Lesson 1, Topic 1
In Progress

Writing Settings

Writing Settings: These allow you to set defaults for posts and set an email address where you can publish posts via email. 

  • Default Post Category: This dropdown will list the categories you have created. Choosing a category here will make that the default category new posts are assigned to. This does not change the categories for existing posts. You can always change post categories later, on the Posts page or by editing the post. 
  • Default Post Format: Post formats are an option that are still a part of WordPress, but are often unused. The formats allowed for a variety of post layouts in the past, but the introduction of the Gutenberg block editor allowed bloggers much greater control over the look of their posts, so post formats are no longer commonly used.
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  • Post via email: Although not commonly used, post via email is a useful tool for bloggers to post when internet connections are unreliable. After creating a private email address on the server and configuring post via email, bloggers can publish their posts automatically simply by emailing them to the private email address. The private email address must be kept secret; any mail that comes to that address, even spam, will be published as a new blog post. 
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  • Update Services: When search engines find a new site or new content, they index it before deciding how it will be ranked. When you update the content on your page, update service will notify search engines that your page has new content to be indexed. While search engines will eventually find your new content, an update service makes sure that the search engines index your content quickly. If you are posting often, especially if you have time-sensitive posts about upcoming events for example, using an update service is essential for your SEO. Ping-o-matic is a free update service, recommended by WordPress, and enabled by default. However, you can replace it, remove it, or add more.

After making any changes, be sure to click the Save Changes button at the end of the screen.