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The WordPress Dashboard screen is also considered the home page of the admin system.

The Dashboard, along with all of the screens you will come across in the admin system, consists of the following four key elements:

• The Header
• The Sidebar
• The Editor
• The Footer

The header provides you with:

• A drop down list at:
  • WordPress Logo – that links you to WordPress information, documentation, forums and feedbacks.
  • To visit your website
  • For Adding New Post, Media, Link and Page

  The sidebar provides you with a comprehensive list of tools that allow us to perform functions in the admin system. Each set of tools is grouped into what we call “widgets”.

  Hint: Widgets like Posts, Media, Links and Pages has a drop down arrow in the top-right corner, which allows you to expand or collapse the widget.

  You can also expand or collapse the entire sidebar by clicking on the Collapse Menu, which appears as the last link on the sidebar.

  This is useful for saving space on your screen.

  The footer contains a link to the WordPress website and the version number of WordPress you are running. The footer also provides a visual cue for you that you are at the end of the page.

  Dashboard Modules At a Glance

  The first module on the WordPress dashboard screen is called “At a glance” and provides you with a snapshot of the content in your website.

   

  You’ll notice that the information in this module also links to the relevant sections of the admin system. This provides easy navigation between admin sections.

  Technical: Themes, widgets and version upgrades are tasks assigned to administrators. As an editor, you are not able to make these changes.

  Activity

  The Activity module shows the most recent posts and pages that were published and also recent comments made by visitors to your website. If you position the mouse over a comment, a menu appears underneath it with the following options:

• Unapprove
• Reply
• Edit
• Spam
• Trash
• There is also a All link to the Comments screen in the admin system where you can view all the comments that have been made.We’ll cover Comments in more detail later on.Comments may not necessarily be enabled on your website. If they are not enabled then just ignore the Recent Comments module.
• Quick Draft The Quick Draft module allows you to quick note down any ideas you have for a post directly on the dashboard.This will make sense once you have read the Add New Post section. Just know that this is a handy tool for quickly jotting down ideas while they are fresh and before you lose your train of thought.
• WordPress News – The WordPress News displays recent entries by WordPress developers about the general ongoing evolution of the WordPress platform. This may or may not interest you.For day-to-day use, you could safely turn off the WordPress Blog and Other WordPress News modules by clicking on the Screen Options button in the top-right corner and un-ticking the appropriate boxes.