Small tricks with a big hit are primarily associated with those small annoying stunts that have gone unnoticed now, may have consequences later. They are presented in a specific order, as I make sure that everything is done before I install the plugins or start publishing.
Update your user profile: I say it first because some of the other steps below will require you to log in and who can remember this crazy randomly generated bit of garbage that they call a password?
Toolbar | Users | Your profile
Change your password so that you have a chance to remember before you do anything else. Then when you start (and you will use some of these settings), you can return without reference to the email you sent.
Change your blogYes it's true. If you leave it as WordPress creates, you are branded as a noobie from the word * go *. By default, WordPress inserts * Another WordPress blog * as a label. Go, change it. You have to specify your goal, provoke a thought, ask a question - nothing but * Just another WordPress blog *. Toolbar | Settings | General Be creative, this is one of the first things that your visitors see.
Permalink Structure: Right out of the box, WordPress will display a link structure of something like this for your posts: YourDomain.com/?p=101 which means absolutely nothing to you, your visitors or Google. Get rid of her. Settings | Permalink There are five different options, and although this post does not concern the best SEO practices, I mentioned that using either Day and name or Month and name Do not do anything for you in terms of SEO. I hope I don’t need to say that the Numeric parameter cannotI use a custom structure that allows me to use the category name (as part of the URL) and the title of the message. It looks like this: /% category% /% postname% /
Decide on www or not: Again, by default WordPress simply includes the domain name of your blog. If you plan to publish your link as MyDomain.com, then you should change it in your blog now. Since this affects your tracking analytics, it's best to do this on the front panel. Settings | General Please note that this will lead you to the exit. Just enter your new password.
Discussion settings: Boy, we could write a whole book on this topic, but let me just hit the main points. You want people to comment on your blog. You just do not want pillars and porn queens to have a mileage place. I install a comment moderation with 3 or more links (I use CommenLuv, which inserts one link, their web URL is the second link, so 3 would be if they included the link in their comment. If you do not plan to use CommentLuv, change it to 2). You can also include a list of words that are * iffy * in the box below this setting. Any comment with this word will * include * moderation. (Moderation simply stores comments until you stop and approve or spoil comments.). A comment box where I spend time. I include a list of words that I really don't need on my site, such as viagra, penis, enlarge, and the names of several popular medications. I have nothing against a 60-year-old man who wants to improve performance, my site is simply not to promote it. I also include words of a sexual nature, including rape, porn, xxx, sex, virgins, lesbians, gays, etc. Believe me, it helps.
Activate (Enable) AkismetA: This often ignored step can mean the difference between 384 spam messages per day or not. Akismet is one of the best * anti-spam * plugins and comes pre-installed with WordPress. Use it. One note: WordPress requires an API key that you can get by registering on WordPress.com (profile only, no blogs required). After registration, they will send an email with your API key. Paste it in the appropriate place on the toolbar. (As soon as you activate Akismet, it will be at the top of each Dashboard page, until you activate It).
Disable posting changes: Post revisions are a great idea that WordPress takes to the extreme (in my opinion you may disagree). The basic premise is this. Every X seconds, WordPress will back up your message. Here's shaking. Each * revision * it saves creates a new entry in your database (making it bigger), and WordPress has the annoying habit of displaying a complete list of all the revisions you have ever done in your life, when you log in to edit a post. If you are like me and the blog through the Desktop Client, you already have a backup copy of your message. Therefore, to disable this unpleasant function, open the wp-config.php file in Notepad or something similar and add this line somewhere next to another definition that you find there.
define (& # 39; WP_POST_REVISIONS & # 39 ;, false);
Setting categories:At least one. No, you don't have to know the whole category structure at the moment, but this is an it is useful to have at least an idea of the categories that you will use most often. When you have created your most frequently used category, change the default category to that.
Toolbar | Settings | Writing Change the default message category for the newly created category.
While you are on this page, Bonus setting: Change Mailbox size 10 to 20. By default, WordPress will create a post-body field that will have 10 lines. I do not know about you, but it seems to me a bit crowded.
Configuring Ping Services: This is not a strict * do-it-before-you-do-anything-else * kinda tweak, but it will be a long way to get you this desired traffic. By default, WordPress has added one server ping to a list of possible servers that you can use. (Only one?) So, I went out and found some of the best servers. I simply copy the list into the domain for other update services. Instead of including them all in the body of this message, I attach a text file that you can download and copy. Toolbar | Settings | Writing Copy List (or select the ones you want) of Ping server list which can be found in my blog
Installing Google XML Sitemaps Google sitemaps generates a compatible XML Sitemap for your site, allowing the main search engines (Google, Yahoo, Ask, MSN) to easily index your site. Each time you edit or add a message, the Sitemap itself will change if you do not specify it in a different way (see below). This part is optional, but high recommended! Go to Google Webmaster Central and sign in to your Google Account (You have a google account, right?). The first page will display a link to “Check” your site. Follow the instructions. Once this is done, you can click the “Add a Sitemap” link from the first page and place the URL into your site map that looks like this (non-working) link: YouDomain.com/sitemap.xml
Installing the database backup plugin: WordPress is software which is controlled databaseAll your posts, pages and links are stored in a database. If it fails, your entire blog * may be lost, so take a moment and install a backup plugin to protect yourself. I tried three or four, but the one I like best (and make sure it's on all my blogs now) this WP-DBManager PluginAfter installing and activating, just go to the Dashboard | Database (it's at the bottom) and select DB parameters, Choose the maximum number of backups to keep on hand (my 10) and configure the auto-email feature. This will send a copy of your backup database to your email address. Sweet, yes?
Change media settings: WordPress will (somewhat) automatically adjusts your content based on when and where you insert it into the message. If your theme allows 400px for the width of the content, and your maximum width for a large image is 1024, you have a problem. You can manually resize any photo, but it's time to update these media values. before you start This screensaver in real time. Toolbar | Settings | MediaAdjust according to * taste *, but make sure that your large size is not wider than the area of your content defined by your theme. For example, my 580px is suitable for this area.
Change plugin and theme Location:Okay, do not be afraid, but it is moving a bit towards the advanced side. First, the logic of this ... WordPress is open source software. He is supported by a whole group of like-minded people who are constantly improving it and adding new functions. As a result of all this busy activity, from time to time you will have to update your WordPress software (and yes he is still free). However, the update process (without proper plugin) can be a bit scary and a bit tiring. To prevent accidental rewriting of your plugins, themes or special settings, you can move your static (unchanging) to another place. It can be anywhere on your web server. All you need to do to implement this strategy is to copy the entire directory (WP content) to another location, and then tell WordPress where it can find these files. Like us, to disable revisions, simply edit the wp-config.php file to enable the definition operator shown below. define (& # 39; WP_CONTENT_DIR & # 39 ;, & # 39; labnol.org/assets/wp-content'); (I had to delete the first part of the domain name, which usually appears in the address database - be sure to return it). Remember to upload it back to the root folder of your blog.
Prevent visitors from viewing your WordPress folders: Well, there are seekers of curiosity, and there are hackers. I don't want anyone to accidentally wander around my WordPress installation. For any reason. There are several ways to prevent this. One thing is simple, one thing is not so simple. Choose the method that is most convenient for you.
Method 1Create an empty text file and save (name) it index.php. Upload this file to wp content (wherever you put it), wp-admin, and WP-includes. An empty file will be read when they go to this place and display a blank white page, not a list of your files.
Method 2Add the following line to your.htaccess file, which exists in the main WordPress installation directory.
Options All -Indexes: this will disable the automatic feature for * list * files that exist in a directory without a default page.
Make it harder to hack your site: In the same lines I want to make it a little more difficult if hackers find flaws in my installation. Knowing my version of WordPress can provide them with enough information to attack me, I remove the temptation. (And no, it doesn't happen often, but yes, it happens.). I delete a small piece of code that is present in almost every topic.
And although it nearly enough to discourage most, you can completely remove this feature from WordPress by adding this line to your theme's function.php file.
Changing the location of your download folder: By default, WordPress will send any photo to the wp-content / uploads folder. First of all, uncheck the box "Organize my downloads in monthly and summer folders." It makes absolutely no sense in the real world, and we enjoy working in the real world. Settings | Miscellaneous You can specify WordPress to use any folder on your default web server, but if you plan to do this, enter * the path * to your folder and the full URL. (ie: * path * will be ../../ images if you want the photo to go to MyDomain.com/images/. ../ tells WordPress to move up one directory))
Add your RSS feed to FeedburnerA: Yes, you can use the built-in RSS feed that WordPress installs, but Feedburner is a great content delivery and tracking system for feeds, why do you need it? Record your feed with Feedburner, then install the Feed plugin, which will force all your feeds to your Feedburner account URL or update the theme.php header file to add the following line:
Activate your analytics: Keep track of your users and traffic, you can find out which of them are visiting, how they found you and where they are sent from your place. I recommend Google Analytics, Woopra, Firestats and Psychic Search. Other good analytic services include Mint and StatCounter. You have a couple of options here. The first are plugins (always recommended for the value they add to your blog), or editing a manual theme. For example, Google will provide you with a small snippet of code. Just open the footer.php file and just above the closing body tag, add a code cartridge. I prefer a good plugin, such as Ultimate Good Analytics. Both Psychic Search and Firestats are also plugins. Woopra is a service that also offers a plugin (optional).
Custom 404 page: It happens that people make mistakes ... they incorrectly type in an address or move a page. They exit the search engines via a link that no longer exists. Bam! Error 404. (A quirky non-geek-way to say a dang thing is just gone). Now you can just hope that this does not happen (This will), or you can plan it now and get the most out of this page. Do you offer a product? Place a mini sales letter on your 404 Page Template with a link to the full email. Add things like yours Top Posts, or Most Active Questions to page 404 to allow them to consume your content. Page 404 does not have to be a death sentence. Give visitors options and she will not leave your blog yet.
Help Google Love Your Blog: It’s sad that most bloggers don’t do this until they’ve been blogging and realize that there are things they must be doing search engine optimization. You can be ahead of the game if you immediately install Headspace2 or All In One, and start filling in the additional fields they give you. I will not go into details here (this is a whole "night record"), but each of them offers fields for Title, Description and Keywords on the New Post screen. You have to finish all three. Make sure that you use the main keyword for the message at least once in the title and description and place 1-5 keywords in the keyword field.
Create contact page: Do not look at this important step. You want to be available. You want them to feel that you are a real person to whom they can turn. If you do not provide a * connect * method, they will not. And they will wander so that they are no longer seen or heard.
Create Visitor CardA: This is different from the one you created for search engines ... this is a page that provides a quick overview of everything on your site. Do not assume that your navigation works for your visitors (it may not be so). The more you give them the opportunity to find valuable content, the more they will beIf your theme does not include the archives.php file to allow this, Dagon Design Sitemap Generator or SRG Net ArchivesBoth are plug-ins and make this process almost painless.
Anything else? I know, I know ... this post was a little longer than I planned, but this is what I do with each new WordPress blog I create (40+ and counting). I found that these settings are the absolute minimum necessary to create a blog that is easy to maintain, and found by search engines. And although I have mentioned some very important plugins, there are many plugins that you should use. And although this is not the total amount of what I do to set up a blog, I would appreciate what you do when setting up a blog (if you already), or go back and comment if I miss something.
