When you first start using WordPress, there are lots of elements to get your head around. On the dashboard, you’ll see lots of options like ‘Posts’, ‘Pages’, ‘Media’, ‘Appearance’, ‘Plugins’, ‘Users’, ‘Settings’, ‘Tools’, etc.
Don’t worry, you won’t need to know everything! Once you get to know the main parts of your dashboard, it’ll help you manage your website with ease.
This beginner’s guide will show you everything you need to know about the WordPress dashboard. We’ll take a look at the most important menus, common tasks, useful settings, and common mistakes beginners make.
Knowing how to use your dashboard is key if you’re creating a website for your business, blog, portfolio, personal site or online store.
What is the WordPress Dashboard?
The WordPress dashboard is essentially the admin area of your WordPress website.
After installing WordPress, you can usually access your admin area by going to:
yourdomain.com/wp-admin
And logging in with your WordPress admin details.
From here, you’ll have access to tools to create content, change the appearance of your site, install plugins, manage users, change settings, and much more.
This is the control centre of your WordPress site.
You won’t need any coding knowledge to complete many everyday tasks.
Understanding the WordPress Dashboard
After logging in, you’ll usually see several key sections.
• Admin toolbar
• Dashboard Welcome
• At A Glance
• Activity
• Quick Draft
• Site Health
• WordPress News
• Navigation Sidebar
Your dashboard can look slightly different depending on your WordPress version, theme, plugins, and user permissions.
The most important section for beginners to understand is the navigation sidebar. From here you can access most of the features required to manage your website.
1. Dashboard
The dashboard section will usually include:
Home
This screen will give you an overview of your website.
Depending on how you’ve set up your site, you may see some recent activity, site health, content, comments, and other admin details.
This screen is a quick overview.
Updates
This section will let you know if there are any updates available for your WordPress, plugins, and themes.
It’s important to keep your website software up to date.
Before doing any major updates to your site (especially if you’re running a business website), it makes sense to have a reliable backup.
Pro Tip for Beginners
Don’t get too caught up with all the widgets on your dashboard. Focus on learning the main menus.
If you’re looking for a practical resource to learn WordPress whilst building your website, check out my WordPress eBook!
2. Posts
The posts section is mainly used for publishing blog content.
From here you’ll usually see:
• All Posts
• Add New Post
• Categories
• Tags
• All Posts
This will show all your current blog posts.
You can edit, delete, preview, or manage your posts.
Add New Post
This will open up the WordPress editor. From here, you can create a new article.
You can add:
• Headings
• Paragraphs
• Images
• Videos
• Lists
• Links
• Buttons
• Other content blocks
• Categories
Categories can help organise your blog posts into larger topics.
For example, if you had a Digital Marketing website, you may have categories like:
• SEO
• WordPress
• Social Media Marketing
• Website Design
• Tags
Tags can help give extra description to your content.
Try to use categories and tags logically.
3. Media
The media section lets you manage any files you’ve uploaded to your WordPress site.
This can include:
• Images
• PDFs
• Videos
• Audio
• Media Library
From here, you can view any media you’ve uploaded. You can upload new images or upload media when creating pages and posts.
Try not to upload large images to improve the performance of your website. Always try to resize and compress images.
4. Pages
Pages are used for more permanent content on your website.
This can include:
• Home
• About Us
• Services
• Contact
• Privacy Policy
• Terms and Conditions
Unlike blog posts, pages aren’t usually organised based on date.
To create a new page:
Go to Pages > Add New Page.
From here, you can create your content using the WordPress editor.
Depending on your theme, you may have access to a site editor.
If you’re creating your first WordPress website, my eBook is a great practical resource!
5. Comments
If you have comments enabled on your website, you can manage them from this section.
Depending on your settings, you may be able to:
• Approve
• Reply
• Edit
• Mark as Spam
• Delete
Comment moderation is really important if you’re getting a lot of traffic to your site. This will help stop any unwanted comments with spam or suspicious links.
6. Appearance
This section lets you manage key appearance elements on your site.
Depending on your WordPress theme and settings, you may see:
• Themes
• Editor
• Customise
• Widgets
• Menus
This can vary greatly depending on your theme.
Themes
Themes help control much of the design on your site.
From here you can install, activate, update, or remove themes.
Always make sure you know what a theme does before changing it on an existing site.
Editor
Modern themes may have a site editor.
This lets you edit parts of your site like:
• Headers
• Footers
• Templates
• Navigation
• Global Styles
• Page Layouts
If you have a classic theme, you may have different customisation options.
7. Plugins
Plugins help add extra features to your WordPress site.
Think of plugins as extra software to add extra features.
They can help with:
• Contact forms
• SEO
• Security
• Backups
• Caching
• Ecommerce
• Analytics
• Memberships
To explore plugins:
Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
However, don’t add too many plugins that don’t have a clear purpose.
Choose reputable plugins, keep them updated, and remove any you don’t need.
8. Users
This section lets you manage any users that have access to your WordPress site.
WordPress comes with several default roles:
• Administrator
• Editor
• Author
• Contributor
• Subscriber
Each role will have different abilities.
For example, an administrator will have lots of control over your site whereas a subscriber will have very limited permissions.
Only give users the access they need.
If you want to learn WordPress in a structured way, my eBook is a great resource for beginners!
9. Tools
This section gives you extra tools to help manage your site.
Depending on your WordPress setup and plugins, you may see:
• Import
• Export
• Site Health
• Personal Data
Don’t change any advanced settings.
If you don’t know what a setting does, research it first.
10. Settings
This section lets you manage many core settings for your WordPress site.
General
From here you can change basic settings like:
• Site Title
• Tagline
• WordPress URL
• Site URL
• Admin Email
• Time Zone
• Date Format
• Time Format
Be careful when changing any URL settings, as they can impact how accessible your site is.
Writing
This section relates to how WordPress handles some publishing functions.
Reading
This lets you change how your homepage and blog are displayed.
For example, you can decide whether you want your homepage to show your latest posts or a static page.
Discussion
This lets you change how comments are handled.
Media
This can impact how WordPress handles some image sizes.
Permalinks
This determines how your URLs are structured.
For example:
example.com/wordpress-dashboard-guide/
Is usually much easier to understand than a URL with unclear numbers.
Make sure you choose a logical permalinks structure before publishing lots of content.
11. Admin Toolbar
At the top of your dashboard, you’ll usually see an admin toolbar.
From here you can quickly access:
• View your site
• Create new content
• View comments
• Your profile
• View updates
Whilst logged in, you can also see this toolbar when viewing your site.
This helps you switch between your site and admin area.
12. Profile
You can access your profile from the Users section or your account.
Depending on your setup, you can manage:
• Display Name
• Email Address
• Profile
• Password
• Visual Editor
• Admin Colour
Make sure you have a strong, unique password for your administrator.
13. WordPress Editor
One of the most important things for beginners to understand is the WordPress editor.
Using the block editor, you can create content using blocks.
Common blocks include:
• Paragraph
• Heading
• Image
• Gallery
• List
• Quote
• Video
• Button
• Columns
Instead of thinking of your page as one big block of content, you can think of it as multiple sections. This makes it easier to move content around.
14. Dashboard vs Website
A common mistake beginners make is mixing up the WordPress dashboard and your actual website.
The dashboard is where you manage your website.
The front end is what your visitors will see.
For example:
Dashboard – You create a new page.
Front End – Visitors can see this page on your website.
Learning how to switch between these will make managing your site much easier.
15. Simple Dashboard Workflow
Once you understand the main menus, you can follow this simple workflow.
Step 1 – Basic Settings
Change your site title, tagline, time zone, and other basic settings.
Step 2 – Choose Theme
Choose a theme that suits your website.
Step 3 – Create Pages
Create your key pages like Home, About, Services and Contact.
Step 4 – Navigation
Create a clear menu to help visitors navigate your site.
Step 5 – Install Essential Plugins
Only install plugins that offer you the functionality you need.
Step 6 – Create Content
Create useful pages and blog posts for your target audience.
Step 7 – Test
Test your pages on desktop and mobile.
Step 8 – Manage
Regularly check for updates, backups, security, performance, and content.
If you want to go beyond just knowing your dashboard, my WordPress eBook is a great practical resource.
Common Dashboard Mistakes for Beginners
Too many plugins
Don’t install too many plugins – only install what you need.
Changing settings you don’t understand
Some settings can impact how your site works. Research any unknown settings.
Not updating
Outdated software can cause issues with managing your site.
Everyone as administrator
Use the right user roles.
Large images
Large media files can cause issues with your site performance. Try to optimise your images.
No backups
Having a backup can be extremely useful.
Making changes to your live site
If making any significant changes, consider using a staging environment (if your hosting setup allows).
How long will it take to learn the WordPress Dashboard?
You can learn the basic structure of your dashboard quite quickly. However, it’ll take some practice to get confident with WordPress.
As a beginner, focus on learning one section at a time:
• Dashboard Navigation
• Pages & Posts
• Media
• Themes & Appearance
• Plugins
• Users
• Settings
• Managing
You don’t need to remember every option.
Focus on knowing where to find the tools and what they’re for.
Final Thoughts
Although the dashboard looks complicated to begin with, most beginners will only use a small section of the dashboard.
Start with the basics – Posts, Pages, Media, Appearance, Plugins, Users, Tools & Settings. Learn what each section does and practise using them on your website. As you become more confident, you can start to explore more advanced features.
Once you know how to use your dashboard you’ll have a solid foundation to create and manage professional WordPress websites.
The best way to learn is by doing. Create a test site and experiment with creating pages and posts. Change your theme settings, install carefully chosen plugins and learn how they impact your site.
Check out my eBook to learn WordPress in a structured way.
FAQ’s
1. What is the WordPress dashboard?
The WordPress dashboard is the admin area of your WordPress website. From here you can create content, manage media, change settings, install plugins, manage users and more.
2. How do I access my WordPress dashboard?
You can usually access your WordPress login by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin.
3. Do I need any coding knowledge to use the dashboard?
No! Many common tasks can be done without any coding knowledge. You can create pages, publish posts, upload images, change themes, and install plugins.
4. What’s the difference between pages and posts?
Pages are usually used for permanent content like About, Services & Contact. Posts are usually used for regularly published content like blog articles & news.
5. What are plugins?
Plugins are extensions that add extra functionality to WordPress. They can help with contact forms, SEO, security, ecommerce, backups and more.
6. What is a WordPress theme?
A WordPress theme controls many of the visual elements and layout of your site. They impact things like fonts, colours, templates, headers, footers & page layouts.
7. What are user roles?
User roles determine what users can do on your WordPress site. Common roles include Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor & Subscriber.
8. Can I customise my dashboard?
Some sections can be customised or moved around. Some plugins may add extra features to your dashboard. This will depend on your WordPress version, theme, plugins & user permissions.
9. Should beginners install lots of plugins?
No! Only install plugins that will help you with useful functionality. Too many plugins can make managing your site more complicated.
10. What should I learn first?
Start with the basics – creating pages & posts, uploading media, managing your theme, installing plugins, changing essential settings & managing users. Once you know these, you can start to learn some more advanced WordPress features.
