Friday, August 3, 2018

WordPress Checklist

WordPress Beginner posted an article titled "18 Most Important Things You Need to Do After Installing WordPress"

I like to read what other people write, and eventually add thoughts to my own WordPress Checklist.

Here are the 18 things, and my thoughts/comments...


  1. Add a Contact Form ~ [Eventually] ~ I believe email addresses should not be posted on any web page, especially when it's a personal email address.Using Contact Forms supports that. WPBeginner suggests "WPForms." However, I prefer the free plugin, Contact Form 7.
  2. Change Site Title, Tagline, and Timezone ~ [Immediately] ~ This is on my checklists, too.
  3. Setup WordPress SEO ~ [Eventually] ~ I share WPBeginner's recommendation for Yoast but suggest installing this plugin further down the line, after building the first page with content. By installing Yoast afterwards the developer can see what changes Yoast makes to the tools to create content.
  4. Install Google Analytics  ~ [Eventually] ~ Again, I agree. But I recommend this much much later in the installation because there is a steep learning curve associate with Google Analytics.
  5. Install Caching ~  [Nope!] ~  I'm not a fan of caching, especially in the early stages of creating the site.
  6. Setup Backups ~ [Eventually] ~ You can use the same Google Analytics account to create a Google drive, then install and configure Updraft, as recommended by WPBeginner, do back up your web work on a different server.
  7. Setup WordPress Security ~ [Immediately] ~ I recommend installing WordFence as the first step after logging into a new site. WPBeginner recommends Sucuri, a premium protection plugin. Additional WPBeginner Security tips can be found here: The Ultimate WordPress Security Guide – Step by Step (2018) 
  8. Setup Spam Protection ~ [Eventually] ~ I prefer to use Cleantalk (CleanTalk.org) as opposed to Akismet, which is installed with WordPress. Cleantalk protects from both SPAM comments and false user account registrations. The $8/year is a bargain! (So is their SSL certificate.)
  9. Delete Unused WordPress Themes ~ [Eventually] ~ I hadn't thought about this as a regular practice. When I do delete unused themes, it's generally 6 months later. I generally recommend a free theme or two (Weaver XTreme and GeneratePress), and installing a plugin that makes child themes.
  10. Setup WordPress Comments ~ [Eventually] ~ So far, most of my sites don't use comments, and I haven't explored this.
  11. Delete Default Content ~ [Immediately] ~ I recommend deleting all default plugins and posts.
  12. Setup a Default Category ~ [Eventually] ~ See #10, above.
  13. Setup Front and Blog Pages ~ [Eventually] ~ Since most of my sites are small business sites, these are among the first steps in building a site.
  14. Upload Your Gravatar ~  [Nope!] ~  I don't believe in this feature because of my own personal paranoia. I do not want one site to know and list all the other sites where I have an account.
  15. Complete Your User Profile ~  [Nope!] ~  I don't see a need for the administrator account to have a full user profile. My name/user name is revealed when I post, so I create a plain-Jane subscriber account for that purpose.
  16. Upload Favicon and Site Icon ~ [Eventually] ~ This is part of the site building process, but these are not necessary until later in the process.
  17. Change WordPress Email Address ~ [Immediately] ~ I like to use email forwarders instead of real email accounts! This simplifies my admin alerts across many sites, and allows me to have several people alerted at the same time.
  18. Setup Your WordPress Theme ~ [Eventually] ~ "Let the fun begin!" It's time to begin building the site. You do, of course (Don't you?), storyboard your site. Create the pages from your storyboard, navigation menus from your pages, and then begin pouring in content. 


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