When you first log into your WordPress site, the Dashboard is the control center — the place where everything begins. Whether you’re editing pages, writing blog posts, installing themes, or managing users, it all happens here.
In this guide, we’ll walk through each section of the dashboard so you can feel confident managing your website — even if you’re just getting started.
🖥️ Overview of the Dashboard Home Screen
When you log in, you’ll land on the Dashboard Home screen. Here you’ll see:
- A Welcome Panel (helpful shortcuts)
- Recent activity (posts, comments)
- Site health status
- Quick draft (create quick post ideas)
This is just a snapshot of your site’s current state.
🔄 The Importance of Updates
At the top of your dashboard, you’ll often see a notification for Updates.
Keeping your:
- WordPress version
- Themes
- Plugins
…up to date is critical for security, performance, and compatibility.
⚠️ Before updating, it’s a good idea to:
- Make a backup of your website (just in case something goes wrong)
- If you’re updating a theme and have made customizations, make sure you’re using a child theme — otherwise, updates can overwrite your changes.
✍️ Posts – Managing Your Blog Content
The Posts section is where you’ll create and manage your blog content.
- Add new posts
- Organize them using categories and tags
- Edit or delete old ones
📌 If you’re running a blog or news section, this is where your content lives.
📄 Pages – Building Your Main Site Structure
The Pages section is where you create static pages like:
- Home
- About
- Contact
- Services
If your theme includes a page builder like Elementor, you’ll often see a button like “Edit with Elementor”.
That opens a drag & drop editor where you can design beautiful pages without any coding knowledge.
🧠 Remember: Always click Save/Update before leaving a page. If you forget, your changes will be lost.
🎨 Appearance – Themes, Menus & Customization
In the Appearance section, you can:
- Change or upload a theme
- Create your site’s menu
- Add or edit widgets
- Use the Customizer to change site colors, fonts, logos, and more
If you’ve imported a premium theme, you might see extra options like:
- Theme Options
- Typography
- Header/Footer Builder
Don’t worry if you see new items in the menu — they’re added by your theme to give you more control.
🔌 Plugins – Add New Features
Plugins allow you to add functionality like:
- Contact forms
- SEO tools
- Sliders or galleries
- Security and speed optimizations
Each plugin you install may add its own section in the Dashboard menu, where you’ll find its settings.
👥 Users – Add or Manage Website Access
In the Users section, you can:
- Add new people to your site
- Assign them roles like Administrator, Editor, Author, or Subscriber
Each role has specific permissions. For example, an Editor can create and edit content but can’t change site settings like an Admin can.
⚙️ Settings – Basic Site Configuration
The Settings section contains essential options like:
- Site title & tagline
- Timezone and language
- Permalink structure
🔗 Permalink Tip: Choose the “Post name” option for clean and SEO-friendly URLs like:yourdomain.com/my-first-post
📥 After Importing a Demo: What to Clean Up
When you install a premium theme and import the demo content, it may create:
- Dozens of pages
- Example blog posts
- Menus and widgets
You can edit or delete anything you don’t need. After setting up your site, it’s a good idea to:
- Remove unnecessary demo pages
- Rename pages as needed (e.g., “Home (Demo)” → “Home”)
- Clean up menus and sidebars
✅ Don’t Panic: The Dashboard Will Grow
As you install new plugins or a premium theme, you might notice that extra sections start appearing in your Dashboard — like “Theme Options,” “Testimonials,” “Slider,” “Email Settings,” and more.
⚠️ Don’t worry — this is completely normal.
These new sections are added by:
- The plugins you’ve installed
- The active theme, especially if it comes with advanced features
📖 If you’ve purchased a premium theme, it likely includes a full documentation folder in the ZIP file.
There, you’ll find explanations for every extra setting and how to customize the theme exactly the way you want.
So take your time, explore, and enjoy the process — WordPress gives you all the tools to build something amazing.
🙌 Final Thoughts
We hope this article helped you gain a clearer understanding of what you can do inside the WordPress Dashboard. Whether you’re adding pages, installing plugins, or customizing your theme — this is your control center.
Take it one step at a time, don’t be afraid to explore, and most importantly: don’t give up if something doesn’t look right immediately.
❓ Common Questions Beginners Have
Here are some common questions or issues you might run into when working inside the dashboard:
💬 “I made a change, but I don’t see it on my website. Why?”
This is one of the most common situations for beginners. Here are a few things to check:
- Did you click “Save” or “Update”?
It might sound simple, but forgetting to save is very common — and no changes are saved unless you do. - Are you seeing a cached version of your site?
Sometimes your browser or your hosting server is showing an old (cached) version of the page to make things load faster.
🧠 What is Caching?
Caching is a way to temporarily store a version of your website so it loads faster for visitors. But during development, it can cause confusion if you don’t see your latest edits.
⚙️ Using Hostinger? Check LiteSpeed Cache
If you’re using Hostinger, your site is likely using the LiteSpeed Cache plugin by default — it’s a powerful tool that helps with performance.
To clear the cache:
- Go to your WordPress Dashboard
- Hover over the LiteSpeed menu at the top admin bar
- Click “Purge All”
This will refresh all cached files so you can see your most recent changes instantly.
📌 Tip: If you’re making big design edits, it’s always a good idea to clear the cache and then refresh your page (you can use Ctrl+Shift+R or Command+Shift+R).