Lesson 03: The WordPress Dashboard Tour

Objectives

• Navigate the WordPress admin dashboard confidently
• Understand what each section of the dashboard does
• Customize the dashboard to show useful information
• Know where to find everything you need

Accessing the Dashboard

1. Start your site in Local WP
2. Click "WP Admin" or navigate to http://learning-wordpress.local/wp-admin/
3. Log in with your credentials (admin / admin)

The first thing you see after logging in is the Dashboard Home.

Dashboard Home Screen

The Dashboard home shows a collection of widgets (information panels):

Welcome Panel

• Quick links to customize your site, write a post, manage widgets, etc.
• You can dismiss this by clicking "Dismiss" in the top-right of the panel

At a Glance

• Shows how many posts, pages, and comments your site has
• Shows your current theme and WordPress version
• Quick snapshot of your site's content

Activity

• Shows recently published posts
• Shows recent comments awaiting moderation

Quick Draft

• A mini editor to quickly jot down a post idea (saves as a draft)

WordPress Events and News

• Upcoming WordPress community events
• Latest news from WordPress.org

Customizing the Dashboard

• Click "Screen Options" (top-right corner) to show/hide widgets
• Drag and drop widgets to rearrange them
• Most professionals hide everything except "At a Glance" and "Activity"

The Admin Sidebar - Section by Section

The left sidebar is your main navigation. Let's go through each item:

1. Dashboard

• Home — the main dashboard screen (what we just covered)
• Updates — shows available updates for WordPress core, themes, and plugins

2. Posts

Where you manage blog posts (date-based, chronological content).

• All Posts — list of all posts, with options to edit, trash, or bulk-edit
• Add New Post — create a new blog post
• Categories — organize posts into categories (e.g., "News", "Tutorials")
• Tags — add keyword tags to posts for further organization

3. Media

The Media Library — all uploaded files (images, PDFs, videos, audio).

• Library — browse all uploaded media in grid or list view
• Add New Media File — upload new files
• You can also upload media directly when editing a post or page

4. Pages

Where you manage static pages (About, Contact, Services, etc.).

• All Pages — list of all pages
• Add New Page — create a new page
• Pages don't have categories or tags — they're standalone content

5. Comments

Manage comments left on your blog posts.

• Approve, reply to, edit, spam, or trash comments
• Set comment moderation rules in Settings → Discussion

6. Appearance

Controls how your site looks.

• Themes — install, activate, and manage themes
• Customize — the WordPress Customizer (live preview of changes)
• Widgets — manage sidebar and footer content blocks
• Menus — create and manage navigation menus
• Theme File Editor — edit theme code directly (use with caution!)

7. Plugins

Manage site functionality.

• Installed Plugins — see all plugins, activate/deactivate them
• Add New Plugin — search and install plugins from the WordPress repository
• Plugin File Editor — edit plugin code directly (don't use this unless you know what you're doing)

8. Users

Manage user accounts and roles.

• All Users — list of all users on the site
• Add New User — create a new user account
• Profile — edit your own profile (display name, email, password, etc.)

9. Tools

Utility features.

• Available Tools — links to press-this and other tools
• Import — import content from other platforms (Blogger, Tumblr, etc.)
• Export — export your WordPress content as XML
• Site Health — diagnostic information about your site

10. Settings

Configure how your site behaves.

• General — site title, tagline, URL, timezone, date format
• Writing — default post category, post format
• Reading — what your homepage displays, how many posts to show
• Discussion — comment settings and moderation rules
• Media — default image sizes
• Permalinks — URL structure for your posts and pages
• Privacy — privacy policy page settings

The Admin Bar (Top Bar)

The dark bar at the top of every page (also visible on the front-end when logged in):

Screen Options & Help

Two often-overlooked features at the top-right of every admin page:

Screen Options

• Click to show/hide columns and elements on the current page
• Different options appear depending on which page you're on
• Example: On the Posts list, you can show/hide columns like Author, Categories, Tags, Date

Help

• Click for context-sensitive help about the current page
• Useful when you forget what a specific setting does

Keyboard Shortcuts

WordPress has some handy keyboard shortcuts:

For comment moderation, enable shortcuts in Users → Profile → Keyboard Shortcuts.

Exercises

1. Explore every sidebar item: Click through every section in the left sidebar. Don't change anything — just look at what's available.

2. Customize the dashboard: Click "Screen Options" on the Dashboard home and hide everything except "At a Glance" and "Activity".

3. Check the Settings pages: Visit each page under Settings (General, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media, Permalinks, Privacy) and read through the options. Note what each one controls.

4. Visit your site from the admin bar: Hover over your site name in the top bar and click "Visit Site". Then click your site name again to go back to the dashboard.

5. Check Site Health: Go to Tools → Site Health and see what it reports. This will be more useful later, but get familiar with where it is.

Key Takeaways

• The left sidebar is your main navigation — it contains everything
• Posts are for blog content, Pages are for static content
• Appearance controls how your site looks (themes, menus, widgets)
• Plugins add functionality
• Settings configures behavior (especially Permalinks and Reading)
• Screen Options (top-right) lets you customize every admin page
• The admin bar provides quick access to common actions
• You can dismiss the Welcome panel and rearrange dashboard widgets

Next Lesson: Lesson 04 - Posts vs Pages