Chapter 5: WordPress Settings Basics
WordPress Settings Basics is where we make your site feel professional right from the start. These are the foundational tweaks most people do right after install (often in the first 10–15 minutes). In early 2026, with WordPress around version 6.9.x (minor maintenance releases ongoing, and 7.0 planning underway), the Settings menu hasn’t changed dramatically from recent years—it’s still clean, straightforward, and powerful.
Think of these settings like tuning a new bike in Hyderabad traffic: adjust the seat (title/tagline), gears (permalinks for smooth SEO), lights (reading/homepage), brakes (comments to control spam), and mirrors (privacy) so you ride safely and fast.
Go to your dashboard → Settings (bottom of left sidebar). Hover to see sub-items: General, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media, Permalinks, Privacy. We’ll focus on the key ones you asked about.
General Settings (Site Title, Tagline, Timezone)
This is your site’s “identity card”—what shows in browser tabs, Google search results, emails from your site, etc.
How to access: Settings → General
Key fields to set (with examples for your freelance web design site):
- Site Title (required): Your brand name. Example: “Webliance” or “Webliance – Web Design Hyderabad”. Keep it short (under 60 chars for SEO/display). This appears in title tags and often as the main heading.
- Tagline (optional but recommended): A short description. Example: “Affordable Professional Web Design & Development in Hyderabad, Telangana”. It shows under your title in search results and on some themes. If your theme hides it, you can still use it for SEO. (Some themes like Astra let you control visibility.)
- WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL): Usually auto-filled during install. Don’t change unless moving domains—messing here can break your site. Always use https:// (SSL) for security/SEO.
- Administration Email Address: Your main email (e.g., webliance@gmail.com). WordPress sends important notifications here (updates, comments, user registrations).
- Membership → “Anyone can register” — Leave unchecked for now (security risk if open).
- New User Default Role → Subscriber (safe default).
- Timezone — Crucial for India! Set to Kolkata (Asia/Kolkata, UTC+5:30). Why? Posts/comments show correct local time (e.g., “Posted on January 30, 2026 at 5:14 PM IST”). Wrong timezone = confusing timestamps for Hyderabad visitors.
- Date Format, Time Format, Week Starts On → Customize as you like (e.g., F j, Y for “January 30, 2026”; H:i for 24-hour). Week starts on Monday is common in India.
Example action: Set Title: “Webliance”, Tagline: “Hyderabad’s Trusted Web Designer & Developer”, Timezone: Asia/Kolkata → Save Changes at bottom. Refresh your homepage—title updates in browser tab!
Permalinks (Best Structure for SEO)
Permalinks = permanent links = your page/post URLs. Default is ugly (?p=123) — change it once early, because changing later needs redirects (painful).
Access: Settings → Permalinks
Common options (radio buttons):
- Plain (?p=123) → Avoid! Bad for SEO, looks unprofessional.
- Day and name (2026/01/30/sample-post/) → Good for news/date-sensitive blogs.
- Month and name (2026/01/sample-post/) → Similar, slightly shorter.
- Numeric (/archives/123) → Better than plain, but no keywords.
- Post name (/%postname%/) → Best for most sites in 2026!
- Custom Structure → Advanced (e.g., /%category%/%postname%/ for category in URL).
Best choice for SEO in 2026 (from Jetpack, Yoast, AIOSEO guides): /%postname%/ (just the slug, like /web-design-hyderabad-tips/) Why it’s top:
- Short, clean, readable.
- Includes keywords naturally (Google loves descriptive URLs).
- No dates → Evergreen content ranks longer (no “old” feel).
- User-friendly (easy to share/type).
- Great for portfolios/business sites like yours—no need for dates unless news/blog-heavy.
For blogs with categories: /%category%/%postname%/ (e.g., /web-design/hyderabad-seo-tips/) adds context but can be longer.
Pro tips:
- Use hyphens (-) not underscores (_) in slugs.
- Keep slugs short/lowercase (auto-handled if you title properly).
- After choosing → Click Save Changes. WordPress creates .htaccess rules (on good hosts like Hostinger, this works automatically).
Example for you: Select Post name → Save. Now a page titled “Services” becomes https://webliance.in/services/ — perfect for local SEO (“services” keyword + clean).
If you ever change later: Use a redirect plugin (Redirection) to avoid 404 errors.
Reading Settings (Homepage vs Latest Posts)
Controls what visitors see first—your homepage.
Access: Settings → Reading
Your homepage displays:
- Your latest posts (default) → Ideal for blogs/content sites. Shows recent articles feed.
- A static page → Best for business/portfolio sites like yours! Select a page (e.g., “Home”) as Homepage, another (e.g., “Blog”) as Posts page.
Posts page (if using static homepage): Choose which page shows your blog feed.
Blog pages show at most → 10–15 posts (default fine).
Search engine visibility → Uncheck “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” once ready to launch. (Check during building to hide from Google.)
Example for your freelance site:
- Create two blank pages first: “Home” and “Blog”.
- Reading → Your homepage displays: A static page.
- Homepage: Select “Home”.
- Posts page: Select “Blog”.
- Save. Now https://webliance.in shows your custom Home page (you’ll design later), and /blog/ shows posts.
Perfect for a professional look—no messy blog feed on front page.
Discussion / Comment Settings
Manages comments—great for engagement but spam magnets.
Access: Settings → Discussion
Key toggles (adjust for low-spam site):
- Default post settings:
- Allow people to submit comments → Check (enable comments).
- Users must be registered → Optional (forces login, reduces spam).
- Comment author must have previously approved comment → Check (whitelist system—great anti-spam).
- Other comment settings:
- Comment author must fill out name/email/website → Check (helps filter fakes).
- Show comments cookies opt-in → Check (GDPR/privacy).
- Email me whenever → Someone posts a comment / comment held for moderation → Check both (get notified).
- Before a comment appears → Comment must be manually approved → Check (you control first comments).
- Comment Moderation → Hold if contains X links/words → Add spam triggers (e.g., viagra, casino).
- Avatars → Show Avatars → Uncheck if you don’t want Gravatar images.
Example: For your portfolio/blog, enable comments on posts but require approval + name/email. Install Akismet plugin later for auto-spam blocking.
Privacy & Other Essentials
Access: Settings → Privacy
Mainly generates a Privacy Policy page (required for GDPR, India DPDP Act basics, Google AdSense, etc.).
- Click Generate or edit the suggested policy.
- It creates a draft page (e.g., /privacy-policy/).
- Customize: Add your contact, data collection (forms, analytics), cookies info.
Other quick essentials:
- Media Settings → Organize uploads by month/year (default fine); Thumbnail sizes (adjust if theme needs).
- Writing Settings → Default category/post format → Leave as is for now.
- Install SSL/force HTTPS via host (Hostinger: hPanel → Security → SSL).
- Update WP core if prompted (Dashboard → Updates).
Final quick checklist:
- General: Title, tagline, timezone Kolkata, save.
- Permalinks: Post name, save.
- Reading: Static homepage setup, uncheck search discourage (when live).
- Discussion: Manual approval, email notifications.
- Privacy: Generate/edit policy page.
Save everything, refresh site—feels polished!
Questions? Like “How do I make a custom homepage?” or “My permalinks aren’t working—help!”? Or
