There are quite a few administrative things to do when setting up your WordPress blog for the first time. Some of these items may be on your to do list and others may not.  So here is my basic list:

The Basic Security & Back-up:

• Check to see that “your display as” name on your blog isn’t the same as your WordPress login/username. This is done for security reasons.

• Setup basic security: This is an important issue for every WordPress admin. WP Security Scan, Better WP Security and Website Defender are all great plug-in candidates to get you started.  Generally, I don’t worry about security too much because my site is hosted on WP Engine.   You can read my review on WP Engine here.

• Upload and active essential plugins including Akismet which usually comes installed with your installation by default.  Yes your blog can receive spam from day one, so to nip it in the bud set up Akismet right away. You don’t want unwelcome links or bots sniffing around on your site.

•  Set up caching so WordPress loads pages faster.

•  Setup a backup system for your blog. Again, If you go with my host WP Engine  you wont need a back up system or caching, because they provide back-up and caching for you.

Basic SEO (Most Can Be Found In The Settings/General Tab):

• Erase or replace the “just another WordPress blog” tagline. That’s unless you want to keep it that way. I’d rather personalize my site with another tagline of my own or just leave it blank.

• Change your permalinks to “Postname.” Otherwise the URL posted with the default settings will generally be your URL followed by the post number(s). Changing your permalinks to Postname will generally change the end of your post URL to

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I was recently introduced to WP Engine after going to WordCamp in NYC and all I have to say is I’ve been in love with it ever since. Here are some of the reasons why:

WP Engine Has Lightning Fast Performance

WP Engine caches everything on your site for you making your WordPress site incredibly fast. You don’t need any caching plugins whatsoever, because WP Engine takes care of all of that for you. Beyond that you can take advantage of their CDN for even extra site responsiveness and speed. Ultimately, WP Engine is scalable and ready for the extra traffic when you are.

Back-up, Security, WordPress Updates: WP Engine Has it All Covered

With WP Engine you don’t have to worry about updating WordPress, they will do it in the background for you.

I attended my first WordCamp in NYC earlier this summer and all I can say is it was a blast.

The development side of WordPress  does seem to have a steep learning curve, but that didn’t stop the WordPress organizers from providing informational sessions for attendees from all different levels and abilities. There was even a blogger and Pro Blogger track which I’m sure many appreciated. The best part of it all was the networking of course and I met many talented and helpful people along the way.

At Baruch College where WordCamp NYC 2012 was hosted did feel a bit crowded. Many of the classrooms were overflowing requiring some attendees to sit on the floor or stand out in the hallway. Surely this owes to the increasing popularity of WordCamp in New York City and elsewhere. In addition, it is a fairly cheap conference to attend so that may owe to the venue that was chosen. If you ask me I’d rather have a more crowded venue than some overly expensive hotel and conference fees any day of the week.

The best thing about WordCamp  is its a year around affair. There are local WordCamps in cities around the world. And you can catch