Configure WordPress after installation

WordPress · 5 min readChecked 8 October 2026

Before you start

A WordPress installation accessible over HTTPS.
Your administrator email and planned pages.

Check your access and website address

A completed installation is not yet a website ready for launch. Open your domain over HTTPS, then sign in to the WordPress dashboard. Use the intended live domain, or an access-protected copy while you prepare the website.

Confirm that the certificate covers the address you use, including your chosen www or non-www version.
Keep the dashboard address and credentials in a password manager.
If WordPress is not installed, follow our Installatron guide first.

Set the language, title and time zone

Open Settings → General. Give the website a recognizable title and check its administration email address: recovery and security notifications go there. For a Quebec business following Montreal time, select Toronto to account for seasonal time changes.

Choose the main website language; your user profile can use a different dashboard language.
Save your settings and complete any email confirmation WordPress requests.
Do not change the two WordPress address fields as an improvised fix: an unplanned URL change can lock you out.

Choose your homepage and link structure

Create a homepage and, if needed, a page for blog posts. In Settings → Reading, choose a static homepage and assign the relevant pages. In Settings → Permalinks, choose a suitable structure before publishing your first content.

For a new site, “Post name” usually creates readable addresses.
Changing an established site's structure requires redirects from its old URLs.
Open a page and a post in a private window to check their links.

Install only the features you need

Choose a maintained theme and plugins with a clear purpose, such as forms, backups or email delivery. A theme demo may import substantial content; avoid importing it into a live website without a backup.

Remove sample content you do not intend to publish.
Check the main menu, footer links and logo display.
Test important pages on a phone and with a keyboard, using your own text and images.

Protect accounts and prepare a backup

Under Users, give each person a separate account with only the permissions they need. Reserve administrator access for people responsible for maintenance. A usable backup needs both website files and the database.

Use unique passwords and two-factor authentication where your chosen solution supports it.
Check the backup location, schedule and actual latest backup date.
Test restoration on a copy before relying on the procedure during an incident.

Complete your launch checks

Browse as a visitor: check links, forms, images, policy pages and mobile layouts. Review issues in Tools → Site Health. A favourable status does not replace testing your site's actual functions.

If search-engine discouragement was enabled during development, turn it off in Settings → Reading at launch.
That setting does not protect a private copy; access restrictions are still necessary.
Submit a real test form and confirm delivery before announcing the website.