A Tour of WordPress

This video will give you a basic overview of the WordPress Dashboard, and how it works.

Important Note: WordPress has made some updates since I shot this video, and the Dashboard looks a little bit different. However, all the important parts that I go over in the video, still work the same way, and can still be found in the same places. The biggest differences are the appearance, and the addition of some new options. I will either be re-shooting this video, or adding on to this one, very soon!

This tour is just meant to familiarize you with WordPress, so don’t feel like you need to understand everything by the end of it. I will be getting into the specific “how-to” of each important part of WordPress, each in its own separate videos. 🙂

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The Dashboard Home Page: This is an overview of all of the major parts inside your entire Dashboard. Here you’ll find quick-links to various sections throughout your website.

The Admin Toolbar: This toolbar will appear at the top of every page, whether you are in the Dashboard (the back-end of your site), or on your actual website (the front-end of your site). This toolbar will allow you to toggle back and forth between the back-end and front-end, as well as provide some quick links to places you may go to pretty often, such as pages, posts, and widget areas.

The Left Menu: This is the main navigation for your Dashboard. Inside each menu item, there are sub-menu items which break down that section even further. This menu will change as you add or make changes to your website, such as when you add themes or plugins.

Posts: This is where you will write new posts, as well as manage any existing posts.

Media: This is where all of the images, files, and videos on your website will be stored. You will be able to add new media items, and manage your existing media here as well.

Pages: This is where you will write new pages for your site, as well as manage any existing pages. (We will be discussing the differences between pages & posts in a future video.)

Comments: This is where you will be able to see and manage any comments which have been made on your posts and pages. You will have the option to approve, trash, edit, or spam any comment you receive.

Appearance: This menu item contains all the sub-menu items that manage the appearance of your blog. This includes your blog’s theme (which dictates the “look” of your blog), widgets (which are areas of your site to which you can customize and add your own information to), and your menu (which is the main navigation of your website).

Plugins: A plugin is a piece of software that you can add to your basic WordPress site, which will add a specific functionality to your site. For example, many sites have a Facebook like or Pin It button at the bottom of each post. This functionality is usually added through the use of a plugin. There are thousands and thousands of plugins available out there in WordPress land, some free and some paid, that do all sorts of cool things to your site, and I will be showing you some great plugins you can utilize on your own site in future videos.

(A word of caution: You never want to use too many plugins on your site, or you’ll find your site getting bogged down and either not loading quickly, or worse, something breaking. Don’t worry though; I will be showing you my favorite plugins that usually do not cause problems.)

Remember, this video was just meant to be a quick overview! We’ll be diving deeper into specific how-to’s as you make your way through my other tutorials. 🙂