I just finished setting up the RanCH bLoG and am getting pretty good at setting up WordPress. Here are the steps I take after installing a new WordPress 2.7 blog:

1. Enable Archival-style permalinks. In settings -> permalinks choose “Day and name”.
2. Add a .htaccess file to make permalinks work. WordPress will try to do this for you when you enable permalinks, but might not be able to write to the root dir of your blog.
3. Disable “Comment author must have a previously approved comment” in settings -> discussion, so you don’t have to keep watching over your comments.
4. Enable the Akismet plugin, to block spam. You will have to create a free wordpress.com account to get an API key.
5. Install the reCAPTCHA plugin, to block more spam. You will need to create a free recaptcha.net account to get an API key.
6. Install a GPL-compatible theme.
7. Add sidebar widgets in appearance -> widgets. I always add the Recent Comments, Categories, Tag Cloud, and Search widgets.
8. Replace any boilerplate text in the theme. Hopefully this can be done by replacing the boilerplate area with a text widget, but you might have to update your theme’s php files.
9. Update the blogroll with links to your friends.
   

Maybe one of these days I will follow my own advice and update this blog to a modern theme.

Filed under: howto, meta, WordPress · 3 Comments