The WordPress admin screens contain all the different controls for your entire WordPress installation. Simply login and start at the Dashboard to learn more.
Dashboard. Home, Updates
Posts. All Posts, Add New, Categories, Post Tags
Media. Library, Add New
Links. All Links, Add New, Link Categories
Pages. All Pages, Add New
Appearance. Themes, Widgets, Menus, Editor
Plugins. Installed Plugins, Add New, Editor
Users. All Users, Add New, Your Profile
Tools. Available Tools, Import, Export
Settings. General, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media, Privacy, Permalinks
Dashboard
The WordPress dashboard is sometimes referred to as the control panel or administration panel however it is one section of your Administration panel and contains one screen with eight dashboard widgets.
Its here you can control: Expanding, Collapsing, Editing and Rearranging the widgets as well as add new Dashboard Widgets.
Home
The first panel on the Dashboard offers you a choice of Screen options to Show on screen & choose the way you would like to display the Screen layout.
Dashboard
This panel displays whats happening Right Now in your content – Posts, Pages, Categories, Tags as well as whats happening with your Discussions – Comments.
Other panels in the Dashboard screen include:
- QuickPress: Offers you the option of writing a quick post and publishing it or saving it as a draft.
- Recent Comments: Displays your newest comments which you can approve or delete
- Recent Drafts: Shows the latest posts you have saved to drafts and not yet published
- Incoming Links: Google blog search displays links from other blogs to your blog here
- Plugins: Displays the Latest plugins to be added to the plugin directory as well as Updated & Popular plugins
- WordPress Blog: The latest WordPress.org blog posts
- Other WordPress News: You can change these settings to display any fee from any blog here
Updates
Displays the latest updates which are available for your WordPress installation, Plugin updates as well as Theme updates
Posts
This is your walks as some say and includes your own personal authentic experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings. Put all your cards on the table and express yourself on the world wide web for all to see and read. You have installed the worlds most popular blogging platform which gives you the opportunity to get your message to all corners of the globe!
Starting a post is as easy as writing an email or letter. All you need to do is click Add New, choose a descriptive title and write content related to your blog posts title. Add an image, video and a few links, then you can either save the draft or dive into the deep end and Publish your first blog post for the whole world to see!
All Posts
This is where you can view all your existing Published posts as well as Drafts and choose from Bulk Actions which allow you to Edit or individual Posts or Move to Trash selected Posts & Drafts.
Other useful features allow you to Search Posts by keywords and Filter posts by Date and Category.
Add New
Click Add New to start writing a blog post. Enter a descriptive title (try and use popular key words and phrases which describe the content in your post). When you Add a New post you have all the following tools at your finger tips:
- Categories – Choose from All Categories, Most Used or create a new category
- Post Tags – Choose from the most used tags and separate multiple tags by commas.
- Featured Images – Set featured image by choosing the location of the image and uploading it from your admin panel.
- Upload/Insert Media – Add an Image, Add Video, Add Audio, Add Media
Its here you can also Elect to Save Draft, Preview your draft & Publish your post. Additionally you can Publish immediately or schedule your post at a later time and date.
Categories
Every post you publish is assigned to the category you choose otherwise its posted in uncategorized. Categories help your readers find relevant information which is available in different groups and sub groups. Categories aid in navigation so your readers can choose from a group of links to different posts which are inter related.
You can click Add New Category from the category page or from each individual post screen. You can also edit the name of the category and the slug which is the category name in the permalink.
Note: It is important that you create and use categories which use a unique name and slug different from other categories, post and page titles. You can also add a Description for each category which will be shown on the category page containing all posts under that specific category.
Post Tags
Creating unique tags for each post is also a great way to help your readers find what they are looking for. Generally tags are keywords used in the title of each post which provide a short 1-2 word description of the post.
You can create tags in the Post Tags screen and also Add Post Tags in each post draft. WordPress allows you to add multiple tags for each post or simply add one tag for each post.
Media
A picture speaks a thousand words. Images, Video and Audio attract far more interest than plain text alone. Its here you can paint a picture and tell your story visually by including different forms of media which also personalize your content. Compliment your written text with images that relate to your content.
Media Library
The WordPress media Library allows you to Edit, Delete Permanently and View your existing media files which you have uploaded using the Add New link under Media in your WordPress admin panel.
It shows a thumbnail image of your media image as well as File name, Author, Date and the post/page that the image is Attached To.
Add New
When you click on the Add New link under Media, you will be taken to the Upload New Media screen where you can select what type of media files to upload to your Media Library and from which location you can upload them from which is normally your desktop or a location on your local computer.
WordPress offers you a choice of using the Flash Uploader or Browser Uploader and you can also choose to add a media file using a URL from another server as well as add new media from other locations in your WordPress installation.
Links
Inserting links into your content is a great way to connect your content to other posts and pages on your site or even external content on another site. This is a great way to explain different industry terms and provide a deeper meaning for your readers. Internal links help complete the picture for your readers and fully explain what you are on about.
Sometimes your readers are searching for very specific content which may be available by clicking on one of your links to related content rather than completing another search. This helps keep your readers on your site and create a better experience.
All Links
Clicking All Links brings you to a Links screen where you can choose from the following options:
- Add New – Create a new link
- Bulk Actions – Delete multiple links
- View All Categories – Filter your links by category.
- Search Links – Enter a keyword to search for your links
The Links screen also displays the link Name, URL, Categories, Visible and Rating. Its here you can also edit your links details.
Add New
Click Add New to add a link and enter a Name, Web Address, Description as well as choose the Category to file the link under and whether you want the link to be Private or Public.
Link Categories
Its here you can Add New Link Category and also click Add Name & Description for your link categories. WordPress also allows you to Edit, Quick Edit and View your links.
Pages
WordPress Pages are different to posts as they are static which means the content generally remains the same. One of the great features of WordPress is that you can create a website with static pages as well as blog posts which contain frequently updated content all under the same website domain name.
All Pages
The All Pages screen displays all your Published Pages as well as the Title, Author and Date you published them. You can easily Filter your pages by date and Search Pages using keywords. Bulk Actions also help you Edit pages and Move to Trash multiple pages at the one time.
Add New
The Add New page link allows you to create a new static page as well as select which template option you wish to use for the page by clicking the Page Attributes link. You can also use all the features of the WordPress Editor as well as Add New Media and Set featured image.
Comments
One of the differences between a static website and a blog is the comments feature. Readers can enter their thoughts and feelings by submitting comments to each of your blog posts. This is an interactive feature of blogging which can provide highly valuable feedback.
When you click on the Comments link in your WordPress admin panel or Dashboard you can view the latest feedback. The comments screen displays All comments as well as Pending, Approved, Spam and Trash comments.
Bulk Actions allow you to Unapprove, Approve, Mark as Spam & Move to Trash both existing and pending comments. WordPress also allow you to Filter comment types, Check for Spam and Search Comments by keywords.
The comments screen displays the Author of the comment as well as their website address and email address. The actual comment text and the post the comment is In Response To is also displayed.
You have a choice of individual actions you can take to each existing or new comment which is called moderating comments:
- Approve
- Reply
- Quick Edit
- Edit
- History
- Spam
- Trash
Beware of comment spam: WordPress comes installed with Akismet which is the best anti spam plugin for WordPress.
Appearance
Considering the fact there’s billions of web pages and hundreds of millions of website and blogs on the internet, WordPress offers you unlimited styling options to make your site your own unique address on the web. Changing the look and feel of your site is easy with a one click installation and activation of a new theme.
Themes
Manage Themes – The themes link allows you to Activate, Install and View an existing themes which you have already uploaded. WordPress offer thousands of free themes to choose from and install so you can take a look at the changes they make to the appearance of your site.
WordPress developers also offer premium themes which offer lifetime free upgrades and technical support unlike free themes which offer no technical support or Guarantee of upgrades and big fixes.
Install Themes – This option allows you to Search for Themes in the WordPress themes directory by Term, Author or Tag. Other theme options allow you to Upload a theme from your local computer or select a theme from the WordPress Featured, Newest or Recently Updated themes Gallery.
WordPress also offer a Feature Filter which allows you to find themes based on Colors, Columns, Width, Features & Subject.
Widgets
Widgets allow you to add functions to the Widget areas your theme provides. By default WordPress offers widgets for Categories, Archives, Links, Recent Comments, Recent Posts and a HTML or Text widget amongst others.
Dragging a widget to your sidebar, footer or header will activate the widget and display the information for that widget in that area of your site. Dragging the widget back to the Inactive Widget area will disable the widget. Many plugins also come with widgets that make it easy to display different information on multiple locations on your blog.
The widget screen displays a panel for Available Widgets, Inactive Widgets, Sidebar and other areas depending on your theme like Header and Footer.
Menus
Menus enable navigation to the content your readers want to read. The WordPress menu system is very easy to use and highly flexible. You can add pages, posts, custom links, categories and tags to your menu easily. Multiple menus can be created and added to different areas of your site including before and after your header and in all your widget areas.
The Menu Screen allows you to drag your menu tabs to different positions in the menu as well as create sub menus using the same method.
Editor
WordPress allows you to edit all your Themes using the Editor link under your Appearance tab. This screen displays all your themes Templates as well as Style Sheets and styling files. Its here you’ll need to have a decent understanding of PHP and CSS code if you wish to alter the styling and functions of your site directly in the core files.
Caution: Always create a full backup of your sites files and databases before editing PHP code and CSS code or you may experience temporary loss of your site if you make a mistake.
Plugins
WordPress is famous for their plugins which are a bit like an extension or addon. Choose from over 14, 000 free plugins which will add any function you can dream of to your blog. The WordPress plugin directory lists all the free plugins available for immediate download and installation.
Installed Plugins
This screen displays all your plugins regardless of whether they are active or not. You can also Search Installed Plugins as well as view plugins which:
- Active
- Inactive
- Recently Active
- Update Available
- Drop-Ins
Its here you can also Deactivate, Edit & configure your plugins Settings. Bulk Actions include: Activate, Deactivate, Update and Delete any number of plugins at the same time. You can also normally visit the plugin authors blog and plugin website using the links on this screen.
Add New
Adding a new plugin to your site is simple. Choose from the following plugins: Upload a plugin from your computer or install a plugin from any of the Featured, Popular, Newest, or Recently Updated plugins from the massive list WordPress offers.
You can also Search Plugins by keyword, author or tag.
Editor
Not commonly used however you can edit the code of any plugin by accessing the source code using the plugin editor.
Users
Every blog post has an author which may only ever by you or may be a number of different authors which require a separate user profile for each.
All Users
This screen lists all users which have a profile on your blog. It may also be used for other purposes other than for authors like users which register for your blog as a forum registration etc. It displays the Username, Name, Email, Role and number of Posts the user has authored posts for.
Its here you can Change role to for all users to either Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor or Subscriber.
Add New
The Add New screen allows you create a new user suing the following data:
- Username (required)
- E-mail (required)
- First Name
- Last Name
- Website
- Password (twice, required)
You can also send the new user a password to their email address and allocate a role for the user.
Your Profile
Adding Personal information to your author profile is a great way to personalize your blog posts. The Profile screen allows you to choose from large range of Personal Options as well as add Name & Contact information including a short BIO about yourself.
The profile screen is also where you can change your login password which you should do after you have installed WordPress and also change if needed at anytime.
Tools
WordPress offers Tools to make importing and exporting content easy. Besides the default tools like Press This & Categories and Tags Converter, WordPress has developed both an Import and Export Tool.
Import
The import tool allows for easy import of all your blog posts, comments and images from another system like Blogger or the free hosted WordPress.com system.
Export
Need to backup your posts or export your content to another WordPress blog or platform? The WordPress export tool quickly creates a WXR file which can be makes it easy to import all your content to another blog platform. Choose from exporting all content or posts and pages.
Settings
The Settings section contains tabs to several of the Main settings for your WordPress site. Its here you can make large scale changes to your whole site using different site settings.
General Settings
Its here you can change your Sites Title, Tagline as well as your sites address (URL). Other settings include email address and time/date format.
Writing
These settings also offer you the option to:
- Post via e-mail – Create a post using an email client and post it to your WordPress blog
- Remote Publishing – Enable remote publishing from MS Word or Windows Live Writer etc.
- Update Services – Automatically update services by pinging them so they know you have published new post content.
Reading
Change the display of your front page to any page you wish or display your latest posts on your homepage. Choose how many posts your WordPress RSS feed displays and whether you want to display the full post text or a summary of each post
Discussion
Its here you control the feedback in your comments or disable your comments altogether. Includes Article Settings, Comment Settings, Comment notification and other comment moderation and control settings.
The discussion screen also allows you to choose from a list of avatar providers which displays an image for your comment authors next to their comments.
Media
The media settings screen allows you to choose what size your images will be when you insert them into your blog posts. Here you can change the default sizes of thumbnails as well as other images sizes you wish to insert.
When you upload images, video and audio to your media library or for immediate insertion into your posts, they are normally stored in the wp-content/uploads folder on your server, Here you can change the media folder to another location if you wish.
Privacy
Choose from the public or private option. If you want your site to be publically visible to search engines and the entire world wide web then select public. If you don’t choose private.
Permalinks
This is where you choose the structure of the links for all your posts, pages, categories and tags. Everything on your site which has a unique address to that specific page/post etc has a permalink. Read more on Custom Permalinks.
Login/Logout
The login address is http://yourdomain.com/wp-login.php and the logout link is located above the Screen Options and Help tab at the top right hand corner of all your WordPress Administration screens.
If you ever get stuck and forget your username and password, you may need to use one of the emergency password reset options.
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