The WordPress Dashboard

The WordPress Dashboard is the first screen you see when you log into your WordPress website. From this screen, you can access all the functions of WordPress. Down the left side of the page are all the different options you need.

Posts:

This is where you add, edit and manage your blog entries/posts.

Media:

This is where you can add, edit and manage images for your website. Images can also be added when creating and editing posts and pages, depending on where you want the image to be placed.

Links:

This is where you manage all the links and link categories of your site

Pages:

This is where you add, edit and manage your website pages.

Comments:

This is where you manage all the comments left on your blog posts and/or pages by your visitors/readers

Appearance:

Here is where you manage your themes, widgets, menus, and other extra functions that depend on the theme you have installed. This area is where you can customise the look and feel of your website to suit your vision of what your website needs to be.

Plugins:

This is where you search for, add and install new plugins, and activate/deactivate or delete installed plugins.

Users:

This is where you control who can log into your WordPress website. You can add users, delete, assign them passwords, and control whether they can edit your site and what changes they are allowed to make.
Settings: Here you can change the general settings of your website. There will be an additional post on the WordPress settings area.

On the basic dashboard screen, you can find out a vast amount of information about your website, such as the latest comments that have been posted, recent activity, and the latest WordPress news.

These are just the basic functions that come standard with WordPress. For instance, if you have installed My Custom CSS, you will find it listed on the left sidebar menu with all the other functions, and if you have installed the All in One SEO pack, you would find the settings for it listed at the very top of the menu list. So depending on the themes you have installed and any plugins you have added, there will be other options to access that allow you to further change and customise your website.

These functions and menus continue to update with new versions of WordPress and new plugin versions that keep up with the latest software and trends, while maintaining the security of your website.