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The Dashboard

[wp101 video=”the-dashboard”]

In this video, we’ll take a quick tour of the WordPress Dashboard, the central hub where you’ll manage your entire site.

To access the Dashboard, click the Log In link on your site’s homepage. If you don’t see one, simply type /wp-admin at the end of your website’s URL. Enter your username and password, and click Log In.

The Dashboard is the first screen you’ll see. Every page in the admin area has three main sections:

  • The toolbar across the top,
  • The navigation menu on the left, and
  • The main work area in the center.

The first time you log in, you’ll see a Welcome module with shortcuts to help you get started—like customizing your theme, creating content, managing menus, and more. You can keep it or dismiss it at any time.

At the top, the toolbar gives you quick access to common tools:

  • Links to WordPress resources, documentation, and support forums.
  • A shortcut to preview your site. When logged in, the toolbar follows you across your site so you can make changes on the fly.
  • Notifications about updates or comments.
  • Quick links to create posts, upload media, add pages, or manage users.
  • Profile settings and the option to log out.

Below the toolbar, you’ll see two handy tabs:

  • Screen Options, which let you customize what’s displayed on the page.
  • Help, which provides guidance specific to the page you’re viewing.

On the left, the navigation menu gives you access to all site management tools. Hover over an item to see its submenu. If you’d like more screen space, you can collapse the menu into icons and still access submenus by hovering.

The main work area is fully customizable:

  • Drag and drop boxes into new positions.
  • Minimize boxes with the arrow icon in the corner.
  • Hide boxes you don’t use via Screen Options.

Some key boxes you’ll find on the Dashboard include:

  • Site Health Status, which highlights important configuration details.
  • At a Glance, showing your content summary and WordPress version.
  • Activity, listing your recent posts and letting you moderate comments.
  • WordPress Events and News, with community updates and articles.
  • Quick Draft, which lets you jot down ideas for posts and save them as drafts for later.

Now that you’ve got a tour of the Dashboard, you’re ready to dive deeper. In the next video, we’ll cover the two primary types of WordPress content: Posts and Pages.

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