LogoSECTION 2.0 SETUP WORDPRESS

After you’ve installed WordPress, you’re ready to explore its capabilities. In Sections 2.0 and 3.0, we’ll go through all the different items, settings, and options in the Dashboard – your command center for working with WordPress, and getting WordPress to work for you.

NOTE: WordPress Version 3.3 was released in December 2011. Updates that affect the content of this article are explained here.

As you can see in the screenshot below, the Dashboard is arranged with 10 Menu Items in the left column: Posts, Media, Links, Pages, Comments, Appearance, Plugins, Users, Tools, and Settings.

Wordpress dashboard

Video Overview of the WordPress Dashboard (6:53)

In this video we:

  • Login to the WordPress Dashboard.
  • Explain the Updates notification.
  • Explain the ten Menu headings in the Dashboard.
  • Demonstrate how to switch between the Dashboard and the live site view.
  • Explain the Right Now status section.
  • Show where to log out.
  • Demonstrate how to access context-sensitive Help.
  • Demonstrate how to display Screen Options.
  • Demonstrate how to change your Dashboard screen layout configuration.

 

2.0 Menu

Section 2.0 Setup WordPress

In this section, we’ll address the five settings that appear below the divider in the order listed below. These five menu items comprise the “one-time” setup options and preferences (acknowledging that you may need to return and change some of these settings after you begin to add content). Understanding these initial setup configurations will enable you to become more productive more easily as we begin to add content in the next tutorial section, 3.0 Use WordPress. It might be helpful to print out this handy table of all WordPress Dashboard Menu settings to see how this section relates to other WordPress settings.

Section 2.0 Setup WordPress:

Feed youngYou can return to this page at the conclusion of each article, or follow the sequential navigation links at the top and bottom of each article.

Keep in mind that in this Setup WordPress section of the tutorial we’re just introducing you to your WordPress Dashboard. In Section 3.0 Use WordPress, we’ll get into more detailed tasks as we create and edit content.

Get started with learning how to Setup Users.