When you log in to WordPress, the first screen you see is the Dashboard. This is the control centre for your site where you can access everything you need.
Across the top you will see the toolbar. There is probably little that you will need to use from here:
- The WordPress Logo offers links to various WordPress resources, mostly aimed at site developers.
- If your site is part of a site network such as probusclub.net or churchsite.co.uk then you’ll see My Sites at the top, which lists the sites (within the network) that you control, usually just one. If you have a dedicated site with Skirrid Systems then you won’t see this icon.
- The Homepage icon will take you directly to your site, as your site visitors will see it. If you do that, your site will appear with this toolbar at the top (because you are logged in), so you can click on the dashboard icon (or My Sites) to get back to your dashboard again.
- The speech bubble takes you to a list of comments on your blog posts. Most web sites we deal with do not enable comments by default so this is generally irrelevant.
- The New link allows you to add a new page or post, but you can also do that from the main dashboard menu.
- On the far right is a link to your user profile, and also the place where you logout.
Down the left side is the main menu, which is where you will find the most useful links. This menu remains visible for most other operations such as editing a page, so it is easy to navigate.
- Dashboard returns you to the top level of the dashboard.
- Posts shows a list of your blog posts and allows you to add a new post.
- Media shows a list of images and files you have uploaded and allows you to add more.
- Pages shows a list of your web pages and allows you to add a new one.
- Comments allows you to manage blog post comments, if you enable them.
- TablePress is where you go to edit your programme of events and other tables. This does not appear for all sites.
- Appearance gives you access to the menu editor
- Profile is for your user profile, also available on the toolbar.
- Tools contains an option to export your site data should you ever need to move to another WordPress host.
- There may be other items here too, depending on your specific site details.
We’ll go on to discuss all these items in more detail, but first it is worth getting to grips with some basic WordPress building blocks, namely Pages, Posts and Media.
« Logging In Up Pages, Posts and Media »