Summary
[Students, Faculty and Staff] On the left side of your WordPress Dashboard view is the menu you will use to manage your site and develop your pages and posts. Hovering over each of the main menu items opens a submenu with related options. Selecting a menu item displays the related tools and controls in the larger area to the right of the menus.
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Use the WordPress Dashboard to manage your entire site.
Toggle between your dashboard and page views
On the Admin Toolbar (black) at the top of your WordPress page, the name of your site (often, your name) is displayed. Selecting this name toggles you between your Dashboard view and your page view.
Dashboard menu options
On the left side of your Dashboard view is the menu you will use to manage your site and develop your pages and posts. Hovering over each of the main menu items displays a submenu with related options. Selecting a menu item displays the related tools and controls in the larger area to the right of the menus.
| Main Menu Option |
Description |
| Dashboard |
Display your Dashboard Home view with summary info for your site. |
| Posts |
Create new Blog Posts and update your Categories and Post Tags. By default, for new sites, the blog features are turned off. |
| Media |
Upload images, documents and other files. From here, you can browse through your media library and edit and update the files. |
| Links |
Add links to be displayed on your site. These links are usually displayed within a Widget. |
| Pages |
Create and maintain all your Pages. |
| Comments |
Manage all your Comments within this section, including replying to comments or marking them as spam. |
| Appearance |
Control how your site looks. Choose a new Theme, manage your Widgets and Menus, and even edit your site theme files. |
| Plugins |
Browse and activate Plugins to extend the functionality of WordPress. |
| Users |
Add and remove site users and manage their roles (permissions). |
| Tools |
Access tools to import content to your WordPress site or export all your WordPress content to a file, creating an offline backup of sorts. (The site export XML file includes the text and structure of the site, but not the images and other files. When you import the XML file into another WordPress account, WordPress copies the media files from the source site. Thus, it is crucial that the source site remain available in its original location until the import is complete.) |
| Settings |
Configure your site name, tagline, available fonts, visibility and much more. In most cases, once your site is set up, there is little need to change the settings in this section. |
| Plugin Menus |
Occasionally, when you install a Plugin, it will add its own configuration or setup page. Plugin menus usually appear in this area. |
| Subscriptions |
Manage your site subscribers' access. |
| Collapse menu |
Select Collapse menu to collapse the menu panel into a narrow column of icons to free-up space to the right. Select the Collapse menu icon to expand the panel to its full width. |
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