You’ve just been given the keys to a brand new installation of WordPress. Now what?
Over the next few weeks we will be talking about getting started with WordPress. We will assume that the user is unfamiliar with WordPress.
Let’s take a step-by-step tour through your WordPress site and see how the different functions work and how to make your new site your own. After following these steps, you’ll soon be changing everything.
Log In
Begin by logging into the “administration area” or the back-end of your website. Visit your site’s login page by placing “wp-admin” after your domain name (e.g. http://example.com/wp-admin). You can also place “login” after your domain as of WordPress 3.4. Some themes provide a “log in” link or form on the front end as well. Now log into WordPress using your username and password.
The Dashboard (AKA Administration Screen)
After logging in you are on the main Administration Screen called the Dashboard. This is the brain behind your website, the place where you can let your creativity explode, writing brilliant prose and designing the best and most lovely website possible. This is where the organization of your site begins – and this is just the start.
At the top of the screen is the area called the “toolbar.” Click on the link that is your site name. This will take you to a view of your new WordPress site. Like it? Don’t like it? Doesn’t matter, just look at it. This is where you are going to be spending a lot of time over the next few minutes, hours, weeks, months….
Test Drive Your WordPress Site
The layout you are looking at is called a WordPress Theme. It is the appearance of your website, styling the look of the site and the framing of the content
Let’s look at the post for a moment. There is a “title,” and below the title is date the post was written, then the body of the post, and finally some information about the post. This is called the post meta data and contains information about the post such as the category assigned to that post.
Scroll down the page and notice the bar at the end of the page. This is called the “footer.” It may say “Proudly powered by WordPress.”
Back to the sidebar, you will see different sections with information. Among these you may find a list of Recent Posts, Recent Comments, Archives, Categories, and links to the Administration Screens, Log Out, and RSS feeds. This is part of the menu or navigation Screen that people will use to move around your site, visiting posts from different categories or time periods.
Next Week: The Administration Screen (The Dashboard)
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