How to configure WordPress settings after installation?

Sajjad
WordPress
06 Sep, 2026

After installing WordPress, you should work through the screens under Settings in your dashboard: set your site title, timezone, and date format in General, choose your homepage and search engine visibility in Reading, decide how comments work in Discussion, adjust image sizes in Media, pick a permalink structure, and create your privacy policy page. Then tidy up by deleting sample content, removing unused themes and plugins, and securing your admin account. Most of this takes less than 30 minutes and saves you headaches later.

A fresh WordPress install works out of the box, but its defaults are designed to suit everyone, which means they suit no one perfectly. This guide walks you through each settings screen in the order you'll find them, explains what every important option does, and finishes with the housekeeping tasks you should handle before you start publishing content.

Before You Start

Log in to your dashboard at yoursite.com/wp-admin with the administrator account you created during installation. If your host installed WordPress for you, you may see extra plugins or a welcome wizard; you can skip or dismiss those while you configure the core settings.

It's also worth confirming that WordPress and your plugins are up to date. Go to Dashboard > Updates and apply anything that's waiting.

Step 1: Configure General Settings

Go to Settings > General. This screen holds your site's basic identity and regional preferences.

Site Title: Enter your website or brand name. It appears in browser tabs, search results, and emails.
Tagline: Add a short description of your site, or leave it blank. A blank tagline is better than a generic one.
WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL): These should both show your domain, ideally with https://. Don't change these unless you know exactly why; an incorrect value can lock you out of your dashboard.
Administration Email Address: Use an address you actually check. WordPress sends important notices here, including update and security emails. Changing it triggers a confirmation email to the new address.
Membership: Leave Anyone can register unchecked unless you run a membership site or community. Leaving it open invites spam registrations.
New User Default Role: Keep this at Subscriber. Never set it to Administrator.
Site Language: Choose the language for your dashboard and front-end strings.
Timezone: Pick a city in your timezone, such as "London" or "New York," rather than a UTC offset. City-based timezones adjust automatically for daylight saving time, which keeps scheduled posts publishing at the right moment.
Date Format and Time Format: Choose how dates and times display on your site, or enter a custom format using PHP date characters.
Week Starts On: Set the first day of the week for calendars.

Click Save Changes at the bottom.

Step 2: Configure Writing Settings

Go to Settings > Writing. On most modern sites, this page has only a few options that matter.

Default Post Category: WordPress assigns posts to "Uncategorized" if you don't choose a category. Create a meaningful category first under Posts > Categories, then set it as the default here. You can also rename "Uncategorized" to something useful.
Default Post Format: Only relevant if your theme supports post formats. Most users can leave this as Standard.
Post via email: Rarely used today and best left unconfigured.
Update Services: WordPress notifies ping services when you publish. The default entry is fine.

Step 3: Configure Reading Settings

Go to Settings > Reading. These options control what visitors see first and how search engines treat your site.

Your homepage displays: Choose Your latest posts for a traditional blog, or A static page if you want a custom homepage for a business site. With a static page, you also pick a separate page to list your blog posts.
Blog pages show at most: Set how many posts appear on each page of your blog archive. Around 10 is a reasonable default.
Syndication feeds show the most recent: Controls how many items appear in your RSS feed.
For each post in a feed, include: Choose Full text or Excerpt. Excerpts encourage readers to visit your site; full text is friendlier for feed readers.
Search engine visibility: This is critical. If Discourage search engines from indexing this site is checked, search engines are asked not to index you. It's useful while you build the site, but make sure it's unchecked when you launch.

Click Save Changes.

Note that some block themes override the number of posts per page in their Query Loop block settings, so if the value here doesn't seem to apply, check your blog template in Appearance > Editor.

Step 4: Configure Discussion Settings

Go to Settings > Discussion. These settings shape how comments work and how much spam you'll deal with.

Default Post Settings

Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the post: Sends pingbacks. Many site owners turn this off.
Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks): Unchecking this reduces spam considerably.
Allow people to submit comments on new posts: Leave it on if you want comments; uncheck it to disable comments on new posts site-wide.

Other Comment Settings

Comment author must fill out name and email: Keep this checked.
Users must be registered and logged in to comment: Useful for communities, but it will reduce comment volume.
Automatically close comments on posts older than X days: A good anti-spam measure; old posts attract a lot of spam.
Enable threaded (nested) comments: Makes conversations easier to follow.
Break comments into pages: Helpful only for posts with hundreds of comments.

Moderation Settings

Email me whenever: Choose whether to get emails for new comments and comments held for moderation.
Before a comment appears: Checking Comment must be manually approved gives you full control. Comment author must have a previously approved comment is a good middle ground.
Comment Moderation and Disallowed Comment Keys: Add words, URLs, or IP addresses that should send comments to moderation or trash.

Avatars

Choose whether to show avatars and pick a default avatar for commenters who don't have a Gravatar. Loading avatars from Gravatar sends commenter email hashes to an external service, so mention it in your privacy policy if you keep avatars enabled.

Click Save Changes.

Step 5: Configure Media Settings

Go to Settings > Media. WordPress creates several resized copies of every image you upload.

Thumbnail size: Default 150 x 150 pixels, cropped.
Medium size: Default maximum 300 x 300 pixels.
Large size: Default maximum 1024 x 1024 pixels.
Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders: Leave this checked for a tidy uploads directory.

Many themes register their own image sizes, so the defaults are usually fine. Changing these values only affects new uploads; use a plugin like Regenerate Thumbnails if you need to rebuild existing images.

Step 6: Set Your Permalink Structure

Go to Settings > Permalinks. Permalinks are the URLs of your posts and pages. Choose Post name, which creates clean URLs like example.com/sample-post/. It's readable, short, and SEO-friendly.

Set this before you publish content. Changing permalinks on an established site breaks existing links unless you set up redirects. After saving, visit a post to confirm it loads correctly. If you get 404 errors, your server may need rewrite rules; on Apache, WordPress writes them to .htaccess automatically if it has permission.

Step 7: Create Your Privacy Policy Page

Go to Settings > Privacy. WordPress creates a draft Privacy Policy page during installation.

Select or create the page: Choose the existing draft or create a new one.
Use the policy guide: Click Check out our guide to see suggested text from WordPress core and your plugins.
Edit and publish: Tailor the policy to what your site actually does, such as analytics, forms, comments, and embedded content, then publish it.

If you're subject to laws such as the GDPR, you'll likely also need a cookie consent solution once you add analytics or marketing tools. A privacy policy page is a starting point, not full legal compliance, so consider professional advice for business sites.

Step 8: Set Up Your User Profile

Go to Users > Profile.

Nickname and Display name publicly as: Set a display name, such as your first name, so posts don't show your login username. Displaying your username publicly gives attackers half of what they need to log in.
Biographical Info: Many themes show this in author boxes.
Admin Color Scheme: Purely cosmetic, but handy for telling apart staging and production sites.
Password: Make sure it's long and unique. A password manager helps.

If your username is "admin," consider changing it, since it's the first username bots try.

Step 9: Clean Up Default Content

Fresh installs include sample content you don't need:

Delete the sample post: Go to Posts > All Posts and trash "Hello world!"
Delete the sample page: Go to Pages > All Pages and trash "Sample Page."
Delete the sample comment: Go to Comments and remove the sample comment.
Remove unused plugins: Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and delete anything you don't plan to use, such as Hello Dolly or host-installed extras.
Remove unused themes: Go to Appearance > Themes. Keep your active theme and one recent default theme as a fallback for troubleshooting, and delete the rest.

If you're comfortable with the command line, WP-CLI can handle much of this in one go:

wp post delete 1 --force
wp post delete 2 --force
wp comment delete 1 --force
wp plugin delete hello
wp option update timezone_string "Europe/London"
wp rewrite structure '/%postname%/' --hard

Post and comment IDs 1 and 2 are the defaults on a fresh install, but check with wp post list first on any site that isn't brand new.

Step 10: Configure wp-config.php Options

A few useful settings live in wp-config.php rather than the dashboard. Add them above the /* That's all, stop editing! */ line, and back up the file before editing:

// Limit stored revisions per post to keep the database lean.
define( 'WP_POST_REVISIONS', 10 );

// Empty the trash automatically after 14 days (default is 30).
define( 'EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS', 14 );

// Disable the built-in theme and plugin file editor in the dashboard.
define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true );

// Label the environment for plugins that check it.
define( 'WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE', 'production' );

DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT is a sensible hardening step because it removes the ability to edit PHP files from the dashboard, which attackers often abuse if they gain admin access.

Step 11: Install Only the Essentials

Resist the urge to install dozens of plugins right away. Start with the few you genuinely need, such as:

A backup plugin, like UpdraftPlus, unless your host provides reliable backups.
A security plugin, like Wordfence or Solid Security, or rely on your host's protections.
An SEO plugin, like Yoast SEO or Rank Math.
An anti-spam plugin, like Akismet or Antispam Bee, if you allow comments.
A caching plugin, unless your host already handles caching.

You can add more later as your needs become clear.

Quick Post-Installation Checklist

Use this list to confirm you haven't missed anything:

Site title, tagline, timezone, and admin email set in Settings > General
Registration disabled and default role set to Subscriber
Homepage and blog page chosen in Settings > Reading
Search engine visibility enabled for launch
Comment and pingback preferences set in Settings > Discussion
Permalinks set to Post name
Privacy policy page published
Display name set and strong password in place
Sample post, page, comment, and unused plugins and themes removed
Backups configured and tested

FAQ: Configuring WordPress After Installation

Start with Settings > General to set your site title, timezone, and admin email, then set your permalinks to Post name before you publish any content.

For most sites, the Post name structure is best because it creates short, readable URLs that are good for visitors and search engines.

Check Settings > Reading and make sure Discourage search engines from indexing this site is unchecked. If it was checked, uncheck it, save, and submit your sitemap in Google Search Console.

Only if your site needs user accounts, such as a membership site or forum. Otherwise leave registration disabled to avoid spam accounts, and never set the default role to Administrator.

Delete the ones you don't use, but keep one recent default theme installed. It's a useful fallback when troubleshooting theme-related problems.

City-based timezones automatically adjust for daylight saving time, so scheduled posts and timestamps stay accurate all year.

Revisions: WP_POST_REVISIONS limits stored revisions.
Trash: EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS controls how long trashed items are kept.
File editing: DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT disables the dashboard code editor.

Conclusion

Configuring WordPress after installation is mostly a matter of working through the Settings menu with intention: set your identity and timezone, pick your homepage and permalink structure, decide how comments should work, and publish a privacy policy. Then clear out the sample content and unused extras so your site starts clean.

Spending half an hour on these settings now means fewer surprises later, from broken links caused by late permalink changes to spam registrations and scheduled posts going out at the wrong time. With the foundations in place, you can focus on what matters most: building your site and creating great content.