Getting Started

Your first steps with WordPress: installing it, logging in and out, resetting a forgotten password, and finding your way around the Dashboard, admin toolbar, and screen options.

7 articles

How to reset a forgotten password

Forgotten your password? WordPress will email you a reset link, and from there you pick a brand-new password yourself.

3 steps Getting Started

How to log out of your site

Signing out is the simplest way to keep your site safe — especially on a computer you share or use somewhere public. It takes two clicks from the toolbar at the top of your screen.

2 steps Getting Started

How to preview your public site

Your public site is always one click away. Every screen in the admin carries a link to it in the toolbar at the very top, so you can check your work without hunting for your site's address.

2 steps Getting Started

How to use Screen Options on an admin screen

Every admin screen in WordPress remembers how you like it. The Screen Options tab is where you turn the boxes, columns, and page lengths on or off, and the Help tab sits right beside it whenever you want a quick word about the screen you're on.

3 steps Getting Started

How to log in to your site

Your login screen is the front door to your site — it's where you go to write posts, add pages, and change how everything looks. All you need is your username or your email address, plus your password.

2 steps Getting Started

How to install WordPress

Installing WordPress takes about five minutes, and you only do it once. You'll name your site, create your own account, and choose a password — then you're ready to sign in and start building.

3 steps Getting Started

Understanding the WordPress admin area

When you log in to WordPress you land in the admin area — the control room behind your site. Everything you need lives in three places: the panels on the Dashboard, the toolbar across the top, and the menu down the left.

3 sections Getting Started