One of the reasons WordPress is such a popular blogging platform and content management system is that it’s quick and easy to set up, requiring little configuration before you can start posting content. That being said, it’s good to be aware of the General Settings available through the admin Dashboard, as they enable you to configure the Title, Tagline, and Administrator Email associated with your site. Skipping very obvious settings like Date Format and Time Format, let’s have a look at the most important General Settings for your WordPress site.
Accessing the General Settings
To access the WordPress General Settings, go to the Dashboard, find the Settings tab, and click on General.
Two of the most important settings on this page are the Site Title and the Tagline. Although you can change or adjust both of them whenever you want, it’s best to decide on them early on, before you start building a following, otherwise the Title and Tagline changes may confuse your audience.
Configure Your Blog Title
The Site Title will appear in or above/below the header of your blog, depending on the theme you use. Keep it short and simple.
Choose a Tagline or Blog Description or Motto
The Tagline is a brief description of your blog, or a short statement about it. While you don’t necessarily need a Tagline, it’s good to have one.
Your Tagline can be a brief description of what your blog is about, or it can be a motto or slogan. Regardless of what type of tagline you choose, keep it brief and make sure it’s aligned with the vision you have for your blog. You can easily change this in the future as you adapt.
Choose a Valid Email Address
Leaving the WordPress Address and Site Address URLs as they are — you only have to change these if you change your domain address later on — let’s have a look at the Email Address setting. As the description says, this address is used for administrative purposes, that is, the email where you receive new notifications about your site and user activity.
You want to make sure that the address you enter here is a valid one that you regularly check. It may be your main email address, or a separate email address you use specially for blogging.
Choose the Right Timezone
Choosing the right timezone is important if you want to use WordPress post scheduling effectively. With the right timezone setting, your scheduled posts will be published at the right time, without any delays. WordPress usually gets the timezone setting right by default, but sometimes it may not account for Daylight Saving Time, or for instances when you change your location. If you move to a city or country with another timezone and schedule posts from there, update the timezone to make sure it’s the right one.
Choose Whether to Allow Other Users to Post Content
Another interesting setting in the General Settings that is easy to overlook is the Membership checkbox. If you check if off, you allow basically anyone to register to your site via the WordPress login screen. Usually this is not something you want to do, especially if you’re a blogger just starting out and intend to publish content that only you create. However, by enabling this option and then selecting the default role for new users from the drop-down menu below, you can allow other people to become Subscribers, Contributors, Authors, Editors, or even Administrators of your blog.
Empowering other users to register to your site, set up a profile, and become Subscribers, Contributors, or Authors is a great way to handle guest bloggers, create a membership site where you offer some members content and other privileges you don’t offer to all visitors, and connect with certain people to be able to contact them more easily through email.
Using the WordPress Membership feature is something you may or may not want to do, depending on the type of blog you want to set up, and whether you want other people to post content on your blog using their real name and profile picture.
Don’t Forget to Save
At the end of the General Settings Page, just under Site Language, there’s a Save Changes button. Press it whenever you change any settings on this page, or else your new settings won’t be updated.
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