Getting Started with Core WordPress Settings for New Site Owners

Learn which core WordPress settings to configure first so your new site has the right title, timezone, homepage, and comment behavior from day one.

Why Your Core WordPress Settings Matter on Day One

Before you add pages, posts, or design, it’s worth spending 20–30 minutes configuring your core WordPress settings. These options control basics like your site title, timezone, homepage behavior, and how comments work. Getting them right early prevents confusion later and keeps your content organized.

This guide walks you through the most important settings screens for a brand-new site owner, using the latest WordPress block editor interface.

Step 1: Set Your Site Title, Tagline, and Timezone

Your first stop is the General Settings screen. This is where you define how your site identifies itself and how dates and times are calculated.

How to Open General Settings

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Go to Dashboard ? Settings ? General.

Here you’ll see fields for Site Title, Tagline, URL settings, email address, language, timezone, and date/time formats.Source

What to Configure First

• Site Title – Enter the public name of your website (for example, “Smith & Co. Law” or “Northside Coffee Roasters”). Themes often display this in the header and it appears in browser tabs.
• Tagline – A short phrase that explains what your site is about (for example, “Estate planning for growing families”). If you don’t have one, either write something simple or leave it blank instead of using a generic default.
• Administration Email Address – Confirm this is an inbox you actually monitor. WordPress sends important notifications here (such as comment moderation and some update notices).
• Site Language – Choose the language you want to use in the dashboard and default interface.
• Timezone – Select a city in your timezone (for example, “New York” for U.S. Eastern). This makes post timestamps, scheduled posts, and date displays accurate.Source
• Date Format / Time Format – Pick the format that matches how your audience expects to see dates and times.

What You Should See

After saving changes, you should see a confirmation notice at the top of the screen. Your site title and tagline may immediately update in the front-end header and browser tab. If times or dates looked wrong before, they should now match your local time.

Step 2: Understand Pages vs. Posts Before You Build

Before you decide what your homepage should show, it helps to understand the difference between Pages and Posts in WordPress.

Key Differences

• Pages – Best for static content that doesn’t change often, like Home, About, Services, or Contact. Pages are not listed by date and don’t use categories or tags.
• Posts – Best for dated, regularly updated content like blog articles, news, or updates. Posts are listed in reverse chronological order and can be grouped with categories and tags.Source

Most business sites use a Page as the homepage and a separate Posts page for the blog.

Quick Setup: Create Your First Core Pages

• Go to Dashboard ? Pages ? Add New.
• Create at least: Home, About, and (if you plan to blog) a blank page called Blog or News.
• Click Publish on each page.

You can keep these pages simple for now; you’ll refine the content and design later.

Step 3: Choose What Your Homepage Displays

Now that you have some pages, you can tell WordPress what to show on your homepage and where your posts should appear.

How to Set a Static Homepage and Blog Page

• Go to Dashboard ? Settings ? Reading.
• Under Your homepage displays, choose A static page.
• Set Homepage to your “Home” page.
• If you created a blog page, set Posts page to “Blog” or “News”.
• Adjust how many posts to show on the blog page if needed.
• Click Save Changes.

With this setup, visitors see your custom Home page first, and your posts automatically appear on the Blog page in date order.Source

What You Should See

• Visiting your main domain should now show your Home page content.
• Visiting the Blog page URL should show a list of posts (once you’ve published some).

Step 4: Get Comfortable with the Block Editor Basics

WordPress uses the block editor for creating and editing pages and posts. Each paragraph, image, heading, or list is a “block” that you can move and style.

Opening the Block Editor

• To edit a page: Dashboard ? Pages ? All Pages, hover a page, click Edit.
• To create a new post: Dashboard ? Posts ? Add New.

The editor opens in a fullscreen workspace with a top toolbar, a content canvas, and a settings sidebar.Source

Simple Editing Workflow

1. Click in the content area and start typing to create a Paragraph block.
2. Use the + button to add blocks like Heading, Image, or List.
3. Click a block to see its toolbar and options (alignment, bold, links, etc.).
4. Use the right-hand sidebar to adjust page or post settings, like featured image, template, or discussion options.Source
5. Click Save draft, Preview, and then Publish when you’re ready.

What You Should See

As you add blocks, you should see a live preview of your content structure: headings, paragraphs, and images stacked in the order you place them. After publishing, the front-end page should closely match what you saw in the editor, with your theme’s fonts and colors applied.

Step 5: Configure Basic Comment and Discussion Settings

Comments can be a useful way to interact with visitors, but they also require moderation. Decide early whether you want comments on your site and how strict moderation should be.

Global Discussion Settings

• Go to Dashboard ? Settings ? Discussion.
• Review options under Default post settings, Other comment settings, and Email me whenever.

These settings control whether new posts allow comments by default, whether visitors must register, and how you’re notified. They also help reduce spam and define how comments are moderated.Source

Recommended Starting Setup for New Site Owners

• Allow people to submit comments on new posts – Turn this on only if you plan to actively moderate comments.
• Comment must be manually approved – Enable this to prevent anything from appearing publicly without review.
• Comment author must fill out name and email – Helps reduce low-effort spam.
• Hold a comment in the queue if it contains X or more links – Keep this low (1–2) to catch spammy comments.

Per-Page or Per-Post Comment Control

Even if comments are enabled globally, you can turn them off on specific pages or posts:

• Edit the page or post in the block editor.
• Open the right-hand Page or Post settings sidebar.
• Find the Discussion panel and uncheck Allow comments for pages like Home or Contact where comments are usually not appropriate.Source

What You Should See

• If comments are enabled, new comments will appear under Dashboard ? Comments for moderation.
• On the front end, posts with comments enabled will show a comment form and existing comments beneath the content.

Step 6: Quick Visual Check of Your New Site

After configuring these core settings, do a quick review of your site as a visitor would see it.

Checklist

• Your homepage shows the correct content (not an empty blog list, unless that’s intentional).
• Your site title and tagline look right in the header and browser tab.
• Any sample or placeholder content you don’t want is removed or hidden.
• Comments appear only where you want them, with moderation working as expected.
• Dates and times on posts match your local timezone.

What to Do Next

Once these basics are in place, you’re ready to move on to navigation menus, design customization, and more advanced content planning. But with your core WordPress settings configured correctly, you’ve already avoided many of the most common early mistakes new site owners make.