Overview of the WordPress dashboard and settings

1. Start a Blog:
From Hosting to Posting
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2. Module 2: WordPress Dashboard
• Log In
• Dashboard
• Settings
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3. Log In to the
Dashboard
To begin your blogging journey, you need to
log in to the admin or back end of your
website. You will usually find your site's login
page by typing your domain URL followed by
the words "wp-admin"
(http://examplesite.com/wp-admin). To get
to the login page for this site, I would type
http://merridennis.com/wp-admin in my
browser bar.
The image to the right will appear in your
browser.
Type in your Username and Password and
click Log In.
Determine a safe place to keep this
username and password. Do not depend
upon your memory or your browser's
memory for this information.
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4. Dashboard
After you log in, your first stop is the
Dashboard of your site.
Your site name is in the upper left
corner. Clicking on your site name will take
you to the home page. In the far right
corner, you'll see that you are identified as
the logged in user.
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5. Delete
Unnecessary
Plugins
It is important to avoid inactive plugins and
themes on your site. I like to start with a
clean slate on the plugins page. Therefore,
we will deactivate and delete all plugins that
were automatically loaded with the
installation of WordPress.
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6. Delete
Unnecessary
Plugins
Make sure all the plugins are deactivated.
Click the box next to Plugin to automatically
check the rest of the boxes.
Click the dropdown arrow and choose
Delete. Then click Apply to start the deletion
process.
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7. Delete
Unnecessary
Plugins
To complete the process, click Yes on this
page.
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8. Dashboard
Overview
The Screen Option box just below your user
name can be an important place to
remember. When you click on this box, a list
of items that could or could not appear in
the Work Area for a particular Administrative
Screen appears. Each Screen may have a
different set of options. You can see the
differences in the examples below. For your
Add New Post Screen, I recommend that you
check all the boxes. It will save you some
stress further down the road.
This is the Screen Option box for the New
Post Screen
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9. Settings:
General
On the General Settings page, first edit your
Site Title and Tagline fields. The next two
fields will probably contain matching URLs. If
your WordPress was installed in a
subdirectory of your domain, that URL will
appear here. Add your email address to the
next field. Leave the Membership box
blank. The New User Default Role should
remain Subscriber. Be sure to set the
timezone to match yours using the
dropdown menu to find a city that matches
your timezone. The rest of the fields on this
page can be set per your preference.
Always remember to click the Save Changes
button at the bottom of the page.
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10. Settings:
Writing & Reading
Writing Settings
You don't need to make any changes on this
settings page. Leave all fields with the default
values provided.
Reading Settings
Since you are probably using your website as a
blog, your front page will usually be set to
display your latest posts. You can change the
other fields on this page per your
preference. Be sure to leave the Search Engine
Visibility box empty.
If you want your front page to display static
content or a special announcement, you can
choose Static Page. You will then need to
choose a page for your Front Page and your Blog
Posts from the drop down menus.
You can make a different decision about this
front page setting after you have chosen and
installed your theme.
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11. Settings:
Discussion
The Discussion Settings page provides setting
options for comments on your blog. I leave
the default settings on this page as well. If
you have trouble with spam comments, you
may choose to check the box to manually
approve comments. You can change the
Avatar Settings per your preference. (For a
detailed explanation of each item, visit the
WordPress Codex.)
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12. Settings:
Media
This page provides the standard image
setting sizes. I let the default settings for
image sizes to remain the same and uncheck
the box in front of the "Organize my uploads"
(my personal preference).
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13. Settings:
Permalinks
You will want to change your permalink
settings before your begin to create blog
posts. The permalink is the URL that appears
in the browser window when a reader is
viewing an individual post. I change the
Permalink to Post Name.
If you are importing posts from a previous
blog, you may need to make a different
permalink setting choice to match the
permalink format of your old posts.
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14. I share easy-to-follow tutorials and effective tools
to improve your blogging journey. I specialize
in identifying the best resources
to prevent online overwhelm.
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