The WordPress dashboard is the control center of any website built with this content management system. From here, you manage content, design, users, plugins, and all the important settings of your website.

In this article, you’ll learn what each section of the WordPress admin panel is for, what you can do in each area, and how to use it correctly even if you have no prior technical knowledge. This guide is designed to help you understand WordPress from the inside and gain autonomy in managing your website.

📊 WordPress Admin Dashboard Guide

You’ll find all these options in the left column of the WordPress dashboard.

🏠 Dashboard → Home

The Dashboard / Home is the main screen of the admin panel.

Here you’ll find:

• A general overview of your website’s status.
• Quick access to create posts or pages.
• Information about WordPress and the active theme.
• You can remove and add new information widgets. At the top in “Screen Options” by activating or deactivating the widget in question. You can organize them by dragging and dropping the widgets.

It’s an informational panel designed to give you a quick view of the site.

🔄 Dashboard → Updates

From this section you can:

• Update WordPress: can only be updated from here.
• Update Themes: can also be updated from the “Appearance / Themes” section.
• Update Plugins: can also be updated from the “Plugins / Installed Plugins” section.
• Update translations: can only be updated from here.

✍️ Posts

Posts are used for:

• Blog articles.
• News.
• Chronologically ordered content.

From here you can:

• Create new posts.
• Edit existing posts.
• Manage categories and tags.

Posts are usually displayed in the blog and are ideal for dynamic and recurring content.

🖼️ Media

The Media Library stores:

• Images.
• Videos.
• PDFs.
• Audio files.
• Svg, zip, etc.

It allows you to:

• Upload files.
• Reuse them in posts and pages.
• Edit data such as alternative text (alt) in images, important for SEO and accessibility. Alt text is what appears when you hover over an image.

📄 Pages

Pages are used for static content, such as:

• Home.
• Contact.
• About us.
• Legal notice.

Unlike posts:

• They don’t use categories.
• They aren’t ordered by date.
• They are permanent content.

💬 Comments

All website comments are managed from here:

• Approve or reject comments.
• Mark as spam.
• Edit or delete them.

It’s essential to review this section to keep your website free of spam.

🎨 Appearance

This section controls the website’s design.

It includes:

• Themes: change or customize the theme.
• Customize: colors, fonts, logo, etc.
• Widgets: information blocks to place in sidebars or footer.
• Menus: create and organize navigation menus.

🧩 Plugins

Plugins extend WordPress functionalities.

From here you can:

• Install new plugins.
• Activate or deactivate plugins.
• Delete them.

Examples:

• SEO.
• Security.
• Backups.
• Forms.
• Cache.
• Online store.

Functionalities that WordPress doesn’t have by default.

👥 Users

Allows you to manage people who access the admin panel or registered users such as online store customers.

Functions:

• Create users.
• Assign roles (Administrator, Editor, Author, Subscriber).
• Edit profiles.

It’s important to assign only the necessary permissions to each user.

⚙️ WORDPRESS SETTINGS

🛠️ Settings → General

Basic site configuration:

• Site Title and Tagline: appears in the browser tab (if we don’t have an SEO plugin installed).
• Site Icon: or favicon, will appear in the browser tab.
• Site URL: the web address we have configured.
• Administrator Email.
• Language.
• Timezone: so that the date and time appear correctly in articles.

This is one of the first settings you should check.

📖 Settings → Reading

Defines how content is displayed:

• Your Homepage: display latest posts directly or choose a static page as home and another posts page as a Blog section, for example.
• Maximum number of posts per page: that will be displayed until the paginator appears.
• Maximum number of posts in the feed: used for news reader programs. Rarely used.
• Search engine visibility: if the website is public, don’t check this so search engines can find you. If the website is still under construction, check it so search engines don’t index it yet. Once the website is finished, don’t forget to uncheck this option.

💬 Settings → Discussion

Allows you to configure:

• Who can comment.
• Automatic comment moderation with word prohibition.
• Email notifications.
• Spam prevention.
• Display user avatars in their comments.

It’s advisable to review this section to avoid unwanted comments.

🖼️ Settings → Media

Defines WordPress standard image sizes:

• Thumbnail.
• Medium.
• Large.

These sizes are automatically generated when uploading images.

When installing a Theme, it’s very likely that it generates new image sizes that won’t appear here and will have to be edited from the Theme panel.

🔗 Settings → Permalinks

Controls the structure of website URLs.

SEO recommendation: Post name

A good structure improves search engine indexing.

🔐 Settings → Privacy

Allows you to:

• Create and assign the privacy policy page.
• Comply with legal regulations such as GDPR.

It’s mandatory in Europe for professional websites.

✅ Conclusion

The WordPress dashboard is a powerful and simple tool when well understood. By knowing what each section is for, you’ll be able to manage your website confidently, create content efficiently, and keep your site properly configured.

Mastering the admin panel is the first step to working with WordPress professionally.