Ambernet

Installing WordPress is easy and just a 5 minute job, though after the installation is over there are other things that you will have to do, if you want the most out of your blog. If you keep the following WordPress tips as a checklist then you will surely go on a right path. These WordPress tips are extremely helpful for starting a new blog.

Organize your authors and alter the admin password

When you get started with WordPress, you are allotted a password, which apparently you will never ever remember. Therefore, change the password to something that you can remember. Go to the User Panel and customize your settings, here you can also add other blog authors.

Change the Permalinks

The default URL of the articles will appear like www. Yourname. com/?p=243. This is a bad URL structure and will make no sense to the readers. You can change the URL and include the blog posts keyword in the URL. This will be a good structure for SEO and the readers will appreciate it. Do the following to change your permalinks:

• Click on the settings and then click on Permalink
• Go to 'Common Settings' and then click on 'Common Structure'
• Type %name of post%/ in the given area
• Or you can also add category in your URL like, %category%/%name of post%/

Activate your own theme

To do this, you can either download a theme or even design your own theme. After selecting the theme, Unzip and upload the theme to wp-content/themes. Click on the 'Appearance' in 'Themes' to activate it.

Organize your categories

After installing WordPress, you will notice that 'Uncategorized' is the default setting, and this will only make your blog look ugly. Picture this, at one time if you forget to select a category for your article. Do you want that article to go to the default 'uncategorized' category?

• Go to the Post section and click on Categories.
• Click on the 'Uncategorized' and change that to 'General' or to your liking.
• Add other categories for your blog.
• Turn on the Akismet

If you allow comments on your blog then be sure that you will get spam and more spam! Want to avoid it? Then activate Akismet, this is a plugin that comes with WordPress.

• You will first have to register yourself on WordPress.com and view your profile. Here you will get an API key. This API key helps in Akismet activation.
• Visit the Admin area and click on the Plugins page.
• Click on Akismet, here you will see Akismet Configuration, paste the API key here.
• Activate your Akismet

WordPress Database Backup must be installed

It is always good to keep a backup. Your server can betray you any day and anytime, or even you can commit a mistake. The WordPress Database Backup will keep a backup of your WordPress blog. You can even have a weekly backup emailed to your account.

Always perform a test with dummy content

You must always check and see how your blog will look like after the multiple posts and formatting. You can save your time by getting sample posts from WP Candy. Go to Tools, then Import and then click on WordPress. The blog will itself assemble the sample posts, comments and formatting, and this will enable you to test the blog completely and make any changes that you desire.

Analytics to check on the users

You can activate Google Analytics or Mint or StatCounter for keeping the check on the users and traffic of your blog.

Change the RSS feed settings

Go to the settings, then click on the Readings, here you will be able to change the number of posts you want to show in the RSS feed and if they should be full post. You can also burn your feeds with the help of Feedburner. This tool will provide you with the stats on the feed and ping services.