Introduction #
The WordPress Dashboard is the control panel and main user interface for the WordPress installation and has two main functions:
- Access the tasks, including editing pages and posts, adding or deleting users, or modifying menus, required to maintain your site.
- To provide system information, for example, Site Health, Activity and Analytics.
This guide discusses the login process and introduces the Dashboard.
Logging into the Dashboard #
The login page is reached by a URL in the form: https://u3aname.u3asite.uk/wp-admin where u3aname will be the local u3aname as assigned in collaboration with the SiteWorks team.
The web manager or administrator for a u3a will provide a new user with a login username and temporary password. As discussed here, the temporary password must be changed during the initial login. The login screen is:
The Dashboard #
After logging in, the main SiteWorks Dashboard screen will be displayed. If you are an Administrator, the Dashboard appears as follows:
The screen contains three areas:
- A – the WordPress administrative toolbar, contains the website name, a New option to quickly add material to your site, including pages, events, notices, Dashboard configuration, assess WordPress help, and logout.
- B – The main Dashboard options menu, B, allows you to undertake all tasks required to manage the site, as shown below.
- C – The main information display.
Information widgets #
The information widgets include the following, not all may be visible due to a user’s role and/or the configuration set by the site administrator.:
- Site Health: provides the status of your plugins and the site.
- At a Glance: Details and statistics relating to the site.
- Activity: Number of posts and comments if used.
- Analytics:
- u3a Specific information: provides information relating to SiteWorks, with a direct link to the User Guides
Access Rights #
With WordPress, users are assigned Roles, of which there are five available,
- Administrator: Full access right to all content and configuration tools.
- Editor: Full access rights to all content tools.
- Author: Restricted access to content tools.
- Contributor: This can be set, but no right can be granted within SiteWorks.
- Subscriber: This can be set, but no right can be granted within SiteWorks.
The Dashboard menu options available to users are summarised below, as these are dependent on the role given to a user, not all options are available to every user, this is discussed further in the User Management guide and the guides associated with specific activities (e.g. editing events or pages).
| Menu Option | Function | Administrator | Editor | Author |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Return to the Home Dashboard view | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Posts | Options relating to post(s) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Media | Access to the Media Library | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Pages | Options relating to page(s) | ✔ | ✔ | |
| u3a Groups | Options relating to group(s) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| u3a Events | Options relating to event(s) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| u3a Venues | Options relating to venue(s) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| u3a Contacts | Options relating to contact(s) | ✔ | ✔ | |
| u3a Notices | Options relating to notice(s) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Profile | Edit personal profile1 | ✔ | ✔ | |
| u3a Settings | Configure the u3a setting, add a dashboard notice and enter maintenance mode | ✔ | ||
| u3a Import Export | u3a import export toll for starter sites | ✔ | ||
| Appearance | Edit themes (not required by a u3a) or access the Site Editor. | ✔ | ||
| Plugin | Acess to all the third-party and WordPress Plugins installed. | ✔ | ||
| Users | Options to create or edit a user(s) | ✔1 | ||
| Tools | WordPress tools | ✔ | ||
| Analytics | Provides access to the site’s analytics. | ✔ | ||
| Settings | WordPress settings | ✔ | ||
| Loginzer Security | Configuring the Loginzer Security Plugin | ✔ | ||
| Collapse Menu | Option to hide the menu text, the icons are still visible. | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
1 The Administrator can edit their profile through the Users menu.
WordPress Settings #
Administrators have full access to all the regular WordPress settings. However, the Administrator will unlikely need to alter most preconfigured settings.
The following General settings must not be changed:
- the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL)
- the WordPress administrator’s email
- the Time zone (this must be set to UTC + 1)
The following General settings can be changed:
- The Tag line
- The Icon that appears on the Browser tab and as a bookmark, as discussed here.
The following Writing settings must not be changed:
- Post via email should not be set up for reasons of security
The following Reading settings must not be changed:
- The Your homepage displays option sets the page used for the site’s home page and must be set to the required static page.
Discussion settings must not be changed
Media settings must not be changed
Permalinks settings must not be changed
Meta Field Block provides information on the use of the Meta Field Block. It allows the advanced user to display custom fields for posts, terms, or users that are registered through the core API.
Imsanity settings must not be changed
Gutenslider provides a tutorial on the Gutenslider plugin.
LiteSpeed Cache settings must not be changed
