5.5 The Most Important Settings in WordPress

Welcome to the WordPress dashboard, the central hub where you manage your website. In this guide, we’ll walk through some important steps to optimize your WordPress dashboard for better website management and performance.

First, let’s remove any unnecessary plugins. Plugins are additional pieces of software that can enhance your website’s functionality. However, keeping unused plugins can slow down your site and pose security risks.

1. To manage your plugins, click on “Plugins” in the WordPress dashboard menu. You’ll notice a plugin called “WordPress Starter” introduced by SiteGround, which is included when you install WordPress. We recommend deleting plugins you don’t need.
2. Deactivate the “WordPress Starter” plugin by clicking “Deactivate” and then delete it by clicking “Delete.”
3. After removing the plugin, your dashboard will revert to the default WordPress view. To clean it up further, click the “Dismiss” button on the “Welcome to WordPress” box.
4. To simplify the dashboard view, click on “Screen Options” in the top right corner and uncheck items you don’t need. For example, you might hide “WordPress Events and News” or “Quick Draft” if you don’t use them.
5. Once you’ve adjusted your screen options, close the Screen Options menu, resulting in a cleaner dashboard interface.
6. Next, check for additional plugins that SiteGround might have included. If you have the “SG Optimizer” plugin, it’s designed to improve website performance. However, it’s best to deactivate it while building your website to avoid potential conflicts. You can reactivate it later.
7. SiteGround may also provide a “SG Security” plugin for added security features. You can configure the settings for this plugin if needed, but it’s good to know that it already includes default security features.

Now, let’s dive into crucial WordPress settings.

• General Settings: Under the “Settings” tab in the dashboard menu, click on “General.” Here, you can customize key settings for your website, such as your site title, tagline, and site language. Make sure the “Site Language” aligns with the content of your site. Additionally, set your time zone to match your location for scheduling posts accurately.
• Reading Settings: In the “Settings” menu, click on “Reading.” Here, you determine how your website’s homepage functions. For a corporate website, you’ll want a static homepage rather than displaying your latest blog posts. Select a static page as your homepage and choose an appropriate page as your homepage display.
• Search Engine Visibility: If your website isn’t ready to be indexed by search engines, you can discourage search engines from indexing it temporarily. Check the box that says “Search Engine Visibility” and click “Save Changes.” Remember to uncheck this box when you’re ready to launch your site.
• Permalinks: Permalinks define the structure of your website’s URLs. To create a logical structure, click on “Permalinks” under the “Settings” menu. The default option is “Plain,” but for a blog or news section, it’s better to select “Custom Structure.” Use “/news/%category%/%postname%/” to create a user-friendly URL structure for your blog posts. This helps with SEO and user experience.

That concludes the essential settings in WordPress. When you’re ready to launch your website, remember to uncheck the “Search Engine Visibility” option. Additionally, activate the SG Optimizer plugin to enhance your site’s performance.

Now, you’re ready to dive into the creative part of website building, where we’ll start designing and adding content to your site using the Divi Visual Builder.

All links, files and code snippets mentioned in the chapter is available below.