The Perfect WordPress Setup

[morestar]

Everyone's who works, touts and supports the use of wordpress in any of it's vast capabilities (article directory, business directory, blog, ecommerce, dating site) has their own custom setup; their own set of plugins and plugin configuration - what's yours?

Me? I'm primarily concerned with site speed, being spam-proof, being properly structured, socialized and properly setup for SEO with respect to the title and meta tags (either though the use of the All In One SEO Pack or through the use of Custom Fields which is much easier and quicker!!)...

Speed: Currently I'm using as little plugins as possible to keep my Wordpress sites loading quick. I'm not racing but I've also placed a few directives into my .htaccess file which helps increased loading speed and am gathering tidbits of information bit by bit as time goes on.

Spam Proof: I use Akismet. I love Akismet, it works and I have very little spam problems. Akismet requires one to register their Wordpress API key. You can either use your Wordpress.com API key or get a personal use API key (http://akismet.com/personal/).

Structure: This is generally up to me. I'm responsible for validating my Wordpress installs at the W3C Validator (http://validator.w3.org/). The reason I say validation is my responsibility is because sometimes some themes aren't properly structured according to any document type.

Socialized: If you don't give your users to quick and easy option of book-marking your articles or your site they won't. I use sociable as it's clean, uses a sprite and attractively becoming recognized by many surfers. It's good to book-mark and while your here book-mark this page (http://del.icio.us/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.webproworld.com%2Fshowth read.php%3Ft%3D102565&title=The+Perfect+wordpress+Setup)! It's fun!!

SEO Ready: I use either the All In One SEO Pack or create custom fields. If I use custom fields it's mainly because I find it so much easier to use for a generally simple Wordpress install plus it reduces the need for another plugin. All I need to do is edit the header.php of my theme with the following:


<title><?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, "title", true); ?></title>
<meta name="description" content="<?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, "description", true); ?>" />
<meta name="keywords" content="<?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, "keywords", true); ?>" />

Then in the POST page, simply add the custom fields (title, description, keywords) at the bottom of the page (this only has to be done once as wordpress remembers your custom field settings for later) and simply remember to fill in those fields with every post.

Oh I also add into the plugin mix the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin as it allows me to upgrade right from within my Admin. panel.

That's my basic and optimal install of wordpress and one that I mostly prefer as it keeps most things running smoothly and in tune with my visitors needs - whether spiders or humans.

What's your basic install - big or small - plugged or not and why? I'd like to hear some ideas because I'm sure there are tons of other wordpress setups that we can all benefit from learning about...

[inertia]

Haven't built and finished a new one for a few months now but I'm in the process of redoing my business one with the first ever premium theme I've actually splashed out on! I do much the same to be honest! I try to keep plugins minimal and if I build a site for someone else (with no SEO experience) I try to build the site in a way that will ensure they dont mess up.

Plugins:


All In One SEO
Yoast Breadcrumbs
Addthis - social
Cforms - contact forms
Redirection - easy 301s
RSS includes pages - good when link building with RSS feeds.
SEO Slugs - helps client create SEO friendly URLs.
WP Supercache - speed improvement (although I'm going to try that new one that was suggested on the other thread).
Akismet
Similar Posts - improves click through and internal linking.
WP page navi


Blog: When creating a basic blog setup I follow the usually rules of:


/%pagename%/ URLs
sorting out the semantics
removing all the unnecessary links (logins, edit etc)
stripping out archives and tag links/pages (FME they arent used enough to warrant being there)
adding unique content to category pages and choosing the category titles based on keyword research (also watch the on site search data for creating categories).
adding unique content to the home page above the post list.
adding popular posts links to keep the best page "on top".
link back to your main site pages (obvious really).

Site: Much the same but I also try use categories as proper keyword targeted site pages (which are linked to throughout the site not just the chosen blog page).

Here's a bit of code to add to the functions.php file:



remove_action('wp_head', 'rsd_link');

remove_action('wp_head', 'wlwmanifest_link');

remove_action('wp_head', 'wp_generator');
It gets rid of the some of that head junk and the WP release number which apparently hackers check to see what version youre using.

Areas I need to learn more about... Security! My business site got hacked recently and (any tips about this people?) and a shed load of invisible pages appeared which were linked to from a dodgy chinese site. I only noticed when GWT reported that the most relevant keywords on the site were "Christmas" and "sex toys". That's the first time I've has a security issue with any of my Wordpress setups. It was kind of cool! Felt like a badge of honor! Thank god it wasnt a client site...

Erm. If I think of any more info I'll post!

[Rebec_CR]

Thanks for this quality info, inertia and morestar...helpful info for a WP-er in training. ;)

Question: i need clarification on the tags field. is it the same KWs used in the SEO All-in-One?

Thanks in advance

[seothomas]

I try to keep my site as clean as possible.....

my plugins are

askimet
all in one seo
wp cache

and thats about all......the real question is what themes are the best for SEO?

[ford_perfect]

What about Headspace2, I see both of you guys are usng All In One Seo?

[Antti]

I was researching for info on "perfect wordpress" setups, plugins and stuff - landed here - and registered instantly when I saw the quality info from morestar and inertia!

Anyway...

I personally keep the rsd_link in the header, thus not removing this:

remove_action('wp_head', 'rsd_link');
...the other two inertia mentioned can be removed (the other is for Windows Live Writer and the other is the WP version, which should always be removed for security reasons)

I then use other means to secure the site, e.g. firewall plugin, .htaccess measures, restricting wp-admin and protecting the wp-config.php.

For speed/cache, I like the W3 Total Cache. It gives move options than WP Super Cache, and has everything needed for speed optimization: the page cache, db cache, minification and even CDN (content delivery network, e.g. Amazon S3) management.

For social bookmarking I prefer Yoast's Sociable over all the other options. It uses CSS sprites and has the easy option to not load the plugin's own css (but include that to your theme style.css instead). The other "pretty" bookmarking plugins use unnecessary javascript, css and images that slow the site down. Kudos to Joost for optimizing his.

For wordpress permalink, anything with /%postname%/ is good for SEO. And using just /%postname%/ is the best general option. /%post_id%/%postname%/ is what I use in some blogs, but most of the time it's just the postname (manually editing the slug to be what I want of course).

[itsawebthing]

I'm looking at utilizing one install of WP 3 for the multi-site feature (SuperAdmin) for several top level domains on my VPS. Use DirectAdmin as CP. Think I'm going to need Installatron added. Is anyone using WP 3 for multiple top level domains, and can they provide tips? Was looking for the optimal setup and came across this thread.

[Michandy]

I use wp cache, contact form, sitemap, google analytics, myseostatus, platinum seo etc. They all work pretty well.

[itsawebthing]

The install tips are helpful, though saw no reference to using one WP install for multiple domains on one server. Suggestions?

[trogers64]

I like the Thesis theme, it has a lot of flexibility and is built with SEO in mind. I have heard other themes like Flexx is good also.

[bigbrian76]

What do you all think of the Platinum SEO pack?

[zumbador]

Some great ideas, thanks for sharing.

[MrGamm]

I don't know which ones are that good, but I always see this template around. It's like everybody uses it. I see a few times a week guaranteed. It is way over used. I have a better chance of remembering your high school photograph than I do remembering you and your website with this theme.

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/mystique

18,000,000 results, that can't be a good thing - http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Mystique+theme+by+digitalnature%22&filt=all

The websites that force me to log in through facebook, I just don't post anything. I am sort of the same with websites where I have to register to post on a blog post. It acts a a deterrent and maybe that is a good thing to some people?

Also... I'm getting to the point where I just don't pay attention to wordpress websites. They are so abundant they are like Blogger blogs. It is not a joke and it is not meant to diss, it is just that so many wordpresses are just straight up blogs, they are all the same. Meaning, I can almost tell the second I have landed on a wordpress website, in the same manner I can recognize a blogger website when I land on it.

It's like the borg.

And... I'm seeing some wordpresses break, the ones that make use of the ajax forms. Servers might be upgrading and breaking the software somehow?

And if it helps, I'm starting to see wordpress websites which will not reach the search index at all, even after manual submission. I can't look at the wordpress websites I'm seeing having trouble and say they are recommended for SEO purposes.

I'm on a facebook and wordpress rant... my apologies... it's just the truth from my perspective.

[Rolex John]

I like the Thesis theme, it has a lot of flexibility and is built with SEO in mind. I have heard other themes like Flexx is good also.

I use Elegant Themes - they do a nice job and aren't terribly expensive.

[Graf1771]

Also... I'm getting to the point where I just don't pay attention to wordpress websites.

That is one viewpoint - but it's mostly down to the fact that most people use pre-built themes and hardly make any changes. It is possible to create a completely new wordpress theme from scratch. And it won't look like a wordpress blog.

I don't think many people realise this is a wordpress site: http://www.enherts-tr.nhs.uk/

One of the problems I have at the moment is that people seem to WANT their site to look like a standard wordpress blog!..

[MrGamm]

I agree with you. I wouldn't recognize that as being a wordpress website until I looked at the code.

I just see millions of the exact same template in the web search results, and to me it is spam. I am not a high profile designer, but I do ignore, whether it be an unconscious effort or a deliberate one, a website which looks exactly the same as the last 20 or 30 blogs I visited.

And just to continue where I left off... not everybody has a facebook account. Forcing them to log in through facebook when they don't have an account is the equivalent to offering gas at a gas station to Honda Civics only.

This is probably the closest commentary I can find regarding standard stock parts for web design...

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=stock_photos

[MrGamm]

How about a search for Viagara Wordpress

http://www.google.com/search?q=wordpress+viagara

About 4,180,000 results

There are only 50,400,000 results total for Viagara alone...

That means Wordpress, the ones that are reaching the index account for about 8% of all Viagara spam.

Or how about http://www.google.com/search?q=wordpress+"Hacked By"

About 973,000 results and if you search in a search engine like Bing which is probably a little slower to clean up the mess...

http://www.bing.com/search?q=wordpress+"hacked+by"

9,770,000 results


And if you search for the mystique theme...

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Mystique+theme+by+digitalnature%22&filt=all

About 17,500,000 results

That is all I am really pointing out... There is alot of spam, and wordpress is contributing to it significantly. If you can show me any other community which is responsible for more website spam than this, then please do.

I know I am harping on wordpress potentially unfairly, but those are real numbers.

[Graf1771]

I just see millions of the exact same template in the web search results, and to me it is spam. I am not a high profile designer, but I do ignore, whether it be an unconscious effort or a deliberate one, a website which looks exactly the same as the last 20 or 30 blogs I visited...

This is probably the closest commentary I can find regarding standard stock parts for web design...

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=stock_photos


That's an excellent link - exactly how I feel about stock photos. It's such a shame when you design a site without them but the end users add them in anyway!

To a certain extent I think you are right - wordpress does help produce spam and a lot of people who just want a free blog or a space to write some articles aren't exactly creative in their use of the standard themes... Luckily though, there are a number of good designers who can take the wordpress basics and produce excellent sites and the beauty of wordpress is it's simplicity for the end user to add / edit content. With my clients I find it's the best way to give them a CMS with the minimum of training.


It's such a shame that wordpress is so easy to hack to create new websites with dummy content or ripped content from other websites and article sites.

[MrGamm]

I agree with you to a certain extent.

I can't for the life of me see the benefit of 16,000,000 identical website templates floating around. I don't think it is the ease by which someone can get a wordpress website up and running. I mean dreamweaver and frontpage are probably equally as easy to use, or any of the other popular tinyMCE blogs.

I just think that wordpress will snuff itself out in the long run... you make websites, everybody just sees free templates, why should anyone pay for wordpress? I know why people should pay, but I don't think enough of the wordpress community knows why. That's all I am really ranting about.

It destroys massive amounts of value... I would like to know why 16,000,000 templates, which are used for various purposes, from advertising oneself as a web designer, all the way through to an art director, or a web developer, should be free. They are obviously wanted and people would pay good money for it.

I could go on for days about it...

At a bare minimum, I can't for the life of me see why the template isn't rigged with advertising or something along those lines. Even if it's a public service announcement, or a request to donate. it's 16,000,000 identical templates that are wasted entirely. jmo...

In any event, it just angers me... I can attack it from so many different angles, and nothing is really going to make me believe that 16,000,000 identical templates are a good thing. I haven't even counted the others yet...

I can attack it from every angle as to why it's bad, I can't find any reason why it's good... with exception that perhaps someone gets a website, but that has nothing to do with 16,000,000 identical and easily identifiable templates.

[xuanthu]

How I can install WP on free host at Godaddy

[MrGamm]

Call 1-800-GO-DADDY?

[Optic]

I am pretty happy with my wordpress setup. Here it is:

Theme: Thesis - It really does save a ton of time, it's flexible, has perfect markup, plays nice with wordpress 3.* multisite, etc.

Plugins:

Mandatory -

Yoast wordpress SEO - Don't ask any questions, just use it.
Yoast Google Analytics For wordpress
Optimize DB
w3 Total Cache
Broken Link Checker
cbnet Ping Optimizer
WP DB Backup
WP ReCaptcha
Deans Permalink Migration
Login Lockdown
No Self Ping
Intense Debate
PushPress - PubSubHubbub push to subscribers
After the Deadline
What Would Seth Godin Do?

Either -
Gravity Forms OR
Enhanced Contact Form - Depending on the needs.

Optional:

Google Web Fonts for wordpress - heh ;)
Domain Mapping - Trunk Version
PODS
PhotoDropper
Syntax Highlighter
WP-Polls
Sexy Bookmarks
Feedburner Feedsmith
Blog Metrics
Clicky
OZH Who Sees Ads
Feedwordpress

I've got a ton of specialized plugins that are great for special use cases, but they are few and far between.

[Eco Warrior]

I have got downloaded Yoast plugin but am having some issues setting it up properly