WordPress is installed with all the defaults and I have made some blog entries. Now I want to dig deeper into the system and start altering the way WordPress works. Here are some initial tweaks to do after installing WordPress on your website.
1. Move The Wordpress System Into A Custom Folder
I installed WordPress into the default folder structure /WordPress, that is easy to reference and is also easy for hackers to find. To make it a little more obscure I have changed the WordPress software folder name. I did this by connecting through the 1and1 Control Panel then using Access WebspaceExplorer and renaming the /WordPress folder. I then altered the folder where the domain name is routed to to be the new custom folder name.
2. Change The Admin Profile
The default WordPress installation includes an administrator profile named “Admin”. Everyone knows this, especially the people who want to harm your website, so let’s make that a little more difficult.
Firstly, setup a new Administrator level profile appropriate to your site using Users, Add New, setting the Role as Administrator.
Next login as the new Administrator profile and checks everything works.
Then, use the Users option again and this time delete the default Admin profile. Now recreate the Admin profile and set the Role as Subscriber.
Now if people hack your site and gain access to your Admin profile they will have no authority to access the administration area.
3. Change The Permalink Structure For Posts And Pages
The default URL for Wordpress posts is something like
www.yourdomainname.com/?p=13
where 13 is the unique id of the article. To make this a more SEO friendly URL alter the Permalink option under Settings. There are a number of different options and different opinions on the best setting to use, I have used
/%post_id%/%postname%/
4. Install A Backup Plugin
All the WordPress settings and data are stored in the MySQL database. If the database becomes damaged or is deleted then you lose all your Wordpress content. To ensure that you have offsite backups of your environment install and use a backup manager. I have chosen to use WP-DB Manager a free plugin available from Wordpress.org. The installation and setup instructions are included as readme.txt inside the software archive file. The plugin works in background and will email you a database backup as an attachment.
A popular alternative is VaultPress.com. This is a monthly subscription service and as well as backing up your site’s content, themes, and plugins in real-time, it can perform regular security scans for common threats and attacks.
5. Enable the Akismet Spam Comment Plugin
The Wordpress installation is supplied with the Akismet spam comment plugin. This plugin is a powerful spam comment filter so if you allow comments on your posts then enable this plugin. It will protect your blog from comment and trackback spam. It is free for personal blogs with a scale of charging for professional blogs.
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