Are you looking to learn how to access the WordPress dashboard? You’ve come to the right place. The WordPress dashboard is where you manage your site, acting as the mission control center. Each WordPress installation comes with a standard admin panel and tools. Think of the dashboard as the “back end” of your site, where you handle all configurations and management.
Getting to the dashboard is simpler than it may seem. With its user-friendly components, you’ll quickly become proficient and make the most of WordPress’s features.
This guide will walk you through the WordPress dashboard and its elements, including how to log in, configure your site, publish content, and more.
Ready to get started?
Accessing the WordPress Admin Dashboard
After installing WordPress, the CMS automatically sets up an admin area for your site. You can typically access the WordPress admin dashboard by visiting:
`yourwordpressdomain.com/wp-admin`
During installation, you’ll create an admin username and password. These credentials are used to log in and access the WordPress administration panel.
Upon your first login attempt, you’ll see the WordPress admin login page.
If you are not logged in and try to access the admin dashboard by appending `/wp-admin` to your domain, WordPress will redirect you to the login page.
For security reasons, it’s advisable to change the default login URL. Many bots and hackers target the standard URL, so altering it can help minimize failed login attempts and protect against brute-force attacks. It also reduces the bandwidth consumed by bots.
If you lose access to your WordPress account, you can reset your password from the login screen, provided you have access to the associated email address.
Getting to the WordPress Admin Area
Upon logging into the WordPress admin dashboard, you’ll encounter the default screen featuring widgets for activity, quick drafts, WordPress events, and news. The admin area also includes numerous links and tools. While you might not use all of these daily, it’s important to know where to find each tool.
The initial view you’ll see under the Dashboard section is the Home screen:
Here, you’ll find an overview of the number of pages, posts, and comments on your site, along with notifications regarding site health, comment activity, and WordPress news. The Quick Draft feature allows you to create and save content directly from this page.
For many users, the Home screen is simply a starting point. Most of your time will be spent using the left-side menu, which provides options for publishing content, managing posts and pages, reviewing comments, and handling plugins and themes.
At the top of the screen, you’ll find the main navigation menu. This menu helps you switch between the front end of your site and the WordPress admin area. For instance, hovering over your site’s name will display the “Visit Site” option, which takes you to your site’s homepage. Even when logged in, this menu will remain visible while you browse your site.
Hovering over your site’s name also reveals options to return to the dashboard or access the themes screen. Additionally, the “Edit Site” button opens the WordPress customizer.
Using the WordPress Admin Panel
The WordPress dashboard may seem overwhelming due to its many options, but the left-side menu will be your main tool for navigating the panel. This section will guide you through the various menu options, helping you understand where to start when you need to perform specific actions on your site.
#1. Creating and Managing Posts and Pages in WordPress
Creating and managing pages and posts are essential tasks in WordPress. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started:
a). Creating a New Post
Hover over the “Posts” menu item and select “Add New”.
You’ll be directed to the Add New Post screen, where you can enter a title, write content, upload images, assign categories, and more.
This editor is the Gutenberg block editor, introduced in WordPress 5. It replaces the old editor and allows you to use blocks for various types of content and media.
b). Managing Existing Posts
Click on “All Posts” to view a list of your published posts.
Here, you can see details such as the author, category, tags, comments, and publish date.
Hover over a post to access editing options. The “Quick Edit” feature lets you adjust basic settings without navigating away from the list.
Use the “Bulk Actions” menu to edit or delete multiple posts at once. You can also use search and filter tools to manage large volumes of content.
c). Creating New Pages
– Go to “Pages” and select “Add New” to create a new page.
– This will open the Block Editor, similar to the post-creation process.
#2. Managing WordPress Tags and Categories
a). Adding Categories
– Navigate to “Posts” > “Categories”.
– Here, you can see existing categories and add new ones by specifying a name, description, and parent category if needed.
– Each category also has a “slug”, which is a URL-friendly version of the category name (e.g., “WordPress-tutorials”).
b). Adding Tags
– The process for adding tags is similar to categories.
– Provide a name, slug, and description for each tag.
– Tags are assigned to posts using the editor, just like categories.
Using categories and tags helps visitors navigate your content and find related posts. Ensure your taxonomy evolves as your content library grows.
#3. Uploading and Managing Media Files
✔Uploading Media
– Go to “Media” > “Library”.
– Click “Add New” to upload files. You can drag files into the upload area or use the “Select Files” button to browse your local files.
– You can upload multiple files, but be aware of file size limits set by your web host.
✔Managing Media
– After uploading, access files through the Media Library. Click on a file to view its details.
– You can edit the file’s name, metadata, alt text, captions, descriptions, and URL.
#4. Managing WordPress Comments
WordPress, originally designed as a blogging platform, features a comprehensive comment system. If you activate the comments feature, users can leave responses on your posts and pages.
You have complete control over comments through the Comments page, which lists every comment on your site along with its status. Comments can be in one of four states: approved, pending, trashed, or marked as spam. Although WordPress has basic spam detection, you are responsible for filtering and approving comments.
To adjust your comment settings, navigate to Settings → Discussion.
Here, you can configure various options related to comments and posts.
The Allow people to submit comments on new posts setting controls whether visitors can leave comments at all. Disabling this option will turn off the commenting system site-wide.
If you enable comments, visit the Other comment settings section to specify what information users must provide to comment and whether they need to register. You can also configure settings for auto-closing comment sections, managing cookies, enabling nested comments, and adding pagination to comments.
Additionally, the Discussion settings let you receive notifications for new comments or moderation needs. In the Before a comment appears section, you can choose whether comments require manual approval. There’s also an option for users with previously-approved comments to bypass the moderation queue.
To simplify moderation, WordPress offers a feature that automatically flags comments containing specific words or identifiable information like usernames, emails, or IP addresses.
While the default WordPress comment system is effective, it might struggle with spam as your site grows. Consider installing a plugin to better manage comment spam.
#5. Managing Your Website’s Appearance
In the WordPress admin dashboard, the Appearance menu lets you select and customize your theme. You can also access the WordPress full-site editor from this menu.
To choose a theme, go to Appearance → Themes.
WordPress comes with several default themes that you can select by hovering over the theme and clicking Activate.
Switching themes will significantly alter your website’s appearance, so use the Live Preview tool to see how a theme looks and functions before making a change. This feature allows you to customize the theme’s style to ensure it meets your needs. If you’re not satisfied with a theme, you can explore more options by returning to the Themes tab and clicking Add New. This will take you to the WordPress.org theme repository, which offers a vast collection of free themes.
From the repository, you can preview and install any theme you like. If you have a premium theme from another source, use the Upload Theme button to upload it in .zip format.
After installing a theme, it will appear under Appearance → Themes. You can install multiple themes, but only one can be active at a time. To access the WordPress full-site editor, go to Appearance → Editor.
#6. Managing Plugins and Tools
WordPress offers numerous plugins that enhance its functionality, contributing to its popularity. When you start a new website, your web host might pre-install some plugins for you. To view your installed plugins, go to Plugins → Installed Plugins.
To add new plugins, select Add New at the top of the screen. You’ll be directed to the official plugin repository, which features thousands of options. Click Install Now to download the plugin, and then activate it by clicking the Activate button.
You can also upload plugins directly by selecting Upload Plugin, where you’ll be prompted to choose a .zip file to upload.
It’s important to research plugins thoroughly based on your website’s needs. For instance, if you have an eCommerce site, you’ll need to evaluate various checkout plugins to find the best fit.
#7. Managing User Accounts
WordPress creates an administrator account by default when you set up a website. The system includes several user roles, such as:
– Administrator
– Author
– Editor
– Contributor
– Subscriber
Your user role dictates the available options in the WordPress dashboard. As the site owner, you should have full access to all settings and pages.
To view existing user accounts, go to Users → All Users.
To create a new user, navigate to Users → Add New or click Add New at the top of the screen.
On the next page, you can enter the user’s username, email, name, website, and password.
WordPress only requires a username and email by default, but you can enable Send User Notification to notify the user via email. For new accounts, WordPress generates strong passwords, but it will alert you if the password is weak.
Assign a user role from the Role menu, then click Add New User. Alternatively, you can enable user registration on your site by going to Settings → General and selecting the Anyone can register option under Membership.
You can also set a default role for new users here.
#8. Managing General Settings
In the General Settings screen, you can set your site’s title, URLs, and admin email address, and enable user registration.
You can also change the site’s language, time zones, date and time formats, and the start of the week.
Once you’ve made your changes, click Save Changes. These settings typically only need to be adjusted once.
#9. Managing Permalink Settings
Permalinks are crucial for URL structure in WordPress. You can select your preferred permalink structure by going to Settings → Permalinks. Various URL structures are available; the custom part of the URL follows your domain (e.g., yourwebsite.com).
Choose a URL format when you first create your site. Changing permalink structures later can lead to errors and negatively affect your search engine rankings. The Post name and Month and name structures are popular choices, allowing for short URLs and customizable slugs.
If you use WooCommerce, you can adjust the URL structure for products on the Permalinks page. Note that the default WooCommerce options exclude numbers or dates.
#10. Managing Privacy Settings
User privacy is essential, and WordPress provides a tool to help you create a privacy policy page. Go to Settings → Privacy to access this tool.
You can choose to Create a New Privacy Policy Page, which WordPress will generate with a template, or Select a Privacy Policy Page to designate an existing page as your policy.
Ensure that your privacy policy is accessible from login and registration screens and consider linking to it from other areas of your site.
Conclusion
Accessing the WordPress admin panel may seem challenging at first, but with practice, you’ll become familiar with the dashboard and its settings. This guide should help you find and adjust the most important configurations for your site.
