WordPress

So you followed the famous v-minute install and you have WordPress upwardly and running in your brand new website. Merely, what to practice next? What do yous need to do before you outset creating your content and setting upwards your theme?

Or let's say you're creating a site for a client. The site is ready to exist published and start receiving visitors. And just earlier you deliver the work to your client: what are the things that must exist washed and checked to make sure your WordPress site is secure, optimized and all the little details are adapted?

Here's a checklist of things you lot should do on every fresh WordPress install. A showtime-up guide to take control over your WordPress site.

General

1. Set Up Your Site Championship & Tagline

The title and the tagline are one of the essential elements that identify your website, and tell people and search engines what your website is nigh. You'll find them under Settings » General, in your WP dashboard.

WordPress Title and Tagline

The Site Title works as the name of your website. It'll announced in the title bar of the browser and is usually (depends on the theme) displayed in your site'due south header. Information technology will as well appear in different places such every bit:

  • The admin bar at your WP dashboard (linking to your site's homepage).
  • The sender'southward name when your followers receive email notifications.

The Site Title doesn't need to be the same every bit your site URL. Try to go along it brusque and solid.

The Tagline is a brusque description that explains what your site is nearly. Think of it equally a slogan that completes the Site Title. It appears adjacent to the Title in the browser's championship bar, and in some themes it also appears in the site's header or footer.

WordPress.org default Tagline is "Just another WordPress site". Please delight delight, make certain y'all replace it with your own.

2. Fix Your WordPress and Site Address URLs

If y'all happen to be using WordPress in a unlike directory than your web root (for example, if you lot installed WP in a blog directory), then you'll need to let WordPress know that past modifying these ii options (Settings » General).

WordPress and Site Address URLs

In theWordPress Address (URL) enter the full URL of the directory containing your WordPress core files. Following the previous example, if y'all installed WordPress into a directory called blog, and then the WordPress accost would be http://case.com/weblog (where example.com is your domain). If you installed WordPress into your spider web root, this address will exist the root URL:http://example.com.

In theSite Address (URL) enter the address you desire people to type in order to reach your WordPress site. The Site address (URL) should be identical to the WordPress address (URL) unless you lot are giving WordPress its own directory (as explained above).

3. Prepare Your Timezone, Date and Time Format

InSettings » General you'll find the options for Timezone, Date and Time Format.

Choose a metropolis in the same timezone as you lot are or a UTC selection if you don't detect your urban center. Now your posts' fourth dimension will be synchronized with your actual timezone and your posts scheduling volition work every bit you expect.

Appointment and Time format settings control the way they're displayed in your site. They normally appear as the metadata of your posts and tell the visitors when were the posts published or updated. You can choose one of the preformatted options or generate a format of your own.

iv. Change Your Permalink Structure

Ane of the about important elements in WordPress sites. Permalinks are the permanent URLs to your individual pages and weblog posts, equally well as your category and tag archives.

The default structure is "Evidently", pregnant that your pages and posts URLs will look something like yourdomain.com/?p=123. That'south not something you desire and, for sure, that's not something search engines like.

And so let'due south turn thoseugly Permalinks into pretty Permalinks. Navigate to Settings » Permalinks and select the structure that suits your site the most. If y'all don't like whatsoever of the provided options, you can build a construction of your own. But brand sure you include the post name for amend SEO love. Hither are the available tags for y'all to use.

WordPress Permalink Structure

five. Upload a Favicon

A favicon is an icon that represents your site beyond the web and devices. It'south a part of your site'southward visual identity and helps people to hands and quickly recognize your website.

Since WordPress four.iii, you can add a favicon (or a Site Icon) from the WordPress dashboard. Go to Appearance » Customize » Site Identity tab. Click on the select file button and upload the image you lot desire to employ as site icon. Co-ordinate to WordPress, icons must be square, and at least 512 pixels wide and tall.

How to add a favicon to a WordPress site

6. Choose Your Discussion Settings (Comments)

Will you want anyone to be able to postal service a comment in your site? Will you want commenters to make full out proper noun and email? Exercise y'all want them to be registered and logged in to annotate? Practice you lot prefer to manually approve every new comment on your site?

You'll notice all these options inSettings » Word. On this screen you lot'll be besides able to command the circumstances under which your site sends you email notifications nigh comments.

Content

7. Remove Sample Content

When yous install WordPress on your domain, you'll observe it comes with a sample mail (the famous "Hello World!") and a sample folio created. That'southward so you can already see something in your site instead of seeing it kind of empty and broken. Simply you won't be using those.

So instead of leaving them at that place and taking a chance on forgetting they fifty-fifty be when your site is ready, go and trash them right abroad.

To remove the sample post: go to Posts and hover on the Hello World postal service. Yous should see the Trash link. Click on information technology, and then get to "Trash", hover the same postal service and striking Delete Permanently.

To remove the sample page: get to Pages and hover on the Sample Page page. You should see the Trash link. Click on it, and so go to "Trash", hover the same post and hit Delete Permanently.

viii. Add Categories and Change the Default I

The default posts category when y'all install WordPress is called Uncategorized. If y'all don't set a specific category for the posts you lot create, they will automatically be archived under the default category.

To change the default category proper noun go toPosts » Categories, hover onUncategorized and click Edit. Don't forget to change its slug likewise.

If you lot take already in mind some of the categories your web log volition accept, information technology'southward a nice idea to go and create them now. That way you'll be able to plan the editorial categories in accelerate, and won't need to figure them out while writing a new postal service and the time to assign it to a category comes.

For that go to Posts » Categories and add them right there. If you want, you can write a clarification for each one. Some themes will display that description in the annal page, and it's too a skilful thing for your SEO.

9. Change Default Widgets on Sidebar

Most themes usually come with at least i widgetized area that is usually the main sidebar displayed next to your posts. Other themes may come with more sections for widgets similar the footer. By default, WordPress places some widgets on the primary sidebar: Search, Archives, Recent Comments, Recent Posts and Categories widgets.

Don't forget your sidebar may appear in some locations in your website (sometimes is on an archive page that you even forgot information technology exists), and then go ahead and decide if you're going to go on those widgets or what exactly you want to put there. For that, navigate toAppearance » Widgets.

10. Create a Habitation Page and Set Reading Settings

WordPress powers now 26% of the Web and in that location's no need to say that its usage is far (FAR!) away from being but a blogging platform. If y'all're not using your WordPress site mainly as a blog, and then y'all'll probably want to create a homepage that is non your latest posts.

Go toPages » Add New. Create a page called "Dwelling house" (or the name you wish). Now navigate toSettings » Reading. In the Front page displays section cull A static page, and then select the Home page you've created.

WordPress Reading Settings

WordPress Reading Settings

If you want, you can too prepare yourPosts page allow's say for a new page that yous tin name Weblog. But depending on the theme you're using, there'south maybe another way to create a page with your weblog posts, similar using a specific folio template.

Sectional Bonus: Download the Ultimate WordPress Website Checklist including everything you demand to make sure your site is ready and optimized for your visitors.

11. Create a Custom Carte du jour

Past default, most themes will take the existing pages on your site and place their links in the navigation surface area in your site. Just we all know that's non the prettiest manner to build a navigation menu for your website.

The Menus screen establish nether Appearance » Menus enables a user to create custom navigation menus and place them in different locations over the site. Many themes come up with more than than 1 location for menus, merely nearly of them come with at to the lowest degree one and that is your site'southward header.

WordPress Menus

WordPress Menus

Creating a Custom Menu instead of leaving the default page links in your header volition allow yous:

  • Drag, order, reorder and rename carte du jour items.
  • Create sub-menus.
  • Create card items that are not pages, like custom links, posts and categories.
  • Use, subsequently, the same bill of fare on dissimilar places, like widgets.
  • Customize the menu items by playing with the Link Target, CSS Classes, Description.

Users

12. Change Default Admin User

Make sure you change theadmin username to a unique one. Leaving theadmin username like that may end on a security vulnerability for your site.

And if you didn't already, change your password to a more circuitous one. A countersign that combines letters, numbers and special characters is definitely the fashion to go.

13. Complete Your Profile

Make your WordPress profile match who you are. Go to Users » Your Profile. There you'll be able to enable/disable theVisual Editor when writing posts and pages, to select anAdmin Color Scheme, to determine if yous want to show or not the Toolbar when viewing your site (I personally hate having the toolbar on the frontend, information technology's the first thing I turn off when working on a fresh install).

And more important, you can fill up in your details and decide how to prove them. Insert your first and last names, so select a "Display name publicly every bit…" selection. This will apply to every place in your site where your proper noun is displayed: writer archive page, author name in posts, user proper name in forums, etc.

You lot can too add yourContact Info and aBiographical Info. Depending on the theme, these may show upwardly in dissimilar locations.

14. Go a Gravatar

Your name, contact info and bio are set up. But what well-nigh having a profile picture?

WordPress uses a specific type of avatar called Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar). Gravatars follow you around the web and automatically appear when you post a comment on a WordPress site or sign up on a WordPress site with your email account.

To create your Gravatar go to gravatar.com. You lot'll be able to annals an account based on your email, and upload an avatar to be associated with the business relationship.

Author's Gravatar in Author Archive Page

Writer's Gravatar in Author Archive Page – Indigo Theme

Depending on the theme, Gravatars may be displayed side by side to your writer info in a post you lot wrote, on a comment yous made or a forum topic yous've responded.

15. Add Other Authors

You know your site is going to have other authors? Navigate toUsers » Add together New and create the profiles for them. You'll be required to fill up in Username and E-mail. A Password volition be automatically generated for you, just I recommend you to click on "Show Password" if you want to grab it and re-create it to a information file with all your site'due south credentials.

In the aforementioned screen y'all can decide if yous want to send the new user an email notification about their account and the role he/she is going to accept in your website.

Remember the electronic mail address you ready is the one that brings the person's Gravatar, so you may want to use for your authors the e-mail that they employ for their business relationship at gravatar.com. Or you can use another email address merely then remind them to add that email to their Gravatar account.

Plugins

xvi. Delete Unused Default Plugins

WordPress comes with ii already installed plugins:Hello Dolly and Akismet. We'll get to Akismet in a moment. For now, and even if it'due south really nice to have random phrases from Louis Armstrong's Hello, Dolly in your dashboard, I'd say you should delete it.

Here are a few of the phrases and then you don't miss the plugin when it's gone. Y'all're invite to come up dorsum hither every time yous feelHello-Dolly-Sick:

  • "It's so nice to have you back where you belong"
  • "Dolly'll never go away"
  • "Y'all're still glowin', y'all're all the same crowin'"
  • "So, take her wrap, fellas"
  • "Nosotros feel the room swayin'"

Sometimes when getting a WordPress installation from your hosting service, there might be other plugins already installed. Brand sure you check them out and see if you actually need them. If not, remove them from your site.

17. Install Recommended Plugins

Anti-Spam

WordPress sites can become lots of spam comments sometimes. Fortunately, there's something we tin can do.

Giphy - I don't like spam

Akismet

Akismet is a plugin that checks your comments to see if they look like spam or not and lets yous review the spam it catches nether your site's "Comments" admin screen.

It comes already installed with your WordPress installation. You'll demand an Akismet.com API key to utilise it which is costless for personal sites. Actuate the plugin and fill in your API key.

Antispam Bee

Some other popular solution to fight spam. This free plugin will help you lot block unwanted comments on your site.

SEO & Analytics

Yoast SEO

One of the best and almost complete Search Engine Optimization solutions for WordPress. The Yoast SEO plugin guides you through some of the settings needed in society to optimize your site. It'll help you lot write better content that cares for keywords and readability. It'll as well generate a sitemap of your site.

Google XML Sitemaps

If you didn't install Yoast SEO or if your SEO plugin doesn't automatically creates a sitemap, install Google XML Sitemaps. This plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines to better index your site past agreement its construction. In add-on, it notifies all major search engines every time you create a post.

Google Analytics

Every site, as little as it tin can be, needs statistics. Google Analytics is a free service that tracks all sorts of insights about your website'south visitors, so you lot tin can improve wherever necessary to become improve results and proceed them coming back.

First, create an account at Google Analytics. And then, if you're non using a custom developed theme, you tin can get a plugin that will install the code for you. These are a few options:

– Google Analytics by MonsterInsights
– Google Analyticator
– Google Analytics

SEO is a wider topic than what we can cover here. If yous're interested in learning more about it, here's a beginners guide to SEO from isitwp.com.

Cache

On top of using performance optimized themes and plugins, caching is the best style of optimizing WordPress sites. Existence that WordPress is a CMS that serves dynamic websites, every time a page is loaded the server needs to process information technology all over over again. That means the folio is going to consume a specific corporeality of server resources which will affect the load speed, and the amount of pages that can be served at any specific time.

When y'all use caching the server returns a "static page" for the requested URL, which uses manner less resources and improves both the loading speed and the corporeality of pages per infinitesimal you tin can serve.

Unless your site runs on a server that is already using some way of caching (here's a link to all the recommended ways on the Codex) and even and so, plugins are the fastest fashion to become started with caching. You should utilise 1, and these three are the most populars:

WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache is the most popular option betwixt cache plugins. Information technology's pretty straightforward to setup and has really good speed results (achieved by the technologies it uses to enshroud the pages). On the downside, the most optimized part of this tin can't be used for logged in users. If you don't need to present content to logged in users, this plugin might be the one to get with.

W3 Full Cache

W3 Total Cache has similar performance results than WP Super Cache just with a much (much) more complicated setup environment. Of course, that means that it has a plethora of advanced options that will allow you lot modify almost everything in the way it works. Information technology can be a piffling flake of a pain to configure, but if yous need something specific taken intendance of, this is the one.

WP Rocket (Paid)

WP Rocket is the i of these three that has the fastest results according to several benchmarking tests (like this one here). The setup is extremely piece of cake and -probably as a result of being a paid 1- it has a really good support team behind. It doesn't come with a lot of avant-garde options so at that place'll be times when you may exist needing something the plugin doesn't get to do. And, again, information technology's a paid ane. All in all, it's the one we're using here on our site and we couldn't be happier with it.

Security & Fill-in

WordPress itself is a very secure platform. However, at that place're some plugins that can help in calculation some extra security to your site. And if unfortunately your site gets hacked and yous need to recreate it, it'southward e'er a good idea to have regular backups of your database nearby.

WordFence

The Wordfence security plugin provides free enterprise-grade WordPress security, protecting your website from hacks and malware. The plugin scans your site and alerts you quickly if your site is compromised.

Among its features you'll discover a WordPress Firewall, Blocking Features, Login Security, Security Scanning, Monitoring Features, Multi-Site Security, Caching Features, and more.

It has a fully-functional free version and a premium one that gives you lot Premium Support, Country Blocking, Scheduled Scans, Password Auditing, etc.

All In One WP Security

All In One WP Security is a free, comprehensive, user-friendly, all in one WordPress security and firewall plugin. It reduces security take a chance by checking for vulnerabilities and by implementing and enforcing the latest recommended WordPress security practices and techniques.

This plugin cares for user accounts security, user login security, user registration security, database security, file organization security, htaccess and wp-config.php file fill-in and restore, and more.

UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup

This free plugin keeps your WordPress website, its media and database backed up to Dropbox, Drive and a lineup of other storage options on a regular ground. You lot can choose how oftentimes you wish your backup to be performed, and control exactly what is going to be backed up.

You can always brand your website better. Download the Ultimate WordPress Website Checklist and make certain your site is set up and optimized for your visitors.

Themes

18. Install and Actuate Your Theme

If yous're not going to use one of the themes that get installed by default, you lot'll demand to install and activate your desired theme.

When using an external theme , one yous downloaded or purchased exterior of the WordPress themes repository, you'll demand to upload it by following 1 of these options:

a. Upload through WordPress: From the WP menu go to Appearance » Themes » Add New » Upload Theme. Then, choose the [theme-name].cypher file.

b. Upload through FTP: Unzip the [theme-name].zip file and upload the theme folder using your preferred FTP customer into the wp-content/themes at your domain.

Once you have uploaded the theme click Activate (Appearance » Themes » Your uploaded theme).

Another option is to look for a theme in the WordPress Theme Directory, which has a collection of themes you'll be able to install correct from your dashboard. Navigate toAppearance » Themes » Add New, and you'll encounter the available themes from the repository. Just select the one you like and clickInstall.

xix. Remove Unused Themes

WordPress Themes Screen

WordPress comes with its own default themes known as the 20-Something series. After you install and activate the theme you're gonna utilise, why leave the others occupying infinite in your install?

Or perhaps you've tried installing several themes before you decided which one to use for your site.

Sometime themes and plugins that are not regularly updated put your site's security at risk. So just remember to later delete those themes y'all won't apply.

Go to Advent » Themes, click on the theme you want to remove. Information technology'll open a lightbox, and on the bottom right corner you'll find the Delete link.

Actress

If y'all're working on a customer website, there're a few more things you may want to go along in mind.

twenty. Don't Forget to Change the Admin Email Address

If you lot won't be working with your customer on a periodic basis doing maintenance or admin work, if you're just going to deliver the site and from now on the client will accept care of information technology, then you'll probably want to remove your email address from the WP install. There're 2 places where you'll need to alter the email:

a. Settings » General » Electronic mail Address.
b. Users » Select your user » Edit » Electronic mail.

21. Brand Upwards Your Login Page

If you're working on a site for a client information technology'due south a proficient affair to melody up a little the WordPress login page and make it look like role of your studio identity. Changing the WordPress logo above the login class in the/wp-login page may be a skillful idea for that. It'll remind the customer who you are and who built his site everytime he enters the dashboard.

WordPress Custom Login Logo

Changing the WordPress logo higher up the login form

There are many ways to practice that:

a. If you're using one of our themes: Go to Advent » Theme Options » General » Branding section, and upload your "Custom Login Image File".

b. With a plugin: Uber Login Logo or Custom Login may be good options.

c. Through custom code: Larn most it here.


That's it!

Your WordPress install is set upwardly and ready to get. Do you have other WorPress-musts in your repertoire? Share them in the comments!