After installing WordPress, it is essential to configure various settings to ensure your website operates smoothly and efficiently.
This tutorial will cover key areas, including general settings, permalink structure, media settings, user management, and more.
By following these steps, you’ll have established a fantastic starting point for your website, poised for further development and creating a professional online presence.
Table of Contents
General Settings
The first step in optimizing your WordPress installation is to adjust the general settings of your website to align with your brand, target audience, and desired functionality.
To access these settings, navigate to the WordPress dashboard and click on “Settings” in the sidebar menu, followed by “General.”
Site Title and Tagline:
The site title represents the name of your website, while the tagline provides a brief description or slogan.
These elements are typically displayed in the header or browser tab when visitors access your site.
Choose a site title that reflects your brand identity.
Craft a compelling tagline that communicates your website’s purpose and value.
WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL):
The WordPress Address (URL) specifies the location of your WordPress installation files, while the Site Address (URL) determines the URL visitors will use to access your site.
In most cases, both addresses will be the same. However, if you have installed WordPress in a subdirectory or are using a content delivery network (CDN), you may need to adjust these URLs accordingly.
Email Address:
Enter your email address in the “Email Address” field. This email will be used for administrative purposes, such as password resets and important notifications.
Site Language:
Choose the language in which you want to operate your WordPress site.
WordPress supports a wide range of languages, allowing you to cater to a global audience and create a localized experience.
Timezone:
Select your website’s timezone to ensure accurate timestamping of posts, comments, and other time-related content.
Choosing the correct timezone is essential, especially if you have an international audience or schedule time-sensitive events or promotions.
After customizing the general settings according to your preferences, click the “Save Changes” button to apply the modifications.
By adjusting the general settings, you can establish a strong foundation for your WordPress website.
These settings ensure that your site reflects your brand identity, and provides essential information for search engines and visitors.
Take the time to carefully review and configure these settings based on your specific needs and goals.
Permalink Structure
Next, let’s focus on configuring your permalink structure.
Permalinks determine the structure of your website’s URLs. By using descriptive and user-friendly URLs, you can improve search engine optimization (SEO) and make it easier for visitors to navigate your site.
In the WordPress dashboard, go to “Settings” and select “Permalinks.”
You can choose from various permalink options or create a custom structure that suits your needs.
I suggest opting for the Post name structure, as it provides search engines with a clearer understanding of your post’s content and incorporates your keywords.
Remember to save your changes to apply the new permalink structure.
Media Settings
Properly managing media settings is crucial for maintaining an organized media library and optimizing the loading speed of your website.
To access these settings, go to “Settings” in the WordPress dashboard and select “Media.”
Here, you can define the default sizes for images uploaded to your site, choose whether to organize media files into folders based on year and month, and specify the maximum dimensions for image thumbnails.
You want to change all the dimensions to 0 as this will stop WordPress generating images of all different sizes and adding unnecessary files to your website, which can bloat your site over time.
Click the “Save Changes” button to apply the modifications.
User Management
Effectively managing user roles and permissions is essential, particularly if you have multiple users or contributors on your WordPress site.
By assigning appropriate user roles, you can maintain control over content creation, editing, and publishing.
To manage user roles, go to “Users” in the WordPress dashboard.
Nothing needs to be changed here, just be aware that you can create new user accounts, assign roles to existing users, and control their capabilities.
Consider the roles needed for your site’s workflow and grant permissions accordingly.
Discussion Settings
Controlling comments and discussions on your WordPress site is a must for maintaining a healthy online community and preventing spam.
In the WordPress dashboard, click on “Settings” and select “Discussion.”
Here, you can customize settings related to comments, including comment moderation, user registration, and comment display options.
The settings you want ticked are:
- Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the post
- Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new posts
- Allow people to submit comments on new posts
- Comment author must fill out name and email
- Show comments cookies opt in checkbox, allowing comment author cookies to be set
- Enable threaded (nested) comments 5 levels deep
- Anyone posts a comment
- A comment is held for moderation
- Comment must be manually approved
- Comment author must have a previously approved comment
Take time to configure these settings to have meaningful discussions and ensure a positive user experience on your site.
Reading Settings
The reading settings determine how your website’s content is displayed to visitors.
To access these settings, go to “Settings” in the WordPress dashboard and select “Reading.”
Here, you can define whether your latest blog posts or a static page should appear as the front page of your site.
Typically, you want to configure it as a static page, with the home page of your website.
Additionally, you can adjust the number of blog posts displayed per page.
Choose these settings based on the structure and purpose of your website to provide an optimal reading experience for your audience.
Conclusion
You have successfully configured the essential settings after installing WordPress.
Through personalizing these settings, you have established a fantastic starting point for your website, poised for further development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change the permalink structure after publishing content on my WordPress site?
Yes, you can change the permalink structure even after publishing content.
However, doing so may break existing links, leading to 404 errors.
To avoid this, consider implementing proper redirects, but I would advise using a plugin like “Redirection” to automatically redirect old URLs to the new ones or if you have RankMath SEO plugin installed this has redirections built in.
For more info on RankMath check out my review here.
How can I prevent spam comments on my WordPress site?
To prevent spam comments, you can enable comment moderation in the discussion settings.
This allows you to review and approve comments before they appear on your site.
Additionally, consider installing anti-spam plugins like Antispam Bee, which helps filter out spam comments automatically.
Can I change the number of blog posts displayed on each page?
Yes, you can change the number of blog posts displayed per page by adjusting the reading settings.
Go to the WordPress dashboard, click on “Settings,” and select “Reading.”
From there, you can modify the “Blog pages show at most” option to set the desired number of posts per page.