Whenever you log in to your WordPress website, you are taken to your admin area. The first page you see is your admin home page; which displays the WordPress dashboard.
The WordPress dashboard area gives you a general overview of your website. It also displays many useful quick links for performing common tasks such as adding media or changing the menu layout.
Welcome to WordPress! Widget
The welcome widget is displayed at the top of the dashboard. On the left-hand side is a large “Customize” button that takes you to the WordPress theme customizer and a link underneath to the main themes area.
The center column contains useful links to create a blog post, create a page, and view the front end of your website.
At a Glance
The “At a Glance” widget gives you a general overview of your website including the number of published posts and published pages. The figure for the total number of comments includes spam comments. The theme you are currently using is also noted and a reminder is printed if you have blocked search engines from indexing your website.
The main menu options and their usage are:
Dashboard
This will display your main Dashboard ‘homepage’. In the top left of your Dashboard, you’ll see some brief stats on the number of Posts, Pages, Categories, and Tags contained within your site, as well as the total number of comments and approved comments. There’s also a summary of how many Spam Comments you currently have.
Posts
This is where you can create a new Blog Post. You can also update your Categories and Post Tags.
Media
This is where all your uploaded images, documents, or files are stored. You can browse through your Media library, as well as edit and update the files.
Pages
This is where you create and maintain all your Pages.
Comments
You can manage all your Comments within this section, including replying to comments or marking them as spam.
Appearance
This menu is where you control how your site looks. You can choose a new Theme, manage your site Widgets or Menus and even edit your site theme files.
Plugins
Plugins extend and expand the functionality of WordPress. You can add or delete plugins here as well as activate or deactivate them.
Users
This screen lists all the existing users for your site. Depending on your Role, you can also add new users as well as manage their Roles.
Tools
This section gives you access to various convenient tools. You can also Import data to your WordPress site or Export all your WordPress data to a file.