The WordPress Dashboard Explained

The WordPress Dashboard Explained: What Every Button Does (and What You Can Ignore)

If you’ve just logged into WordPress and thought, “Wow… there are a LOT of buttons,” you’re definitely not alone. The WordPress dashboard can be intimidating at first, but once you understand what each section does, it becomes much easier (and honestly kind of fun).

In this post, we’ll walk through every main menu item in the WordPress dashboard, explain what it’s for, and—just as importantly—what you can safely ignore as a beginner.

What Is the WordPress Dashboard?
The WordPress dashboard is your website’s control centre. It’s where you:

*Write and edit content
*Customize how your site looks
*Install plugins
*Adjust settings
*Manage users and media

You can access it anytime by visiting: yoursite.com/wp-admin

After logging in, you’ll land on the dashboard homepage.

Dashboard (Home)
This is the first screen you see after logging in.
Here you’ll find:

*Site overview (posts, pages, comments)
*WordPress news and updates
*Quick Draft section
*At-a-glance stats
👉 Beginner tip: You don’t need to use this page regularly. Most people (probably) jump straight to Posts or Pages instead.

Posts
Posts are for blog content.
Use this section to:
*Write blog articles
*Edit or delete posts
*Organize content by categories and tags

If you plan to blog, you’ll spend a lot of time here.

Categories
*Broad topics for your blog (e.g. “WordPress Tips”)
*Help organize content for readers and search engines

Tags
*More specific keywords
*Optional, but helpful for organization
👉 You can ignore posts entirely if your site doesn’t have a blog.

Media
The Media Library stores:
*Images
*PDFs
*Videos
*Graphics
You can upload media here directly or add it while creating posts and pages.
👉 Beginner tip: Always resize images before uploading to decrease size and to help keep your site running fast.

Pages
Pages are for static content that doesn’t change often.
Common pages include:
*Home
*About
*Contact
*Services
*Privacy Policy

Unlike posts, pages:
*Aren’t organized by date
*Don’t use categories or tags

You’ll likely use Pages early when setting up your site.

Comments
This section shows comments left on your blog posts.
You can:
*Approve or delete comments
*Mark spam
*Reply to readers
👉 You can ignore this section if comments are disabled or you’re not blogging yet.

Appearance
This controls how your site looks.
*Themes
*Install and switch themes
*Customize layout and design
*Customize + adjust colours, fonts, logo, menus
*Changes are visual and previewable

Menus
Control site navigation
*Add pages, posts, and links to your menu
👉 This is one of the most important sections for beginners.

Plugins
Plugins add new features to your site—kind of like apps on your phone.
Examples include:
*Contact forms
*SEO tools
*Security
*Backups
*Speed optimization
You can:
*Install plugins
*Activate or deactivate them
*Update or delete plugins
👉 Beginner tip: More plugins ≠ better site. Keep only what you need.

Users
This section manages who can access your site.
User roles include:
*Administrator (full access)
*Editor
*Author
*Contributor
*Subscriber
👉 If you’re the only person running your site, you may never need this section.

Tools
Tools are usually used for:
*Importing or exporting content
*Plugin-specific utilities
👉 Most beginners don’t need this section right away.

Settings
This controls your site’s basic behaviour.
Important areas to review:
*General – Site title, tagline, timezone
*Reading – Homepage and blog display
*Permalinks – URL structure (choose “Post name”)
⚠️ Be careful here. Small changes can affect your site structure.

What You Can Safely Ignore as a Beginner
If you’re just getting started, you can safely ignore:
*Tools
*Advanced settings you don’t understand
*Most dashboard widgets
*User management (if solo)

Rather, focus on:
✔ Posts
✔ Pages
✔ Appearance
✔ Plugins
✔ Media

That’s more than enough to build a great site.


The WordPress dashboard looks complicated at first, but you don’t need to learn everything at once. Think of WordPress as a toolbox—you’ll reach for new tools only when you need them. Once you get comfortable navigating the dashboard, WordPress becomes one of the most flexible and powerful website platforms available.