When you log into WordPress by going to http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin, you will be taken to the Dashboard, from which you can access all of the administrative functions of your website via the Admin Panel.
The actual Dashboard window is an overview of your site. It also gives you access to a series of options along the left-hand side in a series of drop-down menu choices (to view the options, click on the downward arrows).
The first menu (under Dashboard) allows you to manage your site content:
- The Posts and Pages options allow you to create new entries as well as manage existing content. (See Pages & Posts for more information.)
- Media allows you to access and manage your media library, including photos and other multimedia.
- Links allows you to create lists of outside links that can be activated in your widgets. You can create new categories to group your links.
- Comments allows you to view and manage comments on your site, if you enable comments on your posts/pages.
The second menu allows you to control the appearance and other features of your site:
- Appearance allows you to add new themes (skins, or visual templates, for your site’s overall look and feel) from the WordPress themes directory. It also allows you to manage your widgets, menus (if available), and possibly other options such as header graphics and backgrounds colors if your theme allows for those options. It also includes the theme editor.
- Plugins allows you to add and manage various third-party add-ons for your site. These plugins will add to the functionality of your site. Many plugins are available through the WordPress plugin directory. See the Plugins page for more information on plugins and some recommendations to get started.
- Users allows you to add additional people who can have access to your site. You can give someone admin rights, which duplicates your own access. These people can modify dashboard options and all content. Other, lesser, roles can also be assigned for those who may only be adding/editing content, etc. Review the WordPress Codex for a rundown on each of these options.
- Tools offers you the option to export and import blogs. If you had a blog on Blogger or another WordPress site, you can export it from there and then use the Tools option to import the content to your new site.
- Settings allows you to fine-tune various aspects of your site:
- General gives you several options for your overall site, including options to change your website name and tagline, as well as set your timezone and default new user level.
- Writing gives you a few settings for authoring new pages/posts, including the size of the text box and default categories.
- Reading settings allow you to choose what page is displayed as the home page, either your latest posts (which is useful if your site is a blog) or a static page, as well as how your blog posts (if any) will be displayed.
Handy tip: using the Front Page Displays option, you can choose a static page for your home page. By then creating a blank page (say, called “My Blog”) and chosing that to show recent posts, you can have your blog show up in your navigation menu. - Discussion settings address permissions and notifications pertaining to posts. It also allows you to manage comment settings and avatar options. If you do not use a blog or comments, you can disregard these settings.
- Media settings give you the option to change the default thumbnail size as well as address embed options and the upload path for new files.
- Privacy gives you one option: to make the site visible to search engines, or not. By default it is set to allow search engines to find the site. It’s a good idea to turn off search engine visibility while building a new site, or if you want to make a page that people will not find without a direct link.
- Permalinks change the URL structure for your site’s links. By default it will make all pages and posts go to links that look like this: http://yoursite.com/?p=123 . In almost every case you will want to modify these settings so that links look more like http://yoursite.com/about-me, which is more descriptive, easier to remember/bookmark, and most importantly, most search-engine friendly. To change, choose the custom structure option and paste this code in, exactly as written:
/%postname%/. You can learn about other options in the WordPress Codex.