[WordPress Blog Setup Series ④] Entering the WordPress Admin Dashboard
In Part 3, we skipped unnecessary wizard screens and confirmed that WordPress installation was complete. This part shows you the cleanest, fastest way into WordPress’s main control center without going through the complicated wizard path.
Accessing the Address Directly
Instead of going through a complicated wizard path, type the following address directly into your browser’s address bar and hit enter.
https://myexample.com/wp-admin/Just remembering this one address means you can skip unnecessary screens and go straight to the admin screen every time you log in from now on. It’s much faster and more intuitive than going through your hosting provider’s dashboard.
The Main Admin Screen
Logging in with the account you set up during hosting (or WordPress) sign-up brings up a black vertical menu bar on the left side of the screen — this is the real WordPress admin dashboard where you can write posts.
The left-side menu bar usually includes items like:
- Dashboard: A summary of overall status (recent activity, update notifications, etc.)
- Posts: Writing and managing posts, setting categories and tags
- Media: Managing uploaded images and files
- Pages: Managing static pages (About page, Privacy Policy page, etc.)
- Comments: Managing comments
- Appearance: Theme, design, menu, and widget settings
- Plugins: Installing and managing feature-extending plugins
- Users: Managing admin accounts and user permissions
- Tools: Import/export and other supplementary features
- Settings: Basic site settings (title, tagline, URL structure, etc.)
Things to Check on Your First Login
- Check the theme (design): In the Appearance menu, check which default theme is applied and decide whether to switch to one you like. Many free themes offer plenty clean designs.
- Clean up unnecessary sample posts/pages: The default “Hello World” sample post or sample pages that come with a fresh WordPress install — or any dummy content auto-generated if you went through the wizard in Part 3 — can be safely deleted.
- Set your site title and tagline: Under Settings > General, set your site name and a one-line description.
- Set up your permalink structure: Under Settings > Permalinks, changing the URL structure to “post name” based is good for both SEO and readability.
- Reset your password and strengthen admin account security: Change the default temporary password to something stronger, and if possible, install a two-factor authentication plugin.
Coming Up Next
Now that you’re in the admin dashboard, it’s time to actually fill the site with content. Part 5 covers what standards to meet and how much content you need in order to pass AdSense review.
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