A permalink is the web address of one of your posts or pages, and the structure you choose decides how every one of those addresses is built. Pick one that reads well now and still reads well a year from now.

## Before you start

- An administrator account on your WordPress site — permalinks are part of your site's settings.
- A rough idea of how you want your addresses to read. You can change your mind and come back to this screen at any time.

## Steps

### Step 1: Open Permalinks and pick a structure

In the dashboard, hover over **Settings** in the left-hand menu, then click **Permalinks**. Under **Common Settings**, choose the structure you want — **Post name** builds each address from the words in your title, like `/sample-post/`.

![Open Permalinks and pick a structure](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA4MzMsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--853867013af423bb06cebd7c32bbb1f93c990482/step_0.png)

### Step 2: Or build your own structure

Select **Custom Structure** to make your own shape. Click any of the buttons under **Available tags:** to add that piece to your address, or type into the box yourself — putting `%category%` in front of `%postname%` gives you addresses like `/travel/sample-post/`.

![Or build your own structure](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA4MzIsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--222d98e4f3d901a3d7bb6142695f045e8a47a01f/block_build-a-custom-structure.png)

### Step 3: Name your category and tag pages, then save

Under **Optional**, fill in the **Category base** and **Tag base** boxes to use different words in those addresses — `topics` turns `/category/travel/` into `/topics/travel/`. Leave them blank to keep the defaults, then click **Save Changes** at the bottom of the screen.

![Name your category and tag pages, then save](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA4MzUsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--0ca4c1dabd2904b3da94c057a1fb7ed06beda667/step_2.png)

## Tips

- Try to settle on a structure early. Addresses that have already been shared stop working if you change the structure later.
- Including `%postname%` makes your links easy to read at a glance, which also helps search engines understand what a page is about.
- If you assign several categories to a post, only one of them can appear in the address.

## Summary

Choose your structure under **Common Settings**, save it, and every post you publish from then on gets a tidy, readable address.