At a glance

Quick summary

  • Below are 8 tiny WordPress settings that lots of folks forget to update when they set up their sites.

1 // Favicon (aka ‘Site Icon’)

Dashboard > Appearance > Customize

Your site’s Favicon (also called the Site Icon) is the tiny logo that shows up in browser tabs:

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; arrow pointing at the Favicon; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Favicon

I see so many sites without the Favicon. And, while it’s not detrimental, it’s definitely not professional.

One thing to note: The location of this setting is mostly universal, but you may have to dig through the menu items to find it.

For example, on a site with the Twenty Seventeen theme installed, the final location is Dashboard > Appearance > Customize > Site Icon.

But, on a site with the Divi theme installed, you’ll find it at Dashboard > Appearance > Customize > General Settings > Site Identity.

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; arrow pointing at the Site Identity settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Customizer > Site Identity

Of this list of WordPress settings, I’d say that this is the most frequently overlooked, so be sure to take the time to create one, find the location of its setting, and upload it!

2 // Name & Tagline

Dashboard > Settings > General

During setup, these settings can be easily overlooked to speed up the process.

But, just like your Favicon, if you don’t set them, it looks unprofessional. Visitors will see a generic title and ‘Just another WordPress site’ in their browsers as well as in search engine results.

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; highlighting the Site Title and Tagline settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Settings > General

3 // WordPress Address & Site Address

Dashboard > Settings > General

Usually these are handled during setup. But, I recommend checking two things:

First, make sure that the link itself is correct for both the WordPress Address and Site Address.

Then, make sure the link has https and not just http (assuming you have an SSL cert installed).

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; highlighting the WordPress Address and Site Address settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Settings > General

4 // Membership & Default User Role

Dashboard > Settings > General

If you want folks to be able to create accounts on your site, make sure you check the Anyone can register box next to Membership. Also, be sure to set the New User Default Role to whatever level you’d like (typically Subscriber).

If you don’t want folks to be able to create accounts, be sure the Anyone can register box is unchecked!

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; highlighting the Membership settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Settings > General

5 // Time Zone, Date Format, & Time Format

Dashboard > Settings > General

Tweak these WordPress settings to ensure your site is in the correct time zone, and that both dates and times appear correctly.

For the Timezone setting, you can scroll up to find cities (so you don’t have to know which UTC+ zone you’re in).

In fact, I recommend choosing a city anyway so you don’t have to remember to change your time zone for Daylight Saving!

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; highlighting the time and date settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Settings > General

6 // Search Engine Visibility

Dashboard > Settings > Reading

First, watch out for the setting location! It’s different from the last few (Settings > Reading).

Unless you have a reason for not wanting search engines to find your site, you’ll want to be sure the Discourage search engines from indexing this site is unchecked.

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; highlighting the search engine visibility settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Settings > Reading

7 // Allow Comments

Dashboard > Settings > Discussion

If you want folks to be able to comment on your posts, make sure the Allow people to submit comments on new posts setting is checked under Default post settings.

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; highlighting the comments settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Settings > Discussion

8 // Permalinks

Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks

Finally, it’s ideal to set this correctly when you first set up your site. But, you can still adjust it later as long as you take a backup first.

There’s no ‘correct’ setting here, but the Post name structure is the most readable, typically the most useful, and is supposed to be the best for SEO. So, this is the setting I use.

Screenshot of the WordPress Dashboard; highlighting the permalinks settings; WordPress settings
WordPress Dashboard // Settings > Permalinks

Others? Questions?

Have other tiny WordPress settings I should mention?

Head to the comments section below and let me know!