6 WordPress Sins You Don’t Know You’re Committing

Everybody poops.

That’s a phrase that levels the playing field, isn’t it? At the end of the day, whether you’re a famous movie star or a no-name well digger, you’ve got something in common: you poop (hopefully).

Wonder where I’m going with this?

Turns out we have something else in common: we have all sinned. I’m not talking about the kind of sin that makes Jesus weep, I’m talking about WordPress sins that can make you look like a total noob (or worse yet, a major boob) in the WordPress community.

Want to look like a WordPress pro? Avoid these mistakes:

Sin #1 – Ignoring the Capital P

It’s WordPress, with a capital P as in “Puh-lease don’t use a lowercase p.” If your social profile says you’re a Word-lowercase-press professional, people will snicker and tweet about you behind your back. It’s a branding thing so, if you claim to love the WordPress brand, make sure to mind your P’s.

Sin #2 – Misunderstanding WordPress.com and WordPress.org

If this confuses you, you’re not alone. Simply put, WordPress.com is a free, hosted version of WordPress (easy-peasy to set up, but with limited features) and WordPress.org is a place to freely download WordPress for your self-hosted website (requires more tech savvy, but the sky’s the limit). Want to know more? WPBeginner recently published a nifty infographic comparing the two.

Sin #3 – Misusing the WordPress logo

This can be an innocent mistake, but it’s a biggie. We all want to have a good reputation in the WordPress community, but misuse of the WordPress logo, whether it’s accidental (noob) or purposeful (boob), can put you on the No No List and make you look smarmy. If you’re using the WordPress logo on your site or in your marketing materials, double-check the official trademark policy to make sure you’re in compliance.

Sin #4 – Using “WordPress” in your Domain Name

Along the lines of the previous sin…

Under no circumstances is it permitted to use WordPress or WordCamp as part of a top-level domain name. – WordPress Foundation

Don’t do it. K?

Sin #5 – You’re Just Another WordPress Site

Are you known as “Just Another Person Who Poops?” I hope not! Nobody wants to be “Just Another” anything.

When you set up a new WordPress installation, change the default site description (located at Settings > General in your WordPress dashboard). This helpful one-liner about your site is good for your readers and good for SEO.

Sin #6 – Being a Name Without a Face

Unless you legitimately look like a big snowman on a gray background, you need to upload a user profile picture. To do this in WordPress, head over to Gravatar and create an account using the same email address from your WordPress user profile. The cool thing about Gravatar? If you leave a comment on another WordPress site, it’ll automagically pull in your profile pic.

Have I left out any other “biggies?” Leave a comment below and discuss.