WordPress Dashboard Walkthrough

A WordPress Dashboard is the control panel for managing your WordPress website, offering access to various features and settings that allow you to customize and update your site. This lesson will provide a walkthrough of the WordPress Dashboard, highlighting key areas and functionalities to help you effectively manage your website.

Introduction to the WordPress Dashboard

Upon logging into your WordPress site (usually via yourdomain.com/wp-admin), you’ll be greeted by the Dashboard. It’s designed to give you a quick overview of your site’s content and features, as well as access to any customization and site management tools you’ll need.

Dashboard Home

• Updates: Here, WordPress notifies you of available updates for themes, plugins, and the WordPress core itself. Keeping your site updated is crucial for security and functionality.
• At a Glance: This section provides a summary of your content, including the number of posts, pages, and comments. It also displays your current WordPress version and theme.
• Activity: Shows recent activity on your site, such as published posts and recent comments. It’s a quick way to monitor engagement.

Posts

• All Posts: View and manage your posts. You can add new posts, edit existing ones, or delete them. Posts are the primary content type for blog articles.
• Add New: Takes you directly to the post editor to create a new post.
• Categories: Manage the categories that help organize your posts and make them easily navigable for your readers.
• Tags: Similar to categories, but tags are more specific and can be used to describe your post in more detail.

Media

• Library: Stores all the media files you’ve uploaded, such as images, videos, and documents. You can add, edit, or delete files from here.
• Add New: Allows you to upload new media files either by dragging and dropping or by selecting files from your computer.

Pages

• All Pages: Displays all your pages. Unlike posts, pages are meant for static content such as ‘About Us’, ‘Contact’, or ‘Home’.
• Add New: Create a new page for your site.

Comments

• Comments: Here you can moderate comments made on your posts and pages. You have the option to approve, reply to, edit, mark as spam, or delete comments.

Appearance

• Themes: Change the look of your site by installing a new theme or customizing the current one.
• Customize: Access the WordPress Customizer where you can modify various aspects of your site’s appearance, including layout, colors, fonts, and widget placements.
• Widgets: Add, remove, and configure widgets in your theme’s designated widget areas.
• Menus: Create and modify menus for your site, including your primary navigation menu.

Plugins

• Installed Plugins: View all the plugins currently installed on your site. Plugins extend the functionality of your WordPress site.
• Add New: Search for, install, and activate new plugins from the WordPress Plugin Directory or upload a plugin you’ve downloaded.

Users

• All Users: Manage the users who have access to your WordPress site, including roles and permissions.
• Add New: Create a new user account, useful for adding authors, editors, or administrators.

Settings

• General: Set your site title, tagline, URL, email address, and more.
• Writing: Configure settings related to the creation of your posts, such as the default post category and post format.
• Reading: Set what your visitors see when they visit your site, like your homepage display and the number of posts to show.
• Discussion: Adjust settings related to comments and comment moderation.
• Permalinks: Configure the URL structure for your links, a crucial setting for SEO.

The WordPress Dashboard is a powerful tool for managing your website. Familiarizing yourself with its features and settings is essential for effective site management. As you become more comfortable with the Dashboard, you’ll find it easier to enhance and customize your site, making it more appealing to your visitors.