20 Things Wordpress Doesn’t Do Out of the Box

My list of 20 things Wordpress doesn’t do by default is a great checklist of items you should consider adding to your blog or Wordpress site to make it more effective and easier to use!

I write so many different articles, posts, and series that I often forget when and how I might have written a particular tip. If I’m the author and I forget, I believe that you - the readers, don’t always get to read every single article I write - or even get the point the first time around. I’ve heard many times that you have to read or see something 2-3 times before you can recognize and act on it, so I make no apologies for being a little bit redundant in this post - because I’m teaching you how to make the most of your Wordpress powered site. Even if you’ve read all my Wordpress articles to date I suggest that you read this post in it’s entirety if you own a Wordpress blog or web site.

Let me start out by saying that “I Love Wordpress”. I’ve tried all kinds of other blogging platforms and Content Management Systems (CMS), from Mambo, to Drupal, Xoops, Geeklog, PostNuke, and back. By far Wordpress is the easiest I’ve seen to install and setup, and the core features out of the box are (in my opinion) outstanding. Even so - Wordpress can’t be everything to everyone. Wordpress can’t anticipate every need of every user and then pack all those features in the default install assuming everyone will need to use them all the time. Instead it provides basic core features they believe everyone WILL use.

For new Wordpress users and newbie bloggers - this kind of leaves you to find out on your own not only what kinds of things are available as plugins and hacks, but also what benefit you will get from them and which ones to consider first.

Wordpress has no Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are navigation pointers that tell you users where they came from and how to get back. They’ve been around since the first days of the web, and most users expect to see some kind of navigation at the top or bottom (or both) of every page. If I click on a post on your homepage, a link back to “home” would be helpful. Also think about the fact that your users can visit your blog starting on ANY page or post, because they can come in from a page found in search, or a bookmark, or email from a friend, and much like a freeway - there are “entrances” all over the place. Make sure visitors have many, many differrent ways to find their way aroundyour blog and they will stay longer, read more, and come back more often. I recommend that you read my Wordpress Hack #5: 10 Ways to Improve Navigation, specifically page 2: Adding Breadcrumbs. The page for the Breadcrumb NavXT Wordpress Plugin is working fine now.

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This post has multiple pages...

1. Page 1: Wordpress Has No Breadcrumbs
2. Page 2 - Wordpress has no Contact Form
3. Page 3 - Most Wordpress Themes have no Archive Index
4. Page 4 - Wordpress Has No Built In Stats
5. Page 5 - Wordpress Has No Sitemap
6. Page 6 - Wordpress Has no Database Tools
7. Page 7 - Wordpress Has No Voting or Polls Tools
8. Page 8 - Wordpress has no "Related Posts" Mechanism
9. Page 9 - You Can't Reply to Comments Without Visiting Post Page
10. Page 10 - Wordpress Comments are "nofollowed" by default
11. Page 11 - Wordpress Has No Way to Append or Add Content to Your RSS Feed
12. Page 12 - Wordpress Has No Way to Enforce URL Preference
13. Page 13 - Wordpress Has No Mechanism for Adding Code to Posts
14. Page 14 - Wordpress Has No Way to Control Meta Tags or Titles for SEO
15. Page 15 - Wordpress Doesn't Log or Notify 404 Not Found Errors
16. Page 16 - Wordpress Doesn't Log What People Search For
17. Page 17 - Wordpress Has No Built-In Translation Capabilities
18. Page 18 - Wordpress Has no Built In Advertising Mechanism
19. Page 19 - Wordpress Has No Monetization Abilities Built-In
20. Page 20 - Wordpress Has No Cache
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Tags: blog-help, guide