Don't Skip These WordPress Settings | Dashboard Setup for Beginners

Don't Skip These WordPress Settings | Dashboard Setup for Beginners Join WP Odyssey Free : free.wpodyssey.com You've installed WordPress. Now what? Time to learn your way around. In this lesson, I give you a full tour of the WordPress dashboard, your control centre for managing everything on your site. I walk you through every menu item, explain what each section does, and show you the essential settings you need to configure before you start building anything. We also clean up the default sample content that WordPress ships with (Hello World post, sample page, default comment) so you're working with a truly blank canvas. Then I show you how to set your site title, tagline, time zone, date format, and permalink structure, all things that are easy to overlook but important to get right early. Finally, I introduce Screen Options, a hidden gem that lets you declutter the admin area and keep things tidy as your site grows. This is Lesson 9 of 26 in the free WP Odyssey WordPress course for 2026. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: - Full tour of the WordPress dashboard and what each section does - The left sidebar menu: Posts, Pages, Media, Plugins, Users, Settings and more - How the top toolbar works and how to switch between front end and back end - Why keeping WordPress, plugins and themes updated is critical - How to delete default sample content (Hello World post, sample page, default comment) - Setting your site title and tagline (removing "Just another WordPress site") - Verifying your admin email address - Setting the correct time zone and date format - Configuring permalinks for clean, SEO-friendly URLs - Why you should set permalinks before creating any content - Using Screen Options to show and hide dashboard elements TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Dashboard Setup for Beginners 00:22 - Agenda 00:38 - Navigating the WordPress Dashboard 06:19 - Understanding the Main Menu & Toolbar 11:40 - Cleaning Up Default Sample Content 13:16 - Essentials Settings to Configure Now 18:50 - Using Screen Options to Declutter 22:29 - Summary YOUR TASK: Log in to your WordPress dashboard and explore every menu item. Delete the default sample content. Then configure your site title, tagline, time zone, date format and permalinks. Finally, check out Screen Options on a few different pages. COURSE STRUCTURE: Quest 00: Bootcamp (Lessons 1-2) - Complete Quest 01: WordPress Foundations (Lessons 3-11) - You are here Quest 02: Build Your First Website (Lessons 12-22) JOIN THE FREE COMMUNITY: Get weekly live Q&A calls, ask questions, and connect with other WordPress learners: https://free.wpodyssey.com ABOUT DAN: I'm Dan, a WordPress developer with 15+ years experience running an agency managing 100+ client sites. I built this free course because I wish I had something like this when I started in 2010. Previous: Lesson 8 - Don't Skip These WordPress Settings | Dashboard Setup for Beginners https://youtu.be/7KVziU3s0Dw?si=R1DQxiDoMg45AfNz Next: Lesson 10 - WordPress Pages vs Posts | What's the Difference? https://youtu.be/PuSdo1ksjwY #WordPress #WordPressDashboard #WordPressSettings #WordPressTutorial #WordPressForBeginners #WordPressPermalinks #LearnWordPress #WordPressCourse #WPOdyssey