Table of Contents
WordPress has various setting pages where you can configure and manage different aspects of your site. Let’s go over each and what it does:
1. General Settings Page
The General Settings page helps you set up basic information about your website.
Key Settings:
- Site Title: The name of your site, often displayed in the header and search engine results.
- Tagline: A one-sentence description of your site, usually displayed in conjunction with the title.
- Site Icon: A small, square image that is used in browser tabs and bookmark bars.
- WordPress Address (URL): The location of your WordPress core files (usually your site’s root URL).
- Site Address (URL): The URL people type to get to your site.
- Administration Email Address: Used for notifications like new subscriptions.
- Membership: Enables or disables user registration.
- New User Default Role: Defines which role a new user is automatically assigned to (e.g., Subscriber).
- Site Language: The language your audience sees when they view your site.
- Timezone: Very important for scheduling posts and comments appropriately.
- Date and Time Format: Defines how dates and times are displayed on your site.
- Week Starts On: Defines which day of the week the WordPress calendar starts (Monday, by default).
2. Writing Settings Page
The Writing Settings page customizes the writing and publishing process.
Key Settings:
- Default Post Category: Sets a category for posts with no category assigned.
- Default Post Format: Sets the default format of posts (depending on your theme).
- Post via Email:Allows publishing by email (using POP3 server settings).
- Mail Server, Port, Login, Password: Settings to configure posting by email.
- Default Mail Category:The category for posts published by email.
- Update Services: Sends notifications to services defined here when new posts are published.
3. Reading Settings Page
The Reading Settings page controls how your site content is shown to visitors.
Key Settings:
- Homepage Displays: Select either a blog-style homepage or a static page.
- Blog Pages Show At Most:Number of posts shown per page.
- Syndication Feeds: Number of recent posts displayed in RSS feeds.
- For Each Article in a Feed: Select whether to show a summary or full content.
- Search Engine Visibility: Stops search engines from indexing your site (not recommended for live sites).
4. Discussion Settings Page
The Discussion Settings page controls comment behavior and notifications.
Key Settings:
- Pingbacks/Trackbacks:Send and receive notifications from linked blogs.
- Allow Comments: Allow or disallow comments on new posts (can be overridden).
- Comment Author Requirements: Require a name, email, or login for comments.
- Comment Moderation: Hold comments for review based on keywords or links.
- Avatar Display: Show user avatars (e.g., Gravatars) beside comments.
- Default Avatar: Set an image for users without a custom avatar.
5. Media Settings Page
The Media Settings page manages image dimensions and upload organization.
Key Settings:
- Thumbnail Size: Dimensions for small images (default: 150x150px).
- Medium and Large Sizes: Define dimensions for medium and large images.
- Organize Uploads: Enable folder organization by year and month.
6. Permalinks Settings Page
The Permalinks Settings page customizes your site’s URL structure for SEO and readability.
Key Settings:
- Common Structures: Choose URL formats like:
- Plain: Numeric IDs (not recommended).
- Day and Name/Month and Name: Date-based URLs.
- Post Name: Clean, SEO-friendly URLs (recommended).
- Custom Structure: Define your own format.
- Optional Settings: Add custom prefixes for categories and tags.
7. Privacy Settings Page
The Privacy Settings page ensures compliance with privacy laws like GDPR.
Key Settings:
- Privacy Policy Page: Create a page or choose an existing one for your privacy policy.
- Policy Guide: Provides tips on what to include in your policy to cover data collection and usage.
