Overview of the WordPress Dashboard
The WordPress Dashboard is the first page you see when you log into the admin area of your WordPress site. It provides you with a comprehensive overview of your website’s activity, settings, and management tools, all in one place.
1. The WordPress Dashboard Homepage
When you log in, you’ll land on the Dashboard screen, which gives you an overview of your site’s activity. It includes the following key areas:
• At a Glance: A quick snapshot of your site’s content, including the number of posts, pages, and comments.
• Activity: Displays recent activities on your site, like recent posts and comments. It may also include pending comments for moderation.
• Quick Draft: A place where you can quickly write a draft of a post, which can be saved without publishing it.
• WordPress News: A feed of the latest news, updates, and announcements from the WordPress community.
2. Sidebar Menu (Admin Menu)
The sidebar menu on the left-hand side is where you’ll find most of the key management areas for your website. These options may vary depending on the themes and plugins you have installed, but here are the primary menu items:
Posts
• All Posts: Displays a list of all your blog posts. From here, you can edit, delete, or add new posts.
• Add New: Allows you to create a new blog post.
• Categories: Organize your posts into categories.
• Tags: Add tags to your posts to make them easier to find and relate to other content.
Media
• Library: A gallery of all media files (images, videos, audio, PDFs, etc.) that you’ve uploaded to your site.
• Add New: Upload new media files to your WordPress site
Pages
• All Pages: Displays a list of all the pages on your site (like About, Contact, etc.).
• Add New: Allows you to create a new page for your site.
Comments
• All Comments: Manages comments left by visitors on your posts and pages. Here, you can approve, reply, delete, or mark comments as spam.
Appearance
• Themes: Choose and install new themes to change the look of your site. You can also customize your current theme.
• Customize: This takes you to the WordPress Customizer where you can tweak settings like site identity, colors, fonts, and more.
• Widgets: Manage widgets that can be added to your site’s sidebars or other areas.
• Menus: Create and manage navigation menus.
• Theme Editor: Allows you to edit the theme’s files directly (this is for advanced users).
Appearance
• Themes: Choose and install new themes to change the look of your site. You can also customize your current theme.
• Customize: This takes you to the WordPress Customizer where you can tweak settings like site identity, colors, fonts, and more.
• Widgets: Manage widgets that can be added to your site’s sidebars or other areas.
• Menus: Create and manage navigation menus.
• Theme Editor: Allows you to edit the theme’s files directly (this is for advanced users).
Plugins
• Installed Plugins: Manage and activate/deactivate plugins that add functionality to your site.
• Add New: Install new plugins from the WordPress plugin repository or upload your own.
• Plugin Editor: Advanced option to edit plugin code (for developers).
Users
• All Users: View and manage all users who have access to the admin area of your site.
• Add New: Add new users with specific roles (e.g., Admin, Editor, Author).
• Your Profile: Manage your user profile, password, and display settings.
Tools
• Available Tools: Tools that allow you to import content from other platforms (e.g., Blogger, Tumblr) or export your WordPress content.
• Import: Allows you to import content from other platforms into WordPress.
• Export: Download your WordPress content as an XML file, which can be used to transfer your data to another site.
Settings
• General: Set the basic settings for your site, such as site title, tagline, timezone, and language.
• Writing: Configure settings for writing posts, including default categories and formatting options.
• Reading: Control how your posts and pages appear on the front end of your website, such as your homepage display and post settings.
• Discussion: Manage settings related to comments, such as moderation and notifications.
• Media: Define default sizes for images uploaded to your site.
• Permalinks: Set the structure of your URLs (e.g., whether you want post names included in the URL).
3. The Toolbar (Admin Bar)
At the top of the screen, the Admin Bar (the horizontal bar) provides quick access to various WordPress features:
• Site Title: Clicking on your site name lets you quickly view your website’s homepage.
• Edit Page/Post: If you are viewing a page or post on the front-end of your site, you can click “Edit” to open that page or post in the editor.
• New Post/Page: A shortcut to create new content.
• User Profile: Access your personal user profile and settings.
• Comments: Quick link to view and moderate comments on your site.
• Updates: Notifies you about updates to WordPress core, themes, and plugins.
• Notifications: Alerts for comments, user activity, etc.
4. Screen Options (Top Right)
The Screen Options tab, located at the top-right of the dashboard, allows you to customize the view of your WordPress admin area. You can toggle the visibility of different panels and sections in the Dashboard or the admin pages.
5. Help (Top Right)
The Help tab, next to Screen Options, provides access to WordPress support documentation and guidance for the current page you’re viewing.
