Every WordPress install is unique, but here are the things I cover on every single installation to make sure it works properly from day one.

Standard WordPress Installation

• create a professional email address for you to use to promote your blog. Usually yourname@yoursite.com.
• upload a robots.txt file to protect your site’s private areas (admin, uploads etc) from search engine spiders.
• setup the site permalinks to improve the search engine indexing and url appearance of your site.
• setup Akismet spam protection to help prevent comment spam. We also create a WordPress.com account in your name to obtain the Akismet key necessary for this.
• setup Feedburner to help track, promote and customize your RSS feed. We will create a Feedburner account in your name to setup your RSS feeds.
• install approximately 15 plugins and 10 20 theme options (linked below).
• create a unique admin login for you. Using the default can be a security problem.
• make various small tweaks to WordPress settings to improve your blogging experience:
  • increase the size of the writing area for easier posting.
  • setup a list of good Ping services so new posts are automatically announced to the world.
  • remove the standard WordPress Blogroll links.
  • setup a weekly backup that emails you when it completes.
• Test Everything! (We think this is the most important step)
• Once everything is completed and working, I send you an email with all the information you need to get started:
  • Your blog email address and password
  • Your admin login and password
  • Your WordPress.com account login and password
  • Your Feedburner account login and password
  • A PDF document outlining how to get started, where to go from here, and some optional settings you may want to configure

Themes

If you know the exact theme you want, we can install it for you when we set up your blog. We will install a commercial theme as well, provided you have purchased it and send us the file either by email, or using the upload button on the setup request form below.

If you’re not sure yet, we’ll install these 20+ different themes so that you have something to play with. Themes are relatively simple to install and activate at any time and most come with their own set of options to customize your blog.

For a small fee, I will install a new theme later if you find one you like.

Plugins

We install approximately 15 or more awesome WordPress plugins that will make blogging easier for you. This list changes from time to time but will always be up to date on this page. I generally don’t configure these plugins beyond the basics but can provide assistance if necessary.

For a small fee, I will install new plugins for you after your blog is installed.