So you’ve just installed WordPress and you’re ready to build– congrats! Building a site with WordPress revolves around the admin dashboard. There’s quite a bit going on in the dashboard, so it can seem a little overwhelming at first. However, with just a little time and effort you can learn your way around the dashboard and start building your site with all the powerful tools and cool features that WordPress offers.
In this beginner’s guide we’ll walk you through the different areas of the WordPress dashboard and help you get started so you can build your website.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Let’s explore the WordPress dashboard
Logging In and Accessing the Dashboard
After you’ve installed WordPress you can access the dashboard by putting “/wp-admin” at the end of your website’s URL (for example, “yourwebsite.com/wp-admin”). This will take you to the login page. Once you’re logged in you’ll be redirected to the admin dashboard, where all the magic happens.
The WordPress Dashboard Layout
The Dashboard Home
The WordPress admin dashboard home page will give you some details about your site. The boxes (called “widgets”) that show up on this page will depend on what plugins and themes you have installed. To change the content that displays on your dashboard home page, click the “Screen Options” tab in the top right of the screen. This will open a menu and you can toggle content to show be hidden.
The WordPress Toolbar
At the very top of the page is the WordPress toolbar. The toolbar has links to things you’ll want easy-access to. Clicking your website’s name in the toolbar will toggle between your admin dashboard and site’s homepage. You can hover over “New” in the toolbar to quickly create a new post or page.
The Dashboard Menu
Over on the left side of the dashboard screen is the main menu. This is where you can get to all the different sections to build your website, like Posts, Pages, Media, Appearance, Plugins, and Settings, and more. If you hover over the menu links they open up to give you even more options. We’ll take a closer link at these sections next.
The WordPress Dashboard layout
Change the home screen widgets
The WordPress Dashboard Sections
From the dashboard menu we’re given lots of options to edit the different sections of your website. Here’s what you’ll find in the menu:
Dashboard
The Dashboard submenu can go to the dashboard homepage or to the updates section.
Posts
From the Posts section you can add new blog posts or edit your existing ones. Posts are articles, and you can organize them into different categories.
Pages
With the Pages section you can add new pages or edit existing ones. Pages are static content that give your site structure, like the ‘Home’ page and ‘Contact’ page.
Media
In the Media section you can upload and manage your website’s images, videos, and other files.
Comments
Manage the comments users have made on your posts and pages. You can mark comments as spam, delete them, or accept them so they display on your website.
The dashboard menu
Appearance
The Appearance section is where you choose the design settings for your website. If you hover over Appearance in the menu you get several important options–
- Themes: This is where you can change your site’s theme, which is what gives your site it’s main design and structure. You can upload or search themes, or delete old ones that you’re not using.
- Customize: This will open the WordPress Customizer, which is a visual builder where you’ll select different design settings. For most themes, the Customizer is where you can choose your fonts, colors, basic layout, pick the page to set as your homepage, and lots of other fun options.
- Widgets: The Widgets page is where you can choose what content displays in your sidebar and footer. Some themes have additional widget areas as well.
- Menus: The Menus section is where you’ll create all your menus and add links to them.
- Theme File Editor: Some themes will have this option disabled. It’s where you can edit the code of your theme, but it’s an advanced option and if you’re not sure about it, definitely leave it alone. Changing the code of your theme can easily break your website.
Plugins
In the Plugins section you can add all kinds of new functionality to your website by installing plugins. Plugins are add-ons that offer different features, like contact forms, search engine optimization (SEO), additional security, and much more.
Users
This section is where you can add or edit the users on your site. If you let users subscribe to your site they will show up here, or if you have team members who will help you build or edit the site you can create user accounts for them. Be careful to only give admin access to your sites to users you trust!
Tools
In the Tools section you can import or export your site content or check your site’s health. Additional options may show up here depending on what themes and plugins you have installed on your site.
Settings
The Settings section is where you choose most of the general options for your website. If you hover over Settings you’ll have many options–
- General: In the general settings can change your site name and tagline, the URL settings, language, timezone, etc.
- Writing: Set your default post category or set up the ability to post blogs through your email account.
- Reading: Change what your homepage displays, hide your blog from search engines, and choose the number of posts in your blog feed.
- Discussion: The settings for allowing comments on your posts and pages.
- Media: Settings for how your images are uploaded.
- Permalinks: The URL structure for your website. Tip– We recommend changing this setting to “Post name”.
Privacy
Set a privacy page or create one using a WordPress template.
Note: Those are all of the default dashboard menu items, but depending on the themes and plugins you have installed on your site, you may have a few more options.
Tips to Make the Most of the Dashboard
Now that you know your way around, here are a few things to keep in mind if you want to make the most of the dashboard.
Explore and Experiment: The best way to learn your way around the dashboard is to spend time exploring it. Don’t be afraid to click around and check out different settings and options. The more you experiment, the better you’ll understand how things work.
Use the Help Feature: There’s a “Help” tab in the top right of all the dashboard pages, and by clicking it you can get specific help about the page that you’re on.
Stay Updated: WordPress releases updates very regularly. These updates include security patches, bug fixes, and new features. It’s crucial to keep your WordPress installation, themes, and plugins up to date.
Join the WordPress Community: WordPress has an awesome community of users and developers. Participating in forums, attending WordPress meetups, and joining online communities can help you learn from others, get support, and stay up to date. The “WordPress Events & News” widget on the dashboard home page can help you find these WordPress communities.
Use the dashboard help menu or find local communities
Hopefully you’re feeling better about the WordPress dashboard and all the tools and features that it offers.
Remember to take your time and enjoy the process– and as you spend more time exploring, building, and managing your website, you’ll become much more comfortable with all that the dashboard can do.
So, what’s next?
