Starting a new selfhosted Wordpress site? READ THIS

[John Hixson]

I am sure it is old news but I am also sure there are many that weren't aware of this. If you are setting up a new self hosted wordpress site you will NOT be indexed by Google and other search engines unless you change your settings.

The default settings have changed to stop you being indexed and to make all your links nofollow.

To solve this go to your admin section, click on the settings drop down on teh left hand side, click privacy and then click the radio button to allow search engine indexing.

I had NO IDEA about this till now and hope that this can ensure that some others learn about the changes needed. It's not my advice Cash Cow gave me the tip on this thread where I was trying to work out why my links were nofollow - so give her any thanks if you find that you gain something from this tip

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by Andrew Wilkes

That's weird. Any idea why they would do that? Maybe it's to do with people taking time to configure their new blog with plugins, etc. ?

Could be to let everybody get set before pinging the search engines - but I bet a lot of people never even think to change it because they dont know.

The only reason I did is my new site I had set up for about a week was flagged when I remembered to turn on my SEObook nofollow highlighter (had forgotten I had turned it off whilst doing some design of something else so the colours didn't get in my way).

Seems to me a LOT of people coulld get caught out by this, especially if they dont have any sort of nofollow highlighting tool

[Greg Jacobs]

What version?

[SKWeaver]

Thanks for the info John! I had no clue about this. I'm just now setting up my first self-hosted WordPress blog and really appreciate this tip. (Not sure why it's taken me so long to take the plunge.) It doesn't really make sense why they'd want to make that the default setting.

[cashcow]

What version?

I'm not sure exactly what version(s) but for sure it is in 2.8.2 - it's been happening to me for a couple of weeks but I'm not sure when my hosting started uing 2.8.2 and I don't know if 2.8.1 or earlier have it. Not sure about 2.8.3 either - hostgator hasn't upgraded to that yet.

[LIndaB]

Wow, what an incredibly stupid thing to make a default - particularly without making it very obvious to users. (Like a great big huge headline on the Dashboard). I would imagine that an awful lot of people are getting frustrated right now wondering why Google isn't indexing their blog and not having a clue. Since I can't imagine that most people wouldn't want their blog indexed, why they would do that is just inconceivable!

[jasonl70]

I was under the impression that this is a default setting that's often altered by the hosting companies - that a direct download of WP is not set like this. I'm not really sure why they would do this though. I've been caught off guard more then once by this

[thunderbird]

Originally Posted by Wall Major

Could be to let everybody get set before pinging the search engines -
<snip>

I prefer the initial setting for that reason. It's simple enough to click the box to allow search engine notification. If you want dofollow there's the dofollow plugin.
WordPress › Dofollow WordPress Plugins

For WP search engine optimization, Google XML Sitemaps is good.

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by Greg Jacobs

What version?

Installed at 2.8.3 but problem was there and when upgraded to 2.8.4

Originally Posted by jasonl70

I was under the impression that this is a default setting that's often altered by the hosting companies - that a direct download of WP is not set like this. I'm not really sure why they would do this though. I've been caught off guard more then once by this

ah, could be, I'm not sure. I installed via Hostgator Fantastico. When I say took away hosting etc I meant removed everything, then reinstalled Cpanel with fantastico, then reinstalled wordpress via that.

I spoke to others who had the same thing but tbh I have no way of knowing if they were using hostgator or not, didnt think to ask - though I did speak to hostgator help about it who didnt know how to fix it and swore blind they did nothing to alter default settings, that they installed as wordpress gave it to them

[john_kennedy]

I could be wrong, but I don't think hosting companies have any control over the installation of the software contained in Fantastico other than to decide if they will allow it or not. All the files come from Fantastico and are not stored on the hosting companies servers.

[thunderbird]

I install Wordpress manually. How secure are Fantastico installs? Does it give you the option to change the database prefix or put in unique phrases in AUTH_KEY etc?

[kottke]

Wow, I had no idea about this setting! Thanks for the tip!

[john_kennedy]

Fantastico installs are plain vanilla installations. You don't get to do anything other than choose where you want it and what the general settings will be.

John

[thunderbird]

Then, manual installations probably better allow for adding extra security to a wordpress site than Fantastico.

[SMP]

Thanks for the heads up John. I wasn't aware of this either.

I shouldn't worry about creating a thread containing info that you think may be old news. The most recent threads get seen first and it's always handy to be reminded of the way you should be doing things.

Regards,

Steve.

[misterwrecker]

Thanks for advising people if this is an issue, but I have noticed that the index feature has been marked as default. To make this clearer you would have to manually check the field that says you do not want your site indexed in the search engines.

-John

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by misterwrecker

Thanks for advising people if this is an issue, but I have noticed that the index feature has been marked as default. To make this clearer you would have to manually check the field that says you do not want your site indexed in the search engines.

-John

When did you install your wordpress?

What I mean is that it is the default setting now not to index it which is the problem. New installs have this, my old installs that have been upgraded are still defaulted to being indexed

So if you are installing now (at least via fantastico) this is something you need to be aware of and need to address, if you installed previously then you can ignore it (unless it was in the last couple of weeks)

that any clearer?

[Pnigro]

This doesn't make any sense.

Why would Wordpress do that?

I highly doubt this is true.

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by Pnigro

This doesn't make any sense.

Why would Wordpress do that?

I highly doubt this is true.

try it then

actually using a domain I bought from my brother awhile back I just installed a new version of wordpress for you

http://caddesignjobs.co.uk

if you have any way of checking backlinks nofollow/dofollow I would use it (I use SEObook toolbar, very useful, highlights nofollow in red) and it shows they are no follow. checking the radio buttons in privacy shows the settings are the same - do not index.

Unless you think I made this up and then edited a site just to prove some sort of point?

[Dan Grossman]

This is the first install screen on a fresh copy of WordPress (2.8.4). It is the only option on the page. It is obvious, in your face, and not new.

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by Dan Grossman

This is the first install screen on a fresh copy of WordPress (2.8.4). It is the only option on the page. It is obvious, in your face, and not new.

and doesnt appear in fantastico - which a huge number of people use

ah sod it, do what you like, just trying to make people aware of a problem

[SteveJohnson]

For everybody's info, I opened a ticket on this on the WordPress trac. The standard behavior of the box being checked was altered (by mistake, I think) in a revision about 6 mos ago. The checkbox has been checked by default ever since it was introduced on the install page over 3 years ago.

For those of you bad-mouthing, i.e.

Wow, what an incredibly stupid thing to make a default - particularly without making it very obvious to users.

it might be prudent to withhold judgement until you know exactly what went on. It was never meant to be default behavior - just the opposite, actually.

If you notice a bug in WordPress, it's not very difficult to open a ticket at WordPress Trac.

[SteveJohnson]

@Dan,

Fantastico does away with the signup screen. Seems like someone always has a better way...

Anyway - you see in your screenshot that the box is unchecked. Standard WP behavior has been for the box to be checked by default. Some changes were made to install.php about 6 mos ago (Changeset 10574 for trunk/wp-admin/install.php ? WordPress Trac) changed it, I think by accident because the fix was for something else.

[SteveJohnson]

Originally Posted by Wall Major

and doesnt appear in fantastico - which a huge number of people use

ah sod it, do what you like, just trying to make people aware of a problem

Hey, no worries - you're right. WP should NOT be acting like that, and hasn't in the past.

[Dan Grossman]

Thanks for opening a ticket then, it's good to see someone get involved with the open source community when they want something changed, instead of just talk about it as happens too often!

[misterwrecker]

Originally Posted by Wall Major

When did you install your wordpress?

What I mean is that it is the default setting now not to index it which is the problem. New installs have this, my old installs that have been upgraded are still defaulted to being indexed

So if you are installing now (at least via fantastico) this is something you need to be aware of and need to address, if you installed previously then you can ignore it (unless it was in the last couple of weeks)

that any clearer?

The last WP blog I installed was a few hours ago but I did not do it via Fantastico. That might be why I did not experience that issue. Thanks for clarifying the extra details.



-John

[Marcus Paul]

WP sets your blog to private as default to respect your right to privacy. If it was setup the other way imagine how upset people would be if Google indexed their private blog.

And, yes, there are still lots of people who think that what they put on the Internet won't be found by others.

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by SteveJohnson

Hey, no worries - you're right. WP should NOT be acting like that, and hasn't in the past.

Sorry, was tired, in pain (illness) and fed up of being questioned by people who hadn't tried it via the method I laid out - shouldn't have snapped though. Thanks for your clear and reasonable answers

Originally Posted by Dan Grossman

Thanks for opening a ticket then, it's good to see someone get involved with the open source community when they want something changed, instead of just talk about it as happens too often!

TBH I had no idea how to do so or that you could. The only thing I did was nip onto their forum with the same question I asked here and after a few hours had no response (hence asking here).

If I had known (and do now) about the ticket system I would have done, for some reason I thought open source meant little to no support (I am far from a wordpress expert)

My intention was to far from just 'talk' in some inane manner, to do so I wouldn't have bothered with this thread, the intention was to warn people who may not have noticed (I only did because of my SEOBook plugin and only then after a week when I remembered to turn the nofollow highlighter back on).

Originally Posted by misterwrecker

The last WP blog I installed was a few hours ago but I did not do it via Fantastico. That might be why I did not experience that issue. Thanks for clarifying the extra details.

Again, sorry for snapping. Was very late and I am not a fan of being questioned by a guess or being condescended to (after you) No excuse for snapping though, sorry.

[navjotjsingh]

This has been fixed today ( core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/11833 )

Will find its way into upcoming WP version.

[John Hixson]

Originally Posted by navjotjsingh

This has been fixed today ( core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/11833 )

Will find its way into upcoming WP version.

excellent news, thanks for that

of course hostgators fantastico is usually a little bit behind updates (was still on 2.8.3 yesterday) so will take some time so people should keep checking for now but great stuff that it is going to get sorted now, thanks

[navjotjsingh]

BTW I would highly advise you to manually install all scripts instead of using Fantascio. It will give you a bit understanding of the script, help you in solving issues later and its easy to remove scripts installed manually than those done by Fantascio.

[Nat Jackson]

thanks for letting us know about this, if you dont do fresh installs yourself, and use fantastico to install wordpress, this could be missed...

[LynnM]

I noticed this yesterday when I was trying to add a new ping list - the box where you add them wasn't showing. Bit of a head-scratcher for a few minutes.

[kentaiwan98]

Just wondering why anyone would install a WP blog without checking the 'settings'? It's always the second thing I do after installing a blog.

Kenneth