How to Configure WordPress

WordPress need to be configured properly before it could be used as blogging platform. The way to configure WordPress depend on so many factors. Each WP configuration should be unique and different each other. It is recommended to configure WordPress with the best configuration to make it work as expected. In this page, we would like to show you on how to configure WP as good as possible with quite simple tutorial.

WordPress Installation and Configuration

We already make a post about methods to install WordPress and at this time, we would like to point out on how to optimize the installation. We have two term to describe the situation.

1. WordPress Installation
   It is a term which described as the situation before and until we press the ‘Install’ button. In this stage, we need to fill few information such as: Title of the site, Its description, and few more. This is the first step to install WP which require us to fill several information.
2. WordPress Configuration
   This is a stage where we have already pressed the ‘Install’ Button. In this stage, WordPress will show a notification like as “Success. WordPress has been installed”. This is just a sign if WP has been installed successfully and configured with basic configuration. In this stage, we are going to configure WordPress to make it work as great as possible.

WordPress Installation

To install WordPress, we just need to fill few information and press the ‘Install’ button.

Installing WordPress

Most of us already imagine on how the site looks like in future. This is the first step to make our imagination come true. First, we would see a form like this.

We have to fill it carefully. Do not click the ‘install’ button until we have choose the right options.

1. Choose carefully to use the ‘www’ or ‘non www’ version. We always use the ‘www’ version because we really like it and we recommend all of you to do so. If your site use secure protocol, choose HTTPS rather than HTTP. Now, move to the next step.
2. Select the domain to install WordPress. There would be one or more domains to choose from. It depend on how many domains available in your control panel. In the picture above, we use DevelopingWP.com as an example.
3. There would be an option to enter directory to install WordPress. If you fill it, WP would be installed in that directory. In this case, we should leave it empty.
4. It is now the time to select unique name for database. In the picture above, we already use unique name for the database. We recommend you to use unique name which is hard to guess.
5. In the Database Setting, We need to fill ‘Table Prefix’ with unique letters. The default value should be changed to enhance security. The ‘prefix’ would be used as the title for each tables in Database.

We are now advancing to the next stage. Look at the image below. We would see ‘Site Settings’ which would allow us to fill Title and Description for the site.

1. Write title with most unique idea we ever had. Do not use common title. Try to write something special for it. A good title would represent niche and main idea of the site.
2. For description, it is advised to use clear and short sentences which describe the title. Avoid using excessive keywords in description as it give no value to visitors and would just make the site looks ugly.
3. Multisite option is unchecked by default and should not being checked unless you want to make use of it. Multisite feature will use single WordPress installation for multiple domains or websites. We recommend to leave it unchecked by default.

We are now heading to the last part of this pre-installation step. See the image below. We have to fill Admin Account carefully.

1. Fill Admin Username with your favorite name. It don’t have to be complex name. We recommend not to use admin as username to enhance security of your site. A username is required to login into the site.
2. Admin Password should be filled with very complex combination of signs and letters. It is necessary to use very strong password to keep the site more secure. Just make sure to remember it. Both Username and Password are required to login into the site.
3. For Admin Email, you should enter your own email. The email would be used as the identity among WordPress User. Your avatar (Gravatar) is displayed based on your email address. WordPress would use that email to communicate with you. In the case you ever forget the password to login into WordPress site, that email address could be used to reset and recover your password.
4. Choose the language to be used in your WordPress site. Some peoples prefer using local language. We recommend you to use a same language which is used in your site.

That are all the steps before installing WordPress. It is now fine to press ‘Install’ button. Optionally, you may wish to read the summary below.

Summary

To summarize everything, here are what we supposed to do:

1. Select HTTP and ‘WWW’ as protocol.
2. Choose the right domain.
3. Leave empty for directory to install WordPress.
4. Use unique database name.
5. Write good title.
6. Use clear and short description.
7. Leave Multisite option unchecked. We consider this as advanced option and would explain on how to make use of it later.
8. Enter special Username. Avoid using ‘Admin’ as username.
9. Use complex Password. Complex password is indicated as ‘strong’ in indication bar.
10. Enter your email. It is used for communication between you and WordPress. The email is used as the identity.
11. Choose a same language used in your site.
12. That’s all. It is now safe to press ‘Install’ button.

After installation, there are two options. leave it as is or optimize the site. We suggest everyone to optimize it by configuring WP with the best optimization. After all, Developing WordPress is not a hard job.

WordPress Configuration

In this stage, we are going to configure WordPress to meet our need. WP Configuration start from General setting until every parts of the site.

Configure WordPress

This stage take place after we successfully installed WordPress. A common success notification are:

1. “Success. WordPress has been installed” and
2. “WordPress has been successfully installed”.

This step should be done immediately after installing WordPress. In this stage, we would explain several things which are quite important. Some people may ask “Why should we do these?”. The answer is simple. WordPress is already good out of the box but it need some optimizations to make it looks awesome. The optimization would not only make the site looks better but it also would have better exposure, looks professional, and comply with standard website quality guidelines.

After successfully installed, WordPress is running with basic configuration. So, What is basic configuration anyway? It is default configuration which come with every WordPress configuration. And, What is default configuration of WordPress? Now, this part is become more exciting. Default WordPress configuration is common setting available in: Time zone, Date and Time format, Site language, and much more. While it is good enough to use basic configuration, sometimes it is better to optimize it.

We are going to optimize our WordPress Installation. Take a look at the image below.

Configure General Setting

This menu is available in General Setting. Here are what we supposed to do:

1. Change Time zone to local Time zone
2. Check Date and Time Format. It should match local format.

Configure Permalinks

Now, take a look at the other image below. This menu is available in Permalink.

1. Change default permalink. By default, WordPress uses ‘ugly’ permalink indicated by ‘?p=xx’ where ‘xx’ = post-number’. Changing it to Pretty permalink will make the site looks better. Pretty permalink is indicated by the use of words in URL such as ‘/installing-wordpress/’.
2. It is possible to change ‘Category’ and ‘Tag’ to other names but we recommend to leave it as is.

Configure Your Profile

Last, open ‘Your Profile’ page and there would be several menu available. ‘Your profile’ is available in ‘Users’ pages.

1. Enter first and last name with real name.
2. Enter a Nickname. The name could be used as Author name.
3. Choose ‘Public Name’. The setting is available in ‘Display name publicly as’ shown in the image above. We recommend to use nickname for it.
4. Fill Biographical info with description of yourself. You don’t need to use it as advertising space. Just explain about yourself with simple, clear and short description.

Summary

To optimize WordPress, it need to be configured properly. We could start by configuring General Setting, Permalinks, and Author pages. There are more setting available in other pages but they are not necessary to be changed.