The Potential Pitfall

When I signed up with my web host, I picked out a password during the sign-up process and then they emailed me an assigned user name. I logged in. So far, so good.

But then, when I installed WordPress, the software which would manage my website, I needed to pick ANOTHER user name and password for my WordPress “administrator account.”

And then, when I activated or loaded some plug-in or other to work with my WordPress, I discovered I needed to sign up for an account at WordPress.com, the place where all the free WordPress blogs live, and which apparently handles and doles out plug-ins for everyone, whether free or hosted elsewhere. I didn’t need to set up a blog — just get an account. But that meant ANOTHER user name and password.

Frankly, I got pretty confused and discombobbled.

The Simple Solution

But I eventually figured it out. And realized it made sense. I only have one website — but if I had several different websites, then it would be best for each one to have its own security. Plus, my web host has a lot of other tools besides WordPress, and it needs its own security, too.

Maybe you handle multiple user names and passwords without breaking a sweat. But if you think you might get confused, and want to avoid this potential pitfall, keep track and remember:

To deal with your web host

Log in with —

• your webhost username
• your webhost password
• and you manage it from  cPanel (or some other control panel, but I think cPanel is standard)

To manage your own website, run by WordPress software

Log into your administrator account with —

• your administrator account username
• your administrator account password
• and you manage it from the Dashboard

One downside of WordPress is that — because  it is so widely used — there are lots of bad guys out there targeting every unsuspecting WordPress site they can find. One method is to guess the administrator account username and password, and simply take over.

Therefore, be sure to pick some non-obvious username for your administrator account (NOT “admin” or your own name) and a very strong password. I’ll mention further security concerns as they crop up.

To get plug-ins and other WordPress goodies

Set up a free WordPress.com account with —

• your WordPress.com username
• your WordPress.com password

And of course, all these accounts, regardless of their user names and passwords, need your usual email address to reach you!