WordPress is very easy to use, even for those who have no control over " high-tech But it can be confusing at first. At first, all of the settings, options and features may be difficult to digest. This usually goes away after a few weeks and especially with regular use. Once you find your marks, you will find that it is a very effective and useful tool.
Many beginners as well as experienced users find that WordPress is quite comprehensive, but it may lack useful features. WordPress is very powerful and has infinite potential as a CMS. Master the main features of the dashboard screen, is a preliminary in an almost complete understanding of this powerful tool.
It can help you save valuable time and money. It also helps you optimize your workflow which makes your life a lot easier. This tutorial will walk you through some simple tips to help newbies get the most out of WordPress.
But before you start, take the time to take a look at How to install a WordPress theme, How many plugins to install on WordPress.
Then let's get to work!
Adjust screen options
Many beginners might not notice the Options tab on the screen. From this section you can control your workspace. Screen Options is an administration screen.
See also How to add a full-screen and responsive menu to WordPress
It is displayed below the toolbar. The Screen Options tab allows you to hide or show on section in your current work area. Just click on the " Screen options To expand it and configure what you want to display. The " Screen options »Change depending on where you are. The options on the main dashboard screen will be different from those for writing articles / pages.
More concretely, during the writing of pages / articles, you can choose to show or hide some default modules like : custom fields, Discussion section, comments section, slug and author section, featured image section and much more. You can also customize the number of columns on the page.
Set your permalinks
This is a prerequisite in that it is a parameter that you should not change for the future if you do not want to have 404 errors on your blog. Directly after installing a WordPress blog, you must choose the structure of your permalinks.
To do this, you need to go to the following location " Settings> Permalinks ».
You can set the permalink for a post or page before it's published. After having published you can always modify it by clicking on the button " change Located next door.
Make a habit of making internal links (internal Linking)
It is prudent to fill your website with relevant internal links. With the release of WordPress 4.5 (Coleman), a new feature for adding links on the line has made things much easier. This new feature will save you a lot of time.
Read also: How to add link preview on WordPress
Make a habit of updating
Updates have several reasons for being. First, the updates fix the security flaws that exist on previous versions, but also the updates bring new features. Basically, their main objective is to improve the user experience. Updating is therefore important if not vital for your blog.
Plugin updates and WordPress themes is quite simple, when you are in the plugins interface for example, you will find a link that allows you to update quickly.
Do not install any plugin on your blog
Using plugins from reputable sources that have a good reputation is important. Plugins are a big part of what justifies the success of WordPress. If you are not careful, this will be the source of a lot of problems on your blog. Before installing a plugin, you need to make sure several times that it is:
- Compatible with your version of WordPress
- Have favorable opinions on WordPress.org
- That it corresponds to what you are looking for
But before, you will probably need to test it. This is one of the reasons why we invite everyone to install WordPress locally, this is not only for developers, but also for anyone who wants to maintain a WordPress blog.
It goes without saying that all plugins that do not come from a reliable source should be avoided as much as possible. I especially index anyone who likes to download premium plugins for free. If until now everything goes well with these plugins, you will sooner or later have a bad surprise.
Also see our article to find out How to fix an 504 error on your WordPress website
Learn how to plan your articles
You will not always be available for publish an article. WordPress therefore offers you to plan your articles. Your articles will therefore be published at a specific time without you having to log in.
This is not always true, because for a planned article to be published, the server on which your WordPress blog is located must be active. Generally web hosts offer "CRON" services, which allow you to activate your server. But your blog can also be active when a web crawler visits it (this is also the case when a visitor arrives on your blog). So if your blog does not have a lot of traffic or has no CRON jobs "Schedules can fail.
Last Thoughts
If you are new to WordPress, then things may not always be easy for you. Patience will be decisive in helping you find the path to success, but also you will have to apply some tips to improve your blog.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments area below.
Like these main changes, plugins must stick. Several times, a website can be broken due to incompatibility issues with a plugin and / or your WordPress theme. Sometimes a new version of WordPress will change to fix a security vulnerability. This can break compatibility with a plugin. That's not even the worst thing that can happen. Here are some key points to consider with WordPress plugins .
Discover also some premium WordPress plugins
You can use other WordPress plugins to give a modern appearance and to optimize the handling of your blog or website.
We offer you here some premium WordPress plugins that will help you do that.
1. Gravity Forms - List & Edit
With this premium WordPress plugin, it is possible to modify or delete entries submitted in the forms of your website. A feature that is greatly lacking in the Gravity Forms plugin, which is why this extension was created.
Among its functionalities we will mention among others: modification and saving of recorded data, deletion of entered data, modification and deletion of already published articles, perfect integration with jQuery Datatables and Gravity-Forms plugins, support for logic conditional, quick and easy to install, and much more.
Download | Demo | Web hosting
2. WordPress SMS Marketing Plugin
This premium WordPress marketing plugin is specially designed to work with SMS.
As with most automated marketing tools, this allows you to streamline your marketing efforts through block programming, automated messages, trigger actions and more.
Discover our article on: BuddyPress and bbPress: Two WordPress plugins to maintain a conversation
It also comes with built-in analytics so you can see the results of your SMS marketing campaigns to see how well they are working.
Download | Demo | Web hosting
3. WordPress Sidebar and Widgets Visibility
Widgets and sidebars in themes usually have a single design. Knowing this, some users still buy these WordPress themes. But now, thanks to this revolutionary premium WordPress plugin, you will be able to create beautiful new templates with ease.
The process is very simple. For edit widget, just add the Widget Customizer before and configure the styling options. It also works with sidebars. Just install this WordPress plugin on any sidebar and change its look.
See also How to change the sidebar side on WordPress
It is simple and efficient!
Download | Demo | Web hosting
Recommended Resources
Find out about other recommended resources to help you build and manage your website.
- 6 WordPress plugins for signing documents online
- 10 WordPress plugins to generate traffic to your blog
- 70 tips to create a profitable blog and succeed in life
- 6 premium WordPress plugins to add an audio player
Conclusion
Here ! That's it for this guide. I hope it gives you the best advice for anyone new to WordPress.
However, you can also consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on WordPress blog creation.
Do not hesitate to share with your friends on your favorite social networks. If you have any suggestions or remarks, leave them in our section Comments.
...
