This page is dedicated to helping you get to know the basics of managing your blog. This page covers writing, managing, and themes. If you need more help, beyond what is detailed on this page, contact Rory Wallwork.

After logging in to the back end (the management side) of your blog (you can find the link in the side menu of your blog), you will come to the dashboard. From here, you can choose to write or manage your posts/pages.

Writing

Writing a new post/page is extremely simple. Just click “Write” at the top of the page. From there, if you want to create a page, click “Page.” If your just writing a new page, you should already be in the right spot.

Once on the Write screen, there’s only a few areas you need to fill in for a basic post/page. First, fill in the Title. Then, you can write or copy/paste your information into the text area. You can also format it using many of the option that you should be familiar with from working in Microsoft Word. Also, keep in mind that you can press the far right button (as shown in the below image) to enable more options for your text.

There are only a couple more sections you should fill in if you are writing a post. They are Tags and Categories (pages do not use tags or categories).

Tags

If you choose to use tags (highly recommended), you should enter in at least two. They can be any word or words that are related to the subject of your post, and can be much more detailed than categories. According to Wordpress.org,

“Tags are like micro-categories or index keywords for your posts. Your site should probably only have 7-12 categories (explained below), but you can have hundreds of tags. Clicking a tag name below your post will show all posts with the same tag, helping readers find similar content. You add tags to your posts by typing the tag names in the Tags section below the post. You can also manage your tags by going to Manage > Tags.”

Categories

You need to utilize categories. Categories are the organizational structure of your blog. There are main categories (parent categories) and there can be multiple levels of sub-categories. For example, if you have a category called “Announcements,” there can be a category within “Announcements” called “Upcoming Events.” Readers of your blog will be able to find relavent information by looking at your categories. According to Wordpress.org,

“Categories help make sense of the hundreds of posts you’ll be writing. By assigning the posts into different categories, you can allow readers to browse archives of only that category. To create a category, click the +Add New Category link in the Categories section below the post you’re writing. You can select multiple categories for the same posts. To manage your categories, go to Manage > Categories.”

Saving/Publishing

That’s it! For the basics, that’s all you need to do. Once you’re finished with the Title, Content, Tags, and Categories, all you have to do now is click either the “Save” button if you want to come back to it later, or the “Publish” button. If you clicked the Publish button, it will instantly show up on your blog’s homepage.

Images

The ability to post as many images as you want to your blog (for both posts and pages) is something that you will definitely want to take advantage of, and it’s actually quite simple to do.

Step 1 – Click the “Add Media” button at the top of the content area.

Step 2 – A new window will come up, just like the image below. To post an image from your computer, click the “Choose files to upload” button. Browse to the image(s) that you want to upload, or send, to your blog, select it/them, and click “Open.” Or, if you have already uploaded your images for THIS post/page, you may choose the “Gallery” link at the top of the window, where you will then be able to choose from the images you have already uploaded. Or you may also choose from images that you have uploaded at any time in the past by clicking on “Media Library.”

Step 3 – Once the uploading process is complete, you will have some options relating to the image. Feel free to change any of them, but the default options are usually sufficient. NOTE: if you want a thumbnail version of your image, the option is the last on the page. When you’re ready to put the image into your post/page, simply click the “Insert Into Post” button at the bottom. And you’re good to go!

Thumbnail Gallery

If you’d like to have a small gallery of thumbnail images similar to the one below, first follow steps 1-2 above.

Once your images are uploaded, click on the “Gallery(x)” tab at the top of the small window. This will display your uploaded images, as seen below. To insert all the images into your post/page, simply click the “Insert gallery into post” button.

The content are will then display the text pictured below. Don’t worry – the full thumbnail gallery will be visible on your blog once you publish your post/page.

Managing Posts, Pages, Media, Tags, and Categories

The management of your blog’s features is just as easy as writing. Instead of using the “Write” link at the top of the page, you will use the “Manage” link. Pretty self-explanatory…

Managing Posts & Pages

To edit or delete your posts or pages, just click on the “Posts” or “Pages” link under the Manage menu, which you should have already clicked on if your intent was to manage. This will bring up a list of all your past posts, or all your current pages. You can delete items by selecting the checkbox to the left, and then clicking “Delete” at the top of the list.

NOTE: DELETING A POST OR A PAGE IS NOT REVERSIBLE. Once a post or page is deleted, it CANNOT be recovered. Use the Delete button with care.

To edit a post or a page that has already been publish or was saved but never published, simple click the title of the post/page, as seen in the image above. Make your changes, and then click the “Save” button at the right.

Managing Media

Managing your uploaded media is very similar. Once you’re in the “Manage” section, just click the “Media Library” link at the top. From this screen you can delete your media (which will essentially remove them from any posts/pages that they’ve been placed in), or see and edit other information about the media.

Managing Tags & Categories

You can also edit any tags and categories that you have in the same way, by clicking the “Tags” or “Categories” link, under the Manage section.

From here, you can add, delete, or edit your tags and categories. To edit a tag/category (such as change its name), simply click on the name of the tag/category in the displayed list. This will change the name site-wide.

Themes

Each