General, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media & Permalinks

Settings → General controls your Site Title, Tagline, WordPress Address (URL), Site Address (URL), timezone, and default date/time formats — usually the very first screen to check after install.

General and Writing settings

Settings → General controls your Site Title, Tagline, WordPress Address (URL), Site Address (URL), timezone, and default date/time formats — usually the very first screen to check after install.

Settings → Writing controls the default post category, default post format, and options for posting via email (a legacy feature rarely used today).

Reading and Discussion settings

Settings → Reading decides whether your homepage shows Your latest posts (blog-style) or A static page (business-style, pointing to a specific page you choose). It also controls how many posts show per page and whether search engines are allowed to index your site.

Settings → Discussion controls comment behavior globally — whether comments are allowed by default, moderation rules, and avatar display (covered more in lesson 16).

Tip: “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” under Reading is meant for sites still under construction. Double-check it is unchecked before your official launch — many beginners forget and wonder why Google cannot find them.

Common “business site” Reading configuration

Settings → Reading:
  Your homepage displays: A static page
    Homepage: "Home"
    Posts page: "Blog"
  Search engine visibility: (leave unchecked once site is ready to launch)

Media and Permalinks settings

Settings → Media sets the pixel dimensions for auto-generated Thumbnail, Medium, and Large image sizes (see lesson 14 for more on media handling).

Settings → Permalinks controls your URL structure. Post name (e.g. /sample-post/) is the most SEO-friendly and readable option — the default Plain structure (?p=123) should almost never be used for a real site.

Tip: Changing permalink structure on an already-live site can break existing links unless you set up proper redirects. Choose Post name before your first real visitor arrives.

Recommended permalink structure

Settings → Permalinks:
  ( ) Plain               /?p=123
  ( ) Day and name        /2026/07/28/sample-post/
  (x) Post name           /sample-post/    <- recommended
  ( ) Custom structure