First Things First: Enter the Dashboard

Before you can make any changes, first you need to login to your site. The control section of the site that allows you to change things is called the 'Dashboard'. To do this:

  • Go to http://wordpress.com
  • Enter your username and password
  • On the top menu bar, click on the link 'My Dashboard'

Wordpress Dashboard

The dashboard is divided into the following main sections:

  • Write - This is where you can write new web pages and news posts
  • Manage - This is where you can edit existing pages and posts, manage your file uploads and decide how your posts are categorised
  • Comments - If you are allowing people to leave comments on your site, this is where you can view and moderate them
  • Blogroll - The Blogroll is your links section. Here you can add links to relevant websites, and decide how they are displayed on your site
  • Presentation - The presentation section allows you to control the look of the site. You can change to an entirely different theme, or use CSS code to alter styling
  • Users - Here you can add other users to your site, allowing them to contribute content. You can also decide what level of control they have over your site
  • Options - In options you can make broad decisions about the functionality of all areas of your site
  • Upgrades - Here you can take the option to pay for upgrades to your site. You can pay for additional storage space or add domains to your site