The first screen you see when you log into your blog is the Dashboard of your administrative area.
Your dashboard provide a quick overview of what’s happening with your blog while also supplying tools to navigate to other areas of your Administration panel.
Appearance of your default Dashboard
The main area of your dashboard is made of configurable modules such as Right Now, Quick Press, Recent comments.
These modules can be moved by left mouse clicking on their title, dragging to the new location on your dashboard and then release your mouse button.
You can also expand and collapse these dashboard modules by left mouse clicking on their title bar.
Main Navigation Menu
Your navigation menu is on the left side of your Dashboard. Each navigation item can be expanded or collapsed to view their submenu by clicking on the arrow on the right hand side of the item.
Click on the Dashboard link at the top of the navigation menu to return to the dashboard area of your blog when you are on any page within your administration panel.
You also have a quick access navigation menu on the top right hand side of your administration panel which you can use to go to your New post, Drafts, New Page or Comments screens.
To navigate to a new screen just click on the arrow and then select the desired option.
Right Now Module
The Right Now module provides a quick overview of your current number of posts, pages, comments, tags, categories, themes and storage usage.
Clicking on the item name , or type of comments, in the Right Now module takes you to that area in your administration panel.
For example, clicking on Posts takes you to your Edit post panel which lists all your posts while Comments takes you to Edit comments.
Recent Comments Module
The Recent Comments Module displays the 5 most recent comments for your blog. Hovering your mouse over the comments brings up five action links which makes it easy to Approve/Unapprove, Edit, Reply, Mark as Spam, or Delete Comments directly from your dashboard.
For example, clicking the Reply action link brings up a form that lets you reply to comments from your dashboard.
Incoming Links Module
The Incoming Links Module uses Google Blog Search to display other blogs that have linked to your blog.
NOTE: On your brand new blog the Incoming Links Module displays the message : TIt has found no incoming links… yet. It’s okay — there is no rush. Links won’t appear here until bloggers start linking to your blog or posts.
QuickPress Module
The QuickPress module is a mini-post editor that lets you quickly write a post including title, add media files and add tags directly from your dashboard. It also gives you the option of saving it as a draft or publishing immediately.
For more post options such as adding categories, scheduling future publish dates you should use the Add New Post screen.
Recent Drafts Module
Your Recent Draft Modules displays your five latest drafts saved with their title, date and a short excerpt. Clicking on a Draft’s title opens up that draft so you can continue editing and/or publish. Whereas clicking on View All takes you to your Edit Post screen where all drafts you have written are displayed.
NOTE: On your brand new blog the Recent Draft Module displays the message : There are no drafts at the moment. Drafts won’t appear here until you save some.
Screen Option Button
The Screen Option button located at the top right hand side of your administration panel can be used to customize the what is displayed and how it is displayed on that screen.
You can use the Screen Option button to change the number of columns and hide modules on your dashboard (untick hides them).
