This document provides an overview of basic editing functions in WordPress. It describes how to log into the WordPress dashboard and access various editing tools, including how to create and edit posts and pages, manage categories, media, users, menus and widgets. It cautions that plugins and themes require careful consideration as they can impact site functionality and design.

1. Basic Editing of a
WordPress Site
Jeff McNear
plasterdog.com
jeff@plasterdog.com
@plasterdog
847/849-7060

2. With any WordPress site the most
straight forward way to access the
administration interface is to append
“/wp-admin” to the root URL of the
site.
This address will give you access to
the login screen.
To login you must have a
pre-assigned login name and
password.

3. Once you are logged in you will be presented with the “dashboard” screen.
The tabs in the left column will allow access to a variety of editing functions.

4. There are two distinct content types is
WordPress: Posts & Pages:
Posts have the following unique qualities:
•They are assembled in category groups
•Member posts of a category can be displayed in their
entire content, or in excerpted form depending on
how the governing theme’s code is configured
•Posts are displayed in reverse chronological order
(most recent at the top of the stack)
•Categories of posts can be converted into RSS feeds
•Individual post templates can be added to the theme
code set, but require a plugin to be functional
A WordPress Page differs from a WordPress Post in a
several ways:
•Pages are not assembled in category group
•Pages are not displayed in chronological order
•Individual page templates can be added to the theme
code set, and will work with a default install of
WordPress

6. By default WordPress deploys with a single
category called “uncategorized”. My
recommendation is to leave this category empty so
that you can easily locate posts that have been left
inadvertently “uncategorized”
Create custom categories by going to:
Posts
Categories
Populate Name
Populate slug (“machine name” of category)
Description (in some themes this text will
automatically display at the top of a category
array)
With your categories created you can organize your
post content into logical groups.

7. All created posts are accessible via the => posts => all posts link.
Typically you will be able to see each post’s title, category, and publish
date in this array.
To edit a post, click on its’ title.

8. To narrow the post array by category, select a category from the
dropdown and then click the “filter” button

9. Post Title
Post Assign Publish Date
Content
Assign Post
Category via
check boxes
Post
Excerpt Set Post
Featured
Image

10. In the Post Edit Screen you can:
Set the Post Title
Assign the post to a category or
categories
Enter the main content of the
post (including images)
Edit the post publish date
Configure the post excerpt
Set the featured image for the
post (typically only visible in the
category display)

11. WYSIWYG TAB HTML TAB
Depending on your preference you can
work in either the WYSIWG or HTML
tab.
The WYSIWG setting will behave in a
similar way to MS Word. The HTML
setting will respect HTML tags & coding

12. Pages are accessed & edited in much the same way as posts. However
pages are not grouped by category

13. The page editor is virtually the same
as the post editor.
The only real omission is the ability to
select an associated category.
For some themes there will be the
option to assign different page
templates.

14. Images are handled via the media manager. WordPress assembles all
media into a single container, which at times can be slightly cumbersome.

15. The “add new” button will allow you to upload new
media content directly into the site
Alternatively media
can be inserted
directly into the page
or post via the
“upload/insert” link

16. Users are handled via the user panel. In general the only reason to
create users is to allow access to site editing. The hierarchy of user
privilege is:
Administrator: Has access to all administration features and functionality
Editor: can create, manage and publish posts for all users- has permission to
approve contributor level submissions. Cannot access plugin or theme tools
Author: can create, manage and publish posts
Contributor: can create & manage posts, but content must be approved before
publishing
Subscriber: can comment, receive newsletters, see protected content

17. Since the advent of WordPress 3.0 (released 5/11) the menu module
has enabled the dynamic construction of menus – these menus can
be placed in any widget region

18. The widget panel allows the placement of functional elements that are
either part of the core WordPress code, or which have been made
available via the insertion of “plugins.

19. Plugins should be carefully selected and be used sparingly. In many
cases the site design depends on a particular plugin configuration … so
do not be cavalier about adding or deactivating plugins.
Many plugins require configuration after activation.

20. The design of the site is even more closely tied to the theme being used.
While the data contained within the site is not dependent on the selected
theme, functionality and layout using is … so think long and hard before
experimenting with theme selection or the modification of theme options!