrc if you wish to add a global alias (you must be root)

Enter the following aliases:

alias nano='nano -w'
alias la='ls -a --color'

Note that you can use the semicolon (;) to have an alias run multiple commands:

alias cls='clear; ls'

Either login again -or-
enter . .bashrc in your home directory -or-
enter source .bashrc in your home directory -or-
enter . bashrc if you're root & in /etc -or-
enter source bashrc if you're root & in /etc

My .bashrc is available if you'd like to look at my aliases.