Welcome to Setting up in WordPress
It has taken quite a lot of time and work to get to this point.
Today, we are going to a deep look into the Bluehost and WordPress Dashboards. We are going to connect the Jetpack plugin and work through all the settings that go along with Jetpack.
It may be very helpful to review:
We will begin by reviewing the Navigation Pane and Work area.
The first action step we take today will be to set up our Business Email address and review key elements of our Bluehost account and dashboard.
Next we will talk about Jetpack, WordPress.com and configuring settings.
This series is progressive. Each post builds upon the previous one.
If you need to catch up, use the links to the left to get started.
Today’s article, assumes that you have already registered your domain name, purchased WordPress Web Hosting and are now ready to start to work on your own website.
In Website Setup, we covered the basics of the WordPress dashboard including the main sections and how to get around using the navigation pane.
We talked about how the work area changes depending where you are and what tasks you are performing.
In the simplest of terms, this dashboard is where you create and control all the content on your website.
We also took a quick look at what our dashboard on Bluehost looks like.
Today we are going to start taking a deeper look at these two dashboards and the key settings that are important to the day to day management of your website and business.
The account level dashboard is where you can access the back side of your website such as the domain, billing for your account and server based tasks.
The Bluehost Dashboard
Click any Image to enlarge it.
There two ways to access your Bluehost account from the WordPress dashboard.
Hover over Bluehost in the Navigation pane and the submenu will pop out to the right.
From here, click Back to Bluehost and you will taken to to the login page for your account.
Or you can simply open an new browser tab or window and type the URL into the address bar.
The navigation pane is on the left in this dashboard too.
I have clicked on the My Sites Tab, you can tell because the section is highlighted in blue.
This screen displays any current websites you have on Bluehost.
However, the main task you need to take care of in the Bluehost Dashboard is to set up an email address for your business that is connected to your domain.
Click Email and Office in the navigation pane.
In the work area, you will see your domain listed.
Click Manage to begin adding email addresses to your account.
On this screen you will see any email addresses you have created on your account.
Since your site is new, we need to click the Create button to begin the process of setting your business email address.
Select the domain in the drop down box.
Enter a Username
Enter a Password or generate one.
Click Create Button
Once your email is created the system brings you back to the Manage Email screen.
You can check your email using a web host email service but I recommend that you click Connect Devices to set up your email account your existing email client.
The Connect Devices screen displays the configuration settings for the most well known email clients and instructions for setting your account up manually in the client of your choice.
Congratulations, you have set up your first business email address.
You can repeat the steps to add any additional email addresses you might need.
The last topic I want to cover regarding your Bluehost account dashboard is the CPanel.
When you click on Advanced in the Navigation pane, you are redirected into C-Panel.
Notice that you also have a new submenu in the Navigation panel.
Be very careful making changes to your account in this area.
There are a host of options accessible in the C-Panel.
This panel allows you access to your server space, the code that is being on your site and a host of other technical tasks and functions.
If the need arises, I suggest that your educate yourself about C-Panel and don’t hesitate to reach out for support through email, telephone or chat support services.
There are also tons of tutorials on Bluehost.com, WordPress.org and many other places on the internet.
Access your Billing info
Manage Email Addresses
Add new Websites
Access your Server Data
Advanced Technical Functions
As you become more skilled and experienced with managing your website and account, the more familiar you will become with your Bluehost dashboard.
Other web host providers have very similar dashboards, and some offer access to C-panel but not all.
Jetpack Installation and Set-up
In my recent post, WordPress Plugins, I reviewed what Jetpack plugin is and what it can do for you and your business.
The Jetpack plugin is installed and activated during the initial WordPress installation.
Now we going to configure some key settings.
Enter your info into the fields and click Create Account button.
On the next popup, you can choose a paid plan or select the Start with Free button below the plan descriptions.
Several things happen when you create your Jetpack account.
A WordPress.com account is automatically created for you as well as an Akismet account.
Akismet is the spam blocking plugin that is added into your WordPress.org installation along with Jetpack.
These three items work hand in hand to offer a variety of features and functions.
Once your account is created, you will be redirected to your account on WordPress.com.
We have a lot of features and settings to go through. We can adjust them on WordPress.com or on our website.
Notice that the Navigation pane is similar to all the other dashboards we have looked at today.
At the bottom of the pane, you will see the WP Admin link that will take you straight back to your WordPress website dashboard.
We are going to go there to work on most of our Jetpack settings, so go ahead and click the link.
Now notice on the Navigation pane, that we are on the Jetpack dashboard, within our WordPress website dashboard.
On the right, you will see two buttons, Dashboard and Settings.
Click Settings.
Use the options under the Security tab to set up your Jetpack security preferences.
When you enable these settings, you may be taken back to your WordPress.com account.
Make sure to click save changes when you make adjustments.
I recommend you enable the options you see above, but I encourage you to explore on your own, to make informed decisions regarding your business and website.
Next up are the Performance tab options.
In today’s world, it is all about speed.
The goal is not to lose visitors due to slow and laggy page load times.
Jetpack makes it very easy to speed up your site with a few quick clicks.
Above you see the settings I use on my sites.
Once again, if you are unsure of how to proceed, use Google, YouTube and online tutorials to your advantage.
Writing options relate specifically to certain features offered by the Jetpack plugin.
Click any image to enlarge the Gallery.
My settings choices on the Writing tab are shown in the images above. Your preferences may be very different.
Remember that you can come back to your Jetpack dashboard and settings anytime you want and make changes.
Enabling the Mobile theme is something you can play around with once you have created your content and launch your site. Mobile theme changes the way your theme looks and responds on mobile devices. It does not change your layout or content.
Your visitors will have the option to visit your full WordPress website.
Hang in there... I promise we will get through this...
Now we going to set up Sharing options:
- Publishing Connections
- Sharing Buttons
- Like Buttons
Start by enabling all three options in the work area.
Next click on Connect your Social Media Accounts under the Publicize Connections.
Click the Connect Button for Facebook and follow all the prompts.
Wait for each account to fully connect before you proceed to the next account.
When you are done, you have the options to connect Google Photos and Mailchimp.
If you already have Business pages on the Social sites, you will be prompted to publish to your page.
If you haven’t created your business pages yet, you can always come back to these settings anytime and reconnect them to your business pages.
From this screen, select the Sharing Buttons tab at the top of your work area.
- Click edit Sharing Buttons and select the buttons your prefer.
- Choose how to display the buttons, such as Icon only and whether or not to display the like button.
- Select below where you want the buttons to appear on your website.
Make sure to save all your changes before proceeding.
On the Discussion tab, you can choose the way comments and likes are handled through Jetpack and on your website.
There are other options within WordPress as well that we will look at in a later series.
Remember you can come back make changes anytime you want.
Finally, let’s take a look at the Traffic tab.
Related Content settings refer to how posts in the same category appear on a post page.
These options help Search engines map your site and make it easy for others to find and share your content.
The instructions for site verification will walk you through the steps to verify your site with Google, Bing, Pinterest and Yandex.
It is up to you to decide whether to verify and with which of these search engine services.
I will be frank with you, this is not the easiest task to complete.
Once again, I would recommend that you use any online resources for tutorial help.
You can also reach out to your support teams.
I will do my best to revisit Site Verification in the future, but just keep in mind that everything I have learned to date, has been through research and my support teams.
They are there to help you with your site but in the long run, we are the ones responsible for our business and our website.
We are so close to being done for today.
All we need to do now is take a quick look at the Akismet plugin.
Akismet Plugin
Navigate to your Installed plugins in the navigation pane.
If necessary, click to activate under the Akismet plugin and then click Settings.
If it is already active, click on Settings instead.
Remember that Jetpack automatically created an Akismet account for us, so all we need to do is connect with Jetpack.
I blocked out my API key for security reasons, but you should see your own key in the field.
Adjust the final settings and make sure to save your changes before exiting this screen.
Congratulations on all your hard work today.
I want to thank you for taking part in the Starting your Own Jewelry Business series.
I am proud to announce several new Business series coming soon.
Keep your branding and business plans handy.
WordPress 101
Setting up your Online Shop
Starting your Own Blog
Creating Passive Income Streams
We are ready to create our unique content and personalize your website to fit your brand and goals