General Wordpress Documentation

• Logging into your site
• Content Types
• Writing a New Post
• Writing a New Page
• Editing a Post or Page
• Creating Categories for Posts
• Creating Post Tags
• Managing Comments
• Adding a New User
• Changing your Password

Logging into the site

To log-in, go to http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin and enter the username and password provided to you.

Once logged in, you will see your Dashboard. It's from here that you'll administer and create new content.

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Content Types

Wordpress uses two main content types: Pages and Posts. It's important to understand the difference between these two so that the content you create is placed correctly.

Pages: Pages are used to hold static information, such as an About or Contact page.

Posts: Posts are time-stamped pleces of content and are arranged in chronological order. These are the content types that make up the blog.

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Writing a New Post

1. To begin a new post, hover over the Posts button located on the left-hand side bar. You will see a small, dark gray arrow--select this arrow. A list of options will expand below the Posts button. Select Add New.

   

2. In the long text box under Add New Post insert a title for your post. In the larger text box below that, insert your content. Be sure the Visual tab is selected. You can format your posts using the buttons above the input window.

   

3. To publish your post, select the large Publish button on the right-hand side of the screen. If you wish to save your post as a draft, select the Save Draft button.
4. To add a category to the post, find the Categories box located on the right-hand side of the screen. Scroll through the list of All Categories or select the Most Used tab for a shorter, organized list. Select the checkbox next to the category you would like to use.

   

5. To add a tag to the post, find the Post Tags box located on the right-hand side of the screen. When you begin to type in a name of a tag, an autocomplete list will pop up. Choose the appropriate tag. Added tags are listed below the text box. You can delete a tag by selecting the small gray and white circle next to the tag.

Writing a New Page

1. To begin a new page, hover over the Pages button located on the left-hand side bar. You will see a small, dark gray arrow--select this arrow. A list of options will expand below the Pages button. Select Add New. You will see a page almost identical to the Posts view.
2. In the long text box under Add New Page insert a title for your page. In the larger text box below that, insert your content. Be sure the Visual tab is selected. You can format your posts using the buttons above the input window.
3. To publish your post, select the large Publish button on the right-hand side of the screen. If you wish to save your post as a draft, select the Save Draft button.

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Editing a Post or Page

1. There are a few ways to locate posts and pages to edit. From the Dashboard you can either click on the word Posts or Pages from the At a Glance box or select the corresponding button from the left-hand side menu.
2. From the list of items, hover over the title of the item you would like to edit. You can either select the title itself or the Edit link that appears below the title.



3. This action will bring you to the same view you see when you create a piece of content. Edit as needed and select the large, blue Update Post button.

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Creating Categories for Posts

1. Categories allow you to group your posts together. For example, all entries concerning cars can have a “Cars” categroy, all posts about boats can have a “Boats” category, etc. So if a site visitor is only interested in reading about boats, they can choose this category to navigate through the site content which is only labeled “Boats.”
2. You can also assign Categories to Parent Categories. For example, in the “Cars” category, you can include other sub-categories relating to a specific make of car. This aids in clearer organization of the site content.
3. To create a new category, you can do so directly from Add a New Post page, as outlined here.
4. You can also access the general Categories page by expanding the Posts button from the left-hand side of the Dashboard by hovering over the button and selecting the gray button. Then select the Categories link.
5. Under the Add a Category heading, enter the appropriate information, making sure to follow the instructions written in italics below each text box.
6. Select Add Category. The category will now appear in the Categories on the Add a New Post page.

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Creating Post Tags

1. Post tags, unlike categories, have no hierarchy, and are just a list of word(s) that describe the post. This is just another way to help the site visitors navigate through content. Tags are generally listed under the post as it appears on the website.
2. To create a new tag, you can do so directly from Add a New Post page, as outlined here.
3. You can also access the general Post Tags page by expanding the Posts button from the left-hand side of the Dashboard by hovering over the button and selecting the gray button. Then select the Post Tags link.
4. Under the Add a New Tag heading, enter the appropriate information, making sure to follow the instructions written in italics below each text box.
5. Select Add Tag. The category will now appear in the Post Tags on the Add a New Post page when first few letters of the tag are typed.
6. On the Tags page, there's a visual showing the most popular tags. The larger the size of the text is, the more often the tag has been used.

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Managing Comments

1. Select the Commets button from the left-hand side menu on the Dashboard page.
2. The Edit Comments page shows a listing of all the comments on the site.



3. To approve/unapprove a comment, either hover over the comment title and from the list of links that pops up below, select Approve or Unapprove.



4. You can also edit general comment settings. To edit settings for the entire site, hover over the Settings button on the left-hand menu and click the dark gray arrow. Then select the Discussion link.
   • a. From this page you can choose options such as allow or turn off comments for the entire site, require moderation for comments, and many more.
5. You can also edit comment settings for individual posts. On the Add a new Post or Edit Post page, scroll down to the Discussion box. From here you can decide whether to allow comments and allow trackbacks/pings.

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Adding a New User

1. Select the Users button from the left-hand side menu.
2. Select the Add New link from below the Users button
3. Under Add New User fill out the necccesary infromation.
4. When you create a new user, you give that user a certain Role. This role allows the user some capabiltiies while denying other capabiltieies. Listed below is a description of each role:
• Administrator: This person is allowed to performal all possible administrative capabilities, including the creation of other users.
• Editor: This person can publish posts, manage and edit their own posts, as well as other’s posts.
• Author: This person can publish and manage only their own posts.
• Contributor: Somebody who can write and manage their own posts but cannot publish posts.
• Subscriber: This person can read comments/comment on posts, receive newletters, etc. but has no administrative capabilities.



5. Once a user is added, you can edit the user's Display Name. This name will show up anywhere a user is listed, such as author lists and bylines. Initially, the username defaults as the display name. To change the display name, select the Authors & Users link below the Users button. Select the user you would like to edit.
6. On the Profile page, select the drop-down box next to Display name publicly as. Choose the appropraite choice from the list generated by Wordpress.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Update Profile.

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Changing your Password

1. To change your password, select your name, located in the top gray bar on the right-hand side.



2. On the Profile page, scroll down to the bottom and enter a new password. The Strength indicator will tell you how strong your password is for security purposes. It's always reccomended to use a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols.
3. Once finished, select Update Profile.

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