WordPress is an open-source platform that powers more than 40% of websites in the world. Many people are learning to use this platform because of its growing demand, user-friendliness and extensive features.
But one should be familiar with all the available options on a platform to get the most out of it. Some beginners while exploring the WordPress dashboard options for the first time, find it intimidating or confusing.
So, we are here with an exploration of WordPress dashboard menu options.
Let’s start exploring!
Accessing the WordPress Dashboard
You may already know how to log in with the URL to your account.
Just go to “www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin” and enter your username and password.
You can also access your WordPress dashboard directly from your hosting account. For those who are using Bluehost Hosting, a clear button for “log into WordPress” is available on the homepage.
This is how the landing page of your WordPress dashboard will look like:
- For new users, the “Welcome to WordPress” toolset will appear at the top with some helpful links. However, if you have already installed some plugins then you may receive notifications in that section.
- The navigation menu may look different due to the different plugins and hosting services you are using. This is how the dashboard will look if you are using “Bluehost Hosting.”
The Upper Navigation Bar
There is a black bar at the top on which some shortcuts are displayed. It gets updated after installing plugins. It saves time and takes you directly to the given link. The “+” icon will let you add new pages, posts, or users to the backend.
The message icon will take you to the comment area and likewise. However, you cannot add custom links to this bar but links are automatically added when you will download any plugin. In this case, it’s “WPForms” that take you to the form section.
On the right side, you will get login and logout section as well!
The Left Navigation Menu
This is the main area where you will spend most of your time in WordPress. All the settings options and control menu will be here only.
If you are using WordPress as an administrator then the following menu will appear or else you won’t see all the options depending on your role. More icons or options will be added to this menu if new plugins are installed and activated.
Let’s discuss them one by one:
1. Dashboard
Here you will find an overview of your entire site. Based on plugins you are using, new areas are added that display the performance and activity of the each of them to give a quick overview of everything.
No action needs to be performed here.
2. Posts
Here you can create a new blog post or edit the existing ones.
You will find the list of articles that have been published, drafted, or created by different users. You can manage your “Categories” and “Tags” here as per the article.
3. Media
All the images, videos, or documents that you have uploaded are available here. Browse your media library to add new media or edit the new ones.
4. Pages
All the web pages on your website such as the Homepage, About Us, Contact Us, or Blog page are found here. You can add a new page here or update the previous ones.
5. Comments
All your comments on the blogs can be managed from this menu here. You can approve, modify, reply, or delete any comment here. You can even disable the comment option from the “Settings” menu.
6. Appearance
This option affects the looks of your website and how it navigates. Change your site designs or layout with the help of themes and background images. You can customize your navigation menu here.
Appearance menu contains contains these options:
- Themes
- Customize your theme
- Widgets
- Menus
- Theme file editor
7. Plugins
They are the apps inbuilt into WordPress. They add to and extend the functionality of your website, and you don’t need to acquire any coding expertise to manage them. You can directly browse WordPress plugins from the WordPress directory and install new ones, or you can directly manage them under this option.
8. Users
This menu has a list of the users that log in to your website. WordPress offers different roles such as author, contributor, or an administrator. Different users have different types of responsibilities and access.
9. Tools
This section is like the utility area of WordPress, where you can import/export all the data from pages and posts. You can check the health status of your site and access themes/plugins to edit.
10. Settings
This menu contains the global settings for your site, where you can see loads of options. You can edit the site title, URL structure, etc. here.
11. Collapse menu
This will change the look of the dashboard; instead of showing the menu in descriptive text, only icons will appear.
Plugins-Based Menu Options
1. Jetpack
Jetpack is a plugin to provide security, higher performance, and other growth tools. It makes your website safe, and secure while bringing more traffic too. You can install Jetpack to view daily visitors on your website.
2. Popup maker
It is a free plugin that helps you create popup windows for your websites when any contact or subscription form is submitted.
3. Stories
It is a new plugin developed by Google, also known as “Web story.” You can create tappable, engaging visual stories here about your article and publish it with a new URL.
4. PostX
It is a multi-functional plugin also known as a “News plugin” used for creating News and Magazines sites. It has a large number of layout and display options to take your design to the next level.
5. ElementsKit
It consists of all the add-ons needed to build an Elementor page. You will find here the header/footer builder, widget builder, forms, etc in one place.
6. WPForms
It helps in creating forms that will be displayed on your websites such as contact forms, subscription forms, career, payment forms, and others. You can collect necessary information and media here from the visitors who have filled out the form.
7. Elementor
This is a plugin where you can start drafting your article. This editor tool has many features. You can see the original web page on the right side and all the settings options on the left side. You can upload media and create all types of templates that you want to use for your article.
8. Templates
You can create the layout of your text in the article by using some unique fonts and color palettes. Templates affect the way your page is going to look like. You can be creative with it and create something unique for your articles.
9. WP 2FA
It is a free and easy-to-use two-factor authentication plugin that allows you to add extra security to your site. After logging in to your WordPress account, it will send OTP to your registered email and after entering it you are good to go.
10. Yoast SEO
It is a WordPress plugin to perform On-page SEO. It improves your site’s rankings on search engines, by optimizing your site’s content and keywords. It also checks for readability issues and asks to change.
These are examples of some useful plugins that you can consider installing for your website.
