How to Set Personal Preferences on WordPress.com

By Lisa Sabin-Wilson from WordPress For Dummies, 5th Edition

WordPress gives you the capability to set a few different preferences based on your individual tastes for publishing, proofreading, and passwords. On the WordPress Dashboard, click the Personal Settings link in the Users menu to load the Personal Settings page. Here, you have several different options available to you.

Personal Options section of the Dashboard

This section gives you the opportunity to configure some basic settings for how you would like to manage your WordPress.com site, including the display color of the Dashboard, use of keyboard shortcuts, text messaging, and more.

Fun: Select this box to tell WordPress to set up all of the options for you. This is called Fun Mode because WordPress sets random configurations for the Personal Settings, so you may be surprised with what you get.
Instant Feedback: Select this box to have WordPress display instant feedback details on your posts after you publish them. Information displayed includes things like social media sharing and tips for improving your posts.
Admin Color Scheme: This option changes the colors on your WordPress Dashboard, which uses the Gray color scheme by default. The other option is Blue — the choice is yours!
Keyboard Shortcuts: These shortcuts are designed to save you time navigating through the different areas of the Dashboard. Click the More Information link to read about how you can use keyboard shortcuts on your WordPress Dashboard.
Text Messaging: Interact with your blog from your mobile phone by signing up for it here. Click the Text Messaging Settings link in this section and enter your mobile phone number. WordPress sends you an activation code, and after it’s activated, you can do things such as log in, moderate comments, create new posts, and more — all from your mobile phone.

(Text messaging in WordPress is currently available only in the United States.)
Twitter API: Enable this option to connect to WordPress using the Twitter program of your choice. This option also allows you to follow other blogs via Twitter and to post status updates to the WordPress blog of your choice from Twitter.
Browser Connection: You can select whether to use the HTTPS connection when visiting your WordPress Dashboard. HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Sockets Layer) refers to a secure browser connection called SSL-encrypt, which protects your Internet connection and keeps out potential hackers.
Interface Language: The Interface Language option refers to the language that you want to set for the Dashboard only. Don’t confuse this setting with the Language option on the General Settings page, which determines the language you publish your blog in.

If you want to view the settings on your WordPress Dashboard in Italian but want your published blog to appear in English, set the Interface Language option on the Personal Settings page to Italian and the Language option on the General Settings page to English. Capiche?
Primary Blog: This option is the URL of your primary WordPress blog. Because WordPress allows you to have several blogs under one account, if you have more than one blog, a drop-down menu appears here, and you can use it to choose the blog you want to set as your primary blog.
Proofreading: WordPress allows you to proofread your blog posts and page content. This section gives you several different options to choose from, such as
- Biased language
- Clichés
- Duplicate words
- Double negatives
- Jargon
- Redundant phrases
Click the link that says Learn more (about these options) to read about how the proofreader can help you publish better content on your blog. You can also select the box next to the words Use Automatically Detected Language to Proofread Posts and Pages to be sure that WordPress auto-detects your language preferences when proofreading.
Additional Post Content: Select the box next to the words Help Me Find Related Content (Images, Links, Related Articles, and Tags) to Use in My Posts, and WordPress will include relevant, related content for you to refer to when writing and publishing new posts.

Account Details section of the WordPress Dashboard

In this section, you manage WordPress.com account items such as your username, password, e-mail, and website URL.

Username: Your WordPress username is displayed here. Click the Change link to change your username.
E-mail: Your e-mail address is displayed here. You can leave it as is or change it whenever you want.
Website: The URL address for your WordPress blog is displayed here; you can change it if you want. This is the link that’s attached to your name throughout your blog, such as when you leave comments.
New Password: When you want to change the password for your blog, type your new password in the first text box. To confirm your new password choice, type it again in the second text field.

Directly below the two New Password text boxes is a password helper. WordPress assists you in creating a secure password by giving you a tip about the password you have chosen. WordPress alerts you if the password is too short or not secure enough (by telling you that it’s Bad).

When you create a new password, use a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols to make it hard for anyone to guess what it is (for example, Aty89!#4j). When you create a password that WordPress thinks is a good one, it says the password is Strong.

Change your password frequently. Some people on the Internet make it their business to hijack blogs for their own malicious purposes. If you change your password monthly, you lower your risk by keeping the hackers guessing.

When you finish setting all the options on the Personal Settings page, don’t forget to click the Save Changes button to save your changes.