To Do List after setting up Wordpress Application – Beginners Guide

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Cheers!!! –You have done setting up wordpress application for your website and you are just about to shoot your first post. But there are few important settings and configurations that must be done before publish your first blog post. Use this to do list for wordpress application to ensure your blog is set up for victory.

Update Permalink Structure

It is the configuration for your blog post that how its URL to be structured when you publish a new post. By default WordPress sets permalink with date structured. But it is not a good way to structure your Post URL With date. This structure is Not even good for SEO. So to structure your post URL with its title, you need to change following settings.

Default setting:  domain.com/2021/04/16/post-title
 Clean structured URL like this:  domain.com/post-title
Go to your WordPress Dashboard >> Settings >> Permalinks
Then, select “post name” and Click on Save button to apply setting.

Import/Install WordPress Theme

WordPress is very user friendly in its functionality. You can install and activate WP themes very easily. It is not even required hi-tech-skills. All you need to upload your theme and click on install, The WordPress installs it for you. Click on below link to learn how to import WordPress theme to your WordPress Application.

3 ways to Import/Upload WordPress theme – Beginners Guide

Update Blog Name & Tagline

It is important setting for your Blog to give it name and tagline which you have decided. It gives the theme to your website that people understand what your website is for. You can update and make it change at following settings:
Go to WordPress Dashboard » Settings » General

Delete Unused Themes

WordPress installs few themes with its application. There is no need to keep those themes with your installations. If you have uploaded and tried different themes to decide which best suits for your website then you have to remove themes which you don’t want to apply on your website. You can delete themes from the URL where you have uploaded.  

Go to your WordPress Dashboard >> Appearance >> Themes to manage themes that are available.
Hover over the theme you want to Delete, then click on the “Theme Details” button that appears. Theme Details panel will open, Click on Delete link button to delete the theme.

Set Date & Time Format

You can set your time zone for date & time and format from the following screen: Go to WordPress Dashboard >> Settings >> General

Install Essential WordPress Plugins

To find and install plugins, Go to Plugins >> Add New. Following are the most recommended and important plugins.

1.Autoptimize

The Autoptimize plugin optimize speed of website by minifying and compressing scripts.

2.Broken Link Checker

Broken link checker plugin checks all website links for its availability. Whenever it find broken link it will notify you by sending the email. Broken links impact SEO of your website. therefore it is important to fix any broken link that is appears on your website.

3.Wordfence

Wordfence is important and great security plugin that scans your website for threats, and safe your website by different firewalls. This also sends email for different alerts. Like login attempts or if there is any problems with website.

4.Social Warfare Pro

Social Warfare Plugin is for social sharing of your post that visitor can easily share it on their social network. It has many other features you can experience with it.

5.Yoast SEO

SEO is how you make your web content available to the search engines like Google, Bing can display it in search results for internet user. Yoast is great plugin for SEO of your website. Make sure you are enabling XML Sitemap setting using this plugin.

6.Spam Protection

Askimet plugin safeguards your website by blocking the spam comments, so that your visitors and you never see the junk on your posts.

7.Enable Caching

A caching plugin required to optimize performance of website and speed up the response of web page for the visitor.

W3 Total Cache is very useful for cache.

Delete unused Plugins

Your website performance may directly hit by plugins that are unnecessarily installed and activated. You can delete plugins from the following:

 Go to your WordPress Dashboard >> Plugins to manage plugins.

Set Up Blog & Home Page

You can configure default Home page for your website from following screen: Go to Wordpress Dashboard >> Pages >>  Add New. Create a page, name it “Home” and publish it.

Then, Go to Dashboard >> Settings >> Reading and choose “A static page” for home page, and then select the page you’ve just created. You can also set Blog Feed page as Home Page

Trash Demo Content

With fresh wordpress application installation it will have some sample demo content which needs to be removed. Demo content may also installed with your theme which you can delete.

Update Admin Username

You never wants “Admin” as an author to be appear for your posts. It should be a real name. To update your username, Go to WordPress Dashboard >> Users >> edit profile.

Update your Artifacts/Logos

The small icon (Favicon) displays on the tab of web browser needs to be setup for your website. This little image can update by clicking Appearance >> Customize and then uploading your image in the “Site Identity” settings.

If you are in trouble and not have good stuff to design best look and feel of your Blog or website, SO don’t need to worry about, Visit my below post where I have enlist for you a lot of free graphics resources website.

Free Creative Artifacts and Graphics Resources for Everyone

Create Contact, About and Legal Pages

Contact page is the way to that people get in contact with you. Try not to ask so many things in Contact form so that people avoid to contact just because of long form to fill.

Create legal pages to get yourself away from any serious issue. You have to write the right legal information on all three of these pages: Privacy Policy Page, Disclosure Page & Terms and Conditions

Change Default Sidebar Widgets

Wordpress sets for you default sidebar with few widgets including Archives, Recent Comments, Recent Posts, RSS, Meta and Categories which you may not need most of them to display on your side bar. Therefore you can remove and add according to your requirements and needs.   

You can update your sidebar by opening Wordpress Dashboard >> Appearance >> Widgets.

Create Main Navigation Menu

Go to Appearance >> Menus and create the main navigation for your website. Add pages or categories to main menu you want to appear.

Update Wordpress Email Address

If you have not yet set your correct email then Go to Settings >> General and make email address update with one that you are using.

You are ready for your First Post!

Hurrah! you have done all necessary and primary configurations of your wordpress installation, Now you are all set to post your first article. you can get more help for how to write quest for the best blog post by landing on my below post:

Write Quest for the Best Blog Posts – Beginners Guide

Hope this helps!

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