You have just installed WordPress. You type in yoursite.com/wp-admin and you are looking at a screen full of menus, boxes, and buttons. What are you you supposed to do now?

This is normal. The WordPress dashboard can feel overwhelming at first. There is a lot going on. But once you understand what each section does, everything becomes much simpler.

This guide walks you through your dashboard from top to bottom, left to right. You can follow along on your own site as you read.

What is the WordPress dashboard?

The dashboard is the control room of your website. It is where you manage everything: your posts, your pages, your pictures, your theme, your plugins, and all your settings. Think of it like the back office of a shop. Customers see the storefront (your website). You work in the back office (the dashboard).

You do not need any technical skills to use it. If you can use email or Facebook, you can manage a WordPress dashboard. Trust me.

Logging in

To access your dashboard, open your web browser and go to:

yoursite.com/wp-admin

Replace yoursite.com with your actual website address! You will see a login page asking for your username and password. These are the details you created when you installed WordPress.

Once you log in, you will land on the main dashboard screen.

The layout

Every page in your dashboard follows the same basic layout:

• Toolbar (the long bar at the top)
• Main Navigation (the menu on the left side)
• Work Area (the big middle section where you see and edit content)
• Footer (the strip at the bottom with the WordPress version number)

Let us go through each one.

The Toolbar

The toolbar is the horizontal bar at the very top of your screen. It stays visible no matter which page of the dashboard you are on.

WordPress logo (top left)

On the far left of the toolbar is the WordPress logo. Click it (or hover over it) and a small menu appears with these options:

• About WordPress — opens a page explaining what WordPress is and what is new in the current version
• WordPress.org — the main WordPress website
• Documentation — official guides and help articles
• Support — where to get help from the WordPress community
• Feedback — send suggestions or report problems

You will not need these often, but it’s good to know where they are.

Your site name (next to the logo)

Right next to the WordPress logo is the name of your website. Hover over it and you will see a link that says “Visit Site”. Click it to see your actual website (the part visitors see). This is handy for quickly checking how your site looks while you are working on it.

”Howdy, User” (top right)

On the far right side of the toolbar you will see “Howdy, User” followed by a small picture (an avatar). Hover over it and you get two options:

• Edit My Profile — change your name, password, email, and other personal information
• Log Out — leave the dashboard

Always log out when you finish working on your website. This prevents other people using the computer to access the back office of your site and it’s a good security practice in general.

Screen Options and Help tabs

On the far right of the toolbar, you will see two small tabs. These are easy to miss but useful:

• Screen Options — click this tab to show or hide specific boxes on your current page. Different pages have different options here.
• Help — click this tab to see help information about the page you are currently viewing.

We will look at Screen Options more closely at the end of this guide.

Main Navigation Menu

On the left side of your screen is the main navigation menu. This is where you find links to every section of your dashboard. Some items have an arrow next to them, which means they expand to show more options when you click.

The menu items are:

• Home — your dashboard welcome screen
• Updates — check for WordPress, theme, and plugin updates
• Posts — manage your blog posts
• Media — manage your images and files
• Pages — manage your static pages
• Comments — manage feedback from visitors
• Appearance — change how your site looks
• Plugins — add new features to your site
• Users — manage who has access to your website
• Tools — various site management tools
• Settings — configure how your site works

We will cover each one in detail below.

Dashboard Home

When you click Home in the main navigation (or when you first log in), you see the Dashboard Home screen. This screen is made up of several boxes, called widgets. Each widget shows you different information about your site.

Welcome panel

The first box at the top is the Welcome panel. It gives you shortcuts to common tasks like writing your first post, customizing your site appearance, and getting help. Think of it as a quick-start guide built into your dashboard.

At A Glance

This box tells you what version of WordPress you are running, which theme is active, and how many posts, pages, and comments you have. It is a quick snapshot of your site health.

Activity

This box shows you what has been happening on your site recently. It displays:

• Scheduled posts that will publish automatically if there are any
• Recently published posts
• Recent comments left by visitors

You can approve, reply to, or delete comments directly from this box too.

Quick Draft

The Quick Draft box lets you write a new post without leaving the dashboard. You can type a title and some notes, save it as a draft, and come back to finish it later. It also shows your five most recent drafts.

WordPress Events and News

This box shows news and updates from the official WordPress project. You can ignore this if it does not interest you. It has no effect on your site.

PHP Info

This box shows you which version of PHP your website is running on. PHP is the programming language that WordPress is built on. You generally do not need to worry about this unless something is not working properly.

Site Health Status

This box gives your site a quick health check. It tells you if everything is working well or if there are problems you should fix. Green means good. Yellow or red means there are issues that might need attention.

Posts

Posts are your blog articles. They appear in date order on your site and are usually used for news, updates, or regular content.

Click Posts in the main navigation and you will see these options:

• All Posts — a list of every post you have written
• Add New — create a new blog post
• Categories — organize your posts into groups. It’s worth nothing Categories can have other Categories inside
• Tags — add keywords to your posts to make them easier to find

All Posts

The All Posts screen shows you every post on your site in a table. You can see the title, author, categories, and date of each post. From here you can:

• Click on a post title to edit it
• Hover over a post title to see Quick Edit, Edit, Trash, and View options
• Select multiple posts and perform bulk actions like deleting or publishing them

Add New

This is where you write new posts. You will see a text area for your title and a large area for your content. WordPress uses something called the Block Editor (sometimes called Gutenberg). Instead of one big text box, your content is made up of separate blocks. Each paragraph, heading, image, or button is its own block.

You can add new blocks by clicking the plus button (+) that appears when you hover over a space between blocks, or by clicking the plus button at the top left of the editor. Common blocks include:

• Paragraph
• Heading
• Image
• List
• Quote
• Video
• Button

On the right side of the editor you will find settings for your post, including the publish button, post categories, tags, and featured image.

Categories and Tags

Categories and Tags help you organize your posts.

Categories are broad groups. A blog about cooking might have categories like “Breakfast”, “Lunch”, and “Dinner”.

Tags are specific keywords. A post about pancakes for breakfast might have tags like “pancakes”, “sweet”, and “morning”.

Think of categories as your main sections and tags as the detailed topics within those sections.

Media

Media refers to your images, videos, and documents. Click Media in the main navigation and you will see:

• Library — every image and file you have ever uploaded
• Add New — upload new images or files

Library

The Media Library shows all your uploaded files in a grid or list view. You can click on any file to edit its details, including:

• Title — a descriptive name for the file
• Alt text — a short description of the image for visitors who cannot see it
• Caption — a small text that appears below some images
• Description — more detailed information about the file

Add New

This lets you drag and drop files from your computer directly into WordPress, or click a button to browse and select files.

When you upload an image while editing a post or page, it also gets saved to your Media Library automatically. You do not need to upload separately unless you want to have the image ready before creating content around it.

Pages

Pages are static content that does not change often. Unlike posts, pages are not organized by date and are not typically used for blog content. Common uses for pages include:

• About page
• Contact page
• Privacy Policy page
• Services page

Click Pages in the main navigation and you will see:

• All Pages — a list of every page on your site
• Add New — create a new page

The editing experience for pages is almost identical to posts. Pages also use the Block Editor. The main difference between posts and pages is how they are displayed on your site and how they are organized.

Comments

Comments is where you manage feedback from visitors on your posts. Click Comments in the main navigation and you will see a list of all comments on your site.

Each comment shows the visitor’s name, the post they commented on, the comment itself, the date, and its status:

• Approved — the comment is visible on your site
• Pending — the comment is waiting for your approval before it appears
• Spam — the comment has been marked as junk
• Trash — the comment has been deleted

You can approve, reply to, mark as spam, or delete comments from this screen. WordPress comes with a plugin called Akismet activated by default, which helps filter out spam comments automatically.

Appearance

The Appearance menu controls how your website looks. Click the arrow next to Appearance to expand it and you will see:

• Themes — change the overall design of your site
• Customize — adjust specific design settings
• Widgets — add content blocks to your sidebars and footers
• Menus — create and manage your site navigation
• Header — change your site header image

Themes

A theme is a ready-made design for your site. WordPress comes with a default theme. You can install new themes by clicking the Add New button at the top of the Themes screen.

To activate a theme, hover over it and click Activate. Your site will immediately take on that new design. To preview a theme before activating it, click Live Preview.

The theme you activate controls the overall look of your site, including colors, fonts, and layout.

Customize

Clicking Customize opens the theme customizer. This lets you change specific settings for your current theme, such as site title, tagline, colors, background image, and homepage settings. The options available here depend on which theme you have active. Look on the left side of the customizer for the available settings.

Click the small arrow next to Homepage Settings to choose whether your front page shows your latest posts or a static page you have created.

Widgets

Widgets are small content blocks that appear in areas like your sidebar or footer. Common widgets include:

• Recent Posts — shows a list of your latest posts
• Categories — shows a list of your post categories
• Search — a search box for your site
• Recent Comments — shows recent comments
• Archives — shows posts by month

You can add, remove, and rearrange widgets by dragging them between available areas on your site.

Menus

Menus are your site navigation. This is where you create the menu that appears at the top of your site (or wherever your theme displays menus).

You can add pages, posts, categories, custom links, and more to your menu. You can also create multiple menus for different locations depending on your theme supports.

Header

The Header is typically the top part of your website with your site title, logo, or both. Here you can upload or change your header image. Some themes let you randomly rotate through several header images.

Plugins

Plugins add extra features to your site. Think of them as apps for your WordPress website.

Click Plugins in the main navigation and you will see:

• Installed Plugins — plugins already added to your site
• Add New — find and install new plugins

Installed Plugins

This screen lists every plugin installed on your site. Each plugin shows its name, description, and status (active or inactive).

To deactivate a plugin, click Deactivate under its name. To delete a plugin, first deactivate it, then click Delete on the Plugins screen.

Only deactivate or delete plugins if you are sure you do not need them. Some plugins may be essential for your site to work properly.

Add New

This is where you find new plugins. You can search the plugin directory by name or keyword. Click Install Now on any plugin to add it to your site, then click Activate to start using it.

WordPress comes with a few plugins pre-installed but not activated. One of them is Akismet, which protects your site from spam comments.

Users

The Users menu manages who can access your website. Click the arrow next to Users to expand it and you will see:

• All Users — see every user account on your site
• Add New — create a new user account
• Your Profile — edit your own account details

All Users

This screen shows a table of every user on your site. Each user has a role that determines what they can do:

• Administrator — full access to everything. Use this role only for yourself.
• Editor — can publish and manage all posts and pages, including posts written by others
• Author — can publish and manage only their own posts
• Contributor — can write posts but cannot publish them. An editor must approve their work.
• Subscriber — can only manage their own profile and leave comments

For a typical personal blog or business website, you are the only administrator. Authors and contributors are useful for multi-author sites.

Your Profile

This is where you update your personal information. You can change:

• Your display name (the name shown on your posts)
• Your password
• Your email address
• Your bio
• Your profile picture (via Gravatar)

You can also control whether the admin toolbar appears when you are viewing your site.

Tools

The Tools menu has several useful utilities. Click the arrow next to Tools to expand it and you will see:

• Available Tools — tools that come with WordPress
• Site Health — check how well your site is performing
• Import — bring content from another platform into WordPress
• Export — save your WordPress content to a file

Available Tools

WordPress includes a Categories and Tags Converter. If you ever want to convert categories to tags or vice versa, you can do it from here.

Site Health

Site Health gives you a detailed report on the technical condition of your site. It tells you if there are problems with your PHP version, database, security settings, or other technical aspects.

There are two tabs:

• Status — shows problems and recommendations
• Info — shows detailed technical information about your site

Site Health is especially useful when something is not working correctly or when you are troubleshooting issues.

Import

If you were using another platform before WordPress, you can use the Import tool to bring your content over. WordPress supports importers for several popular platforms including Blogger, Tumblr, and others. You will need to install the relevant importer plugin first.

Export

Export creates an XML file containing all your posts, pages, comments, categories, and tags. This is a useful backup of your content. You can use this file to move your content to another WordPress site or keep it as a safety copy. It’s important to note this is not a subsitute for a full website backup. They serve different purposes.

Settings

The Settings menu controls how your site behaves. This is one of the most important sections. Click the arrow next to Settings to expand it and you will see many options:

• General — site name, URL, timezone, date format
• Writing — default post category, post format, editor settings
• Reading — homepage display, blog posts per page, feed settings
• Discussion — comment moderation, email notifications, avatar settings
• Media — image sizes, upload folder structure
• Permalinks — URL structure for your posts and pages

General

Here you set the basic information about your site:

• Site Title — the name of your website
• Tagline — a short description of your site
• Site URL — the address of your website
• Email address — your admin email for site notifications
• Membership — check this if you want visitors to register on your site
• New User Default Role — the role assigned to new users who register

Take care when changing the Site URL here. If you change it incorrectly your site may stop working. Most beginners should leave these fields as they are after installation.

Reading

This controls how your homepage appears:

• Your homepage displays — choose between showing your latest posts or a static page
• Blog pages show at most — how many posts appear per page
• Syndication feeds show the most recent — how many items appear in your RSS feed

Discussion

This is where you control how comments work on your site:

• Default article settings — default comment and trackback settings for new posts
• Other comment settings — controls like requiring name and email for comments
• Email me whenever — notifications when new comments or moderation is needed
• Before a comment appears — require approval before comments show up (highly recommended to check this to avoid spam)
• Comment Moderation — hold comments with too many links for approval
• Avatars — show or hide avatars (profile pictures) next to comments

Permalinks

Permalinks are the web addresses (URLs) of your posts and pages. The default structure includes question marks and numbers, which look messy. Changing to a “pretty permalink” structure makes your URLs cleaner and easier to read.

For example:

• Default: yoursite.com/?p=123
• Pretty: yoursite.com/my-first-post

The Post name option is a popular choice. It is clean and easy to understand.

Updates

Click Updates in the main navigation (you may see a number next to it if updates are available). This screen shows you if there are new versions of WordPress, your themes, or your plugins available.

Keeping everything updated is important. Updates often include security fixes and new features. WordPress can handle most updates automatically, but it never hurts to check here manually.

• WordPress — click “Update Now” to update your WordPress version
• Themes — select themes and click “Update”
• Plugins — select plugins and click “Update”

You can also enable automatic updates for each theme and plugin individually from this screen.

Quick tips for beginners

Screen Options

Look for the Screen Options tab in the top right of your toolbar (below the toolbar, not inside it). Click it and you can show or hide different boxes on your current page. This lets you simplify your view by removing things you do not need.

Help tab

Next to Screen Options is the Help tab. Click it to see information about the page you are currently on. Useful when you are not sure what something does.

Collapsible menu

If your screen feels too crowded, hover over the main navigation section at the top and click the small button that says “Collapse menu”. This shrinks the menu to icons only, giving you more room in the work area. Click it again to expand.

Hide the admin toolbar

If you want to see your actual website without the toolbar at the top, go to Users > Your Profile and uncheck “Show Toolbar when viewing site”. The toolbar will still appear in the dashboard, just not when you visit your site.

Wrapping up

The WordPress dashboard may feel like a lot at first. But now you know what every section does. Take your time and explore. There is no setting you can break permanently. If you change something and do not like the result, you can almost always change it back.

Start by spending a few minutes in each section. Write a draft post. Upload a picture. Check your Site Health. The more you click around, the more comfortable you will become.

Still have questions? Send me an email and let’s discuss.