© McLittle Stock / Shutterstock.comFinding WordPress Community Support
The WordPress community has volunteers who run support forums for each version of WordPress. In these forums, you can exchange questions and answers with seasoned users. Be sure to access the right support forum for the version of WordPress you are using.
| If You Are . . . | . . . Use This Forum |
| Using the free hosted solution provided by the fine folks at WordPress.com | WordPress.com Forums |
| Running the single-user version of WordPress on your own Web server (self-hosting) | WordPress Support |
| Searching for a repository of information about the overall use of WordPress | WordPress Codex |
Touring the WordPress Dashboard
The WordPress Dashboard has main menu items that are standard across both versions — WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Submenu options may vary with the WordPress version.
| Menu Item | Description |
| Dashboard | Find basic information and statistics for your website, as well as information from the WordPress Development Blog and other blogs run by those involved with WordPress development or resources. |
| Posts | View all media files you’ve uploaded to your site, including images, audio, and video. Upload and manage new media files with the built-in media uploader. |
| Media | View all media files you’ve uploaded to your site, including images, audio, and video. Upload and manage new media files with the built-in media uploader. |
| Pages | Write and publish new static pages for your site, and edit or delete previous pages; assign pages to custom page templates. |
| Comments | Manage comments by viewing, editing, or deleting them; also manage your comment moderation queue and comment/trackback spam. |
| Appearance | Manage your WordPress themes by viewing them, activating them, and editing them in the Theme Editor. Use and configure Sidebar Widgets here, too. |
| Plugins | View a listing of plugins installed in your WordPress site. Find new plugins, and install, activate, deactivate, upgrade, and edit them. |
| Users | Manage your users and subscribers and edit your own profile. |
| Tools | Import data into your blog from another content management system (like Blogger, TypePad, or Movable Type) or export your current website data into a backup file. Upgrade your WordPress software to the latest version using the auto-upgrade feature. |
| Settings | Set the general options for your website. Find settings for posts, RSS feed, discussion options, privacy, and permalinks. |
Locating a Reliable Web Host
WordPress can host your blog using the WordPress.com hosted service. If you are using the self-hosted WordPress.org software, you need a quality, reliable web host. Here are some WordPress–friendly web-hosting services.
Finding WordPress Resources
If you use WordPress as the platform for your website, you can use any or all of the many tools that WordPress offers. The WordPress community is active and provides you with several resources you can use to help you along the way with using the WordPress platform to publish your content.
| With This Tool . . . | . . . You Can |
| WordPress Plugins | Browse through thousands of downloads that let you do almost anything you can imagine — and you can imagine quite a lot, can’t you? |
| Theme Directory | Choose from hundreds of themes to manage the look and functionality of your home page. |
| WordPress Codex | Try the Codex to tap into the encyclopedia of WordPress knowledge. |
| WordPress News & Updates | Check out this section of the official WordPress website for the latest news and notes on all things WordPress. |
| Support forums for WordPress.com | Post questions, answers, and comments for other WordPress users who are using the hosted/commercial version of WordPress.com. |
| Support forums for WordPress.org | Post your questions and obtain answers from the vast WordPress community for users of the self-hosted WordPress.org software. |
