---
label: 'Changing basic site settings'
top_level: true
related:
  - user.security_account_settings
---
{% set regional_link_text %}{% trans %}Regional settings{% endtrans %}{% endset %}
{% set regional_link = render_var(help_route_link(regional_link_text, 'system.regional_settings')) %}
{% set information_link_text %}{% trans %}Basic site settings{% endtrans %}{% endset %}
{% set information_link = render_var(help_route_link(information_link_text, 'system.site_information_settings')) %}
{% set datetime_link_text %}{% trans %}Date and time formats{% endtrans %}{% endset %}
{% set datetime_link = render_var(help_route_link(datetime_link_text, 'entity.date_format.collection')) %}
<h2>{% trans %}Goal{% endtrans %}</h2>
<p>{% trans %}Configure the basic settings of your site, including the site name, slogan, main email address, default time zone, default country, and the date formats to use.{% endtrans %}</p>
<h2>{% trans %}Steps{% endtrans %}</h2>
<ol>
  <li>{% trans %}In the <em>Manage</em> administrative menu, navigate to <em>Configuration</em> &gt; <em>System</em> &gt; <em>{{ information_link }}</em>.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Enter the site name, slogan, and main email address for your site. {% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Click <em>Save configuration</em>. You should see a message indicating that the settings were saved.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}In the <em>Manage</em> administrative menu, navigate to <em>Configuration</em> &gt; <em>Region and language</em> &gt; <em>{{ regional_link }}</em>.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Select the default country and default time zone for your site.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Click <em>Save configuration</em>. You should see a message indicating that the settings were saved.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}In the <em>Manage</em> administrative menu, navigate to <em>Configuration</em> &gt; <em>Region and language</em> &gt; <em>{{ datetime_link }}</em>.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Look at the <em>Patterns</em> for the Default long, medium, and short date formats. If any of them does not match the date format you want to use on your site, click <em>Edit</em> in that row to edit the format.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Adjust the <em>Format string</em> until the <em>Displayed</em> format matches what you want. (Date format strings are composed of PHP date format codes.){% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Click <em>Save format</em>. You should see a message indicating that the format was saved.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Repeat the previous three steps for any other date formats that need to be changed.{% endtrans %}</li>
</ol>
<h2>{% trans %}Additional resources{% endtrans %}</h2>
<p>{% trans %}<a href="https://www.php.net/manual/datetime.format.php#refsect1-datetime.format-parameters">PHP date format codes reference</a>{% endtrans %}</p>