I recently helped a web designer move a WordPress site from a staging server to a production host, and it struck me how many credentials were needed. What is a credential? A digital credential usually consists of a username and password, but sometimes can also include a hostname or port number, depending on the type of asset you are trying to access.
Most passwords can be retrieved from your host or easily reset if you have control of the email address associated with the account. But when disaster strikes, and you are scrambling to solve a problem, it is far better to have all your passwords handy. I am a huge proponent of password vaults (I use LastPass), but any secure method that works for you is better than using the same password everywhere!
If your site was designed or is managed by someone, I strongly recommend getting ALL of these credentials from her/him. Keep in mind that whoever controls the email address associated with the account, controls that account.
I’ve made it easy for both site owners and web designers to get the credentials they need: just send your contractor (or client) our WordPress Credentials Checklist. Click below, and I will send it to you.
WordPress Credentials
Here’s the big list of every password you should have on file for your WordPress site.
- WordPress Administrator email address, username, password, and login URL (this frequently, but not always, looks something like this: https://www.example.com/wp-admin/)
- FTP or SFTP username, password, hostname, and (for SFTP) port number.
- Hosting panel, such as cPanel (most hosts have some sort of hosting manager) username, password, URL
- MySQL database credentials (these are stored in the wp-config.php file and can be retrieved via FTP if you have a working site): database hostname (maybe “localhost”), database name, database username, database password
- Registrar where you purchased your domain name: email address, username, password, URL
- Optional Third Party DNS manager (this maybe your host or your registrar, but not always): email address, username, password, URL
- Optional Third Party CDN (such as MaxCDN or CloudFront): email address, username, password, URL
It takes more than admin password to control #WordPress website. Do you know all your credentials?Click To Tweet
Thanks for the recommendation. LastPass is cool. KeepassX is awesome too. Better yet, it’s working cross-platform on both Windows, Mac and Linux.
I recently thought of Lastpass and have been meaning to try it. It sound like exactly what I need. Till now I have been keeping a notebook with passwords but that’s not always at my fingertips when I need it.
I have honestly never heard of LastPass but I totally could benefit from this! I have so many passwords for so many different things, it’s hard to keep up!
I totally can benefit from Lastpass! I’m constantly forgetting usernames and passwords.
Very informative! There’s way too many passwords that I have and it gets hard to remember them all. I save most of them in my phone.
I have moved my site more times than I care to remember and so I know what you are talking about. I have heard some good things about LastPass and it is something I need to sign up for. It is very affordable too.
This is very helpful! I felt like we constantly had issues with WordPress.
I have a notebook cheat sheet to help me remember them all. I don’t need them every day, so they’re easy to forget!