The Web For RC #2: Tweaking the Settings

The first thing I like to do when starting a new WordPress site is go straight to the settings. Why such a boring first step? Because, if I don’t do this now, it can cause problems or more work for me later on when I start messing with the themes and plugins. So, lets go to the Settings tab on the left.

General

The General Settings are the basic settings of your site. This includes the title and tagline, your email address, timezone and other crap we don’t need to touch right now. The only things you need to change now are the tagline and set the timezone for your region. Save and skip to the Discussion tab.

Discussion

The discussion settings decide how your site interacts with other sites and with users. The settings include email notifications sent to you and who can and can’t comment. Go through these settings and change them to suit your preferences.  I recommend doing a walk-through of all your settings every month or so to check they are set how you want them to be. You might find new things you didn’t know were set a certain way. No need to mess with the Media settings so go to Privacy on the left menu.

Privacy

This is the simplest of all the settings menu. You have three options that protect your website further the lower you choose. Here’s what each mean:

• I would like my site to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Bing, Technorati) and archivers
  Your site is Search Engine Friendly. It will be read by all who visit including Google’s index bots (the software that puts your content in Google) and other Search Engines. I strongly recommend this setting unless you want to hide your content from the Web.
• I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors
  This is meant for content you do not want published in Search Engines but still want visitor to see and read your website. Anyone can see your site but Search Engine Bots are told to ‘Go away!’
• I would like my blog to be private, visible only to users I choose
  This option will block everyone and anyone from viewing your website. The only exception is 35 users you can pick. They must be WordPress.com users and there’s a limit of 35 for the free account. This sucks. Why would you want this? Maybe for a family blog or some crap.

Save and skip over to the Sharing tab.

Sharing

This is cool because it’s easy and it helps spread the word about the stuff you publish.

Just drag some services to the… look, follow the directions on the page. Save and we’re done for this part.

Look and Feel

On the next article of the series I will talk about changing and tweaking the Theme for your site. This modifies the appearance and makes your website look unique. Read on…

It goes without saying that you can comment below if you have any questions or feedback.