Configure WordPress

This documentation details configuring WordPress after a fresh install.

Login

1. Access the URL where you installed WordPress followed by /wp-admin (eg. http://clientdomain.com/wp-admin).
2. Enter the Username and Password.
3. Click the Log in button.

User Nickname and Display Name

For security reasons, the first thing you need to change is your User Nickname and Display Name.

1. Click Users on the main navigation menu and select Your Profile.
2. Scroll down to the Name section and enter Webmaster into the Nickname field.
3. Select Webmaster from the dropdown menu next to the Display name publicly as field.
4. Click the Update Profile button.

Theme

1. If using the Divi theme install and activate the WordPress Native PHP Sessions plugin. This will prevent session issues during development.
2. Click Appearance on the main navigation menu.
3. Find the child theme and click the Activate button.

Theme Options

1. Click Divi on the main navigation menu and select Theme Options.
2. On the General tab:
   1. Disable the Fixed Navigation Bar.
   2. Enable Smooth Scrollin
   3. Click the Save Changes button.
3. On the Layout tab:
   1. Toggle Comments off in the Post info Section.
   2. Click the Save Changes button.

Settings

Click Settings on the main navigation menu.

General Settings

1. Make changes to the Site Title if necessary.
2. Enter a Tagline if applicable, if not leave this field blank.
3. Change the Timezone to New York. If the client is in a different time zone use a city within their time zone.
4. Change Week Starts On to Sunday.
5. Click the Save Changes button.

Discussion

1. Next to Default article settings uncheck:
   1. Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new articles
   2. Allow people to post comments on new articles
2. Click the Save Changes button.

Permalinks

1. Under Common Settings check Post Name.
2. Click the Save Changes button.

Plugins

Install plugins to further secure and extend the functionality of WordPress.

1. Click Plugins on the main navigation menu and select Add New.
2. Use the search field at the top-right to search for plugins.

All In One WP Security & Firewall

The All In One WP Security & Firewall plugin provides further security and protection in WordPress.

Download and Install

1. Enter All In One WP Security into the Search box on the Add Plugins screen and press enter.
2. Look for All In One WP Security & Firewall in the search results and click the Install Now button.
3. Activate.

Configure

[User Login]

1. Click WP Security on the main navigation menu and select User Login.
2. Under the Login Lockdown tab, check Enable Login Lockdown Feature.
3. Change Max Login Attempts to 5.
4. Change Login Retry Time Period (min) to 3.
5. Change Time Length of Lockout to 180.
6. Click the Save Settings button.

[Firewall]

1. Click WP Security on the main navigation menu and select Firewall.
2. Under the Basic Firewall Rules tab, check:
   1. Enable Basic Firewall Protection.
   2. Uncheck Disable Pingback functionality
   3. Block Access to debug.log Fil
3. Click the Save Basic Firewall Settings button.
4. Under the Additional Firewall Rules tab, check:
   1. Disable Index Views.
   2. Disable Trace and Track.
   3. Forbid Proxy Comment Posting.
   4. Deny Bad Query Strings.
   5. Enable Advanced Character String Filter. If this causes the website to crash, remove the .htaccess file from the server and disable this setting until launch.
5. Click the Save Additional Firewall Settings button.
6. Under the 6G Blacklist Firewall Rules tab, check:
   1. Enable 6G Firewall Protection. If this causes the website to crash, remove the .htaccess file from the server and disable this setting until launch.
7. Click the Save 5G/6G Firewall Settings.
8. Under the Internet Bots tab, check:
   1. Block Fake Googlebot
9. Click the Save Internet Bot Settings button.

[Spam Prevention]

1. Click WP Security on the main navigation menu and select SPAM Prevention.
2. Under the Comment SPAM tab, check:
   1. Enable Captcha On Comment Forms.
   2. Block Spambots From Posting Comments.
3. Click the Save Settings button.

[Scanner]

1. Click WP Security on the main navigation menu and select Scanner.
2. Under the File Change Detection tab, check:
   1. Enable Automated File Change Detection Scan.
3. Click the Save Settings button.

[Brute Force]

1. Check Enable Rename Login Page Feature
2. Set Login Page URL to cccc#### where c are characters associated with the website (like an abbreviation) and # is a random character.

Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd

The Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd plugin prevents people who are not logged in from accessing the website.

Download and Install

1. Enter Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd into the Search box on the Add Plugins screen and press enter.
2. Look for Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd in the search results and click the Install Now button.
3. Activate.

Configure

1. Click Settings on the main navigation menu and select Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode.
2. In the General section select Enable Maintenance Mode.
3. In the Page Settings section enter Down for Maintenance into the Headline field.
4. Click the Save All Changes button.

Yoast SEO

Download and Install

1. Enter Yoast into the Search box on the Add Plugins screen and press enter.
2. Look for Yoast SEO in the search results and click the Install Now button.
3. Activate.

Configure

1. Click SEO on the sidebar and under the Features Tab:
   1. Enable Advanced Settings Pages
   2. Disable Admin Bar Menu
2. Under Titles & Metas on the sidebar under SEO
   1. Select the pipe symbol |

Duplicate Post

Download and Install

1. Enter Duplicate Post into the Search box on the Add Plugins screen and press enter.
2. Look for Duplicate Post in the search results and click the Install Now button.
3. Activate.

Configure

1. On the display tab, uncheck:
   1. Post list
   2. Admin Bar
   3. Bulk Actions
   4. Show update Notice

Divi Booster

The Divi Booster plugin adds some useful configuration settings for the Divi theme. This plugin should have been manually installed when you uploaded the site following the WordPress Install guide.

1. Click Plugins on the main navigation menu and click the Activate link under Divi Booster.
2. Click Settings under Divi Booster.
3. Activate.

[Enable Additional Social Media Icons]

1. Click Site-wide Settings > Social media.
2. Check Add more social media icons.
3. Check Open social media icon links in a new tab.
4. Click the Save Changes button.

[Remove Default Footer Text]

1. Click Footer.
2. Check Replace footer links with this text/HTML.
3. Click the Save Changes button.

[Full Screen Module Settings Editor]

1. Click The Divi Builder.
2. Check Make module settings editor full screen.
3. Click the Save Changes button.

Elegant Themes Updater

The Elegant Themes Updater plugin allows you to automatically update Elegant Themes plugins and themes.

1. Click Plugins on the main navigation menu and Activate the Elegant Themes Updater.
2. Click Settings under Elegant Themes Updater.
3. Enter the Username.
4. Enter the Personal API Key.
5. Click the Save Changes button.

Other Plugins

A couple of other plugins you should install but leave deactivated until launch are:

• Google Analytics Dashboard for WP (Google Analytics)
• InfiniteWP Client (Update management)

Homepage

1. Click Pages on the main navigation menu and select Add New.
2. Enter Home into the Title field.
3. Click the Use The Divi Builder button.
4. Click the Publish button.

Set Homepage

1. Click Settings on the main navigation menu and select Reading.
2. Next to Front page displays select A static page and set Front page to Home.
3. Click the Save Changes button.

Widgets

1. Click Appearance on the main navigation menu and select Widgets.
2. Removal all widgets from the Sidebar and Footer sections.

Menus

1. Click Appearance on the main navigation menu and select Menus.
2. Create a new menu named Primary.
   1. Enter Primary into the Menu Name field.
   2. Click the Create Menu button.
   3. Under Menu Settings check the Primary Menu box.
   4. Click the Save Menu button.

Add Home to Primary Menu

1. Click Appearance on the main navigation menu and select Menus.
2. Check Home in the Pages module on the left and click the Add to Menu button.
3. Click the Save Menu button.

Clean Up

Removed rarely used modules and increase the amount of items per page.

Dashboard

1. Click Dashboard on the main navigation menu.
2. Click the Screen Options tab at the top-right.
3. Uncheck:
   1. Activity
   2. Quick Draft
   3. WordPress News
   4. Welcome

Posts

1. Click Posts on the main navigation menu.
2. Click the Screen Options tab at the top-right.
3. Change Number of items per page to 100.
4. Click the Apply button.
5. Click the Hello world! post to access it.
6. Click the Screen Options tab at the top-right.
7. Uncheck:
   1. Format
   2. Send Trackbacks
   3. Custom Fields
   4. Discussion
   5. Comments
   6. Slug
   7. Author
8. In the Content section click the Toolbar Toggle button to show the second row of tools.
9. Click Posts on the main navigation menu again.
10. Delete the Hello world! post.
11. Delete the Hello world! post permanently from the Trash.

Pages

1. Click Pages on the main navigation menu.
2. Click the Screen Options tab at the top-right.
3. Change Number of items per page to 100.
4. Click the Apply button.
5. Click the Sample Page page to access it.
6. Click the Screen Options tab at the top-right.
7. Uncheck:
   1. Featured Image
   2. Excerpt
   3. Custom Fields
   4. Discussion
   5. Comments
   6. Slug
   7. Author
8. Click Pages on the main navigation menu again.
9. Delete the Sample Page page.
10. Delete the Sample Page page permanently from the Trash.

Comments

1. Click Comments on the main navigation menu.
2. Click the Screen Options tab at the top-right.
3. Change Number of items per page to 150.

If you add custom post types make sure to configure the screen options for them as well (e.g. events, tables, testimonials, etc.).

Backup

Finally, backup the website and  the database to the local server.