When using website builder platforms like Weebly and Wix, you can easily login through their website to access your dashboard. This is the same process with WordPress.com account. However, this process is somewhat different when using self-hosted WordPress.org platform. Hosting companies allow users to install WordPress using automated software like Softaculous. After installing WordPress, many users confuse themselves trying to login to WordPress.com website. In this article, we will explain how to login to WordPress site.
Login to WordPress Site
There are many different meanings for “logging” when comes to self-hosted WordPress websites. This depends on the user role and the purpose. For now, we will continue logging in as an administrator. The last section in this article explains the login different based on user roles.
You can add one of the following suffix at the end of your website’s URL to login to your WordPress administrator panel.
- Using /wp-login.php
- Using /wp-admin/
1. Using /wp-login.php
If your website URL is https://your-site.com then add the /wp-login.php at the end. The complete login URL should be https://your-site.com/wp-login.php.
2. Using /wp-admin/
Instead of using “/wp-login.php”, you can also suffix “/wp-admin/” to your site name. For example, if your website URL is https://your-site.com and hence the login URL should be https://your-site/wp-admin/. Note that WordPress will redirect this URL to /wp-login.php and you will see the same resulting screen.
WordPress Login Screen
With both the methods, you will be taken to the login screen that contains a form. It will look like below:
WordPress login screen contains the following details:
- WordPress logo which will be linked to WordPress.org website. Remember, it is not linked to your website.
- Text box to type your username or email address used for creating the WordPress installation setup.
- Password for login to your account.
- You can choose the “Remember Me” checkbox to save the username and password if you are using the computer single hand. WordPress will set a cookie in a browser for 14 days to remember your password. Even you close the browser tab, any other person using the same browser can open the login URL to access your admin panel.
- Login button – click on this login button to go to administrator panel.
- Lost your password? – clicking on this link will take you to the password reset page where you need to type username or email to receive the password in your email inbox.
- Back to your website – this link will take you to the home page of your website.
WordPress Admin Panel
After login to WordPress administrator panel, you will be landing on the “Dashboard” section. The dashboard section will look like below.
You can navigate to different sections and start customizing your WordPress. For example, go to “Appearance > Themes” to view installed themes or change new theme for your site.
Note: As anyone can find the login URL of your website, many hackers use automated bots to login to your website. This is called brute force attack in which hackers try to guess the username and password to take control of your administrator panel. Therefore, in order to protect your website, it is recommended to change your login page to a custom URL using a plugin.
Login Page for Default and Custom User Roles
As mentioned above, different user roles in WordPress can have different login page. In summary, users with default roles need to access the backend section while custom roles need either frontend or backend access depending on the purpose.
Default User Roles
Default WordPress installations have few user roles like administrator, editor, author, contributor and subscriber. All of them need to access the backend administrator panel for managing their relevant stuff. For example, an editor needs to login to admin panel for creating and publishing content.
Generally, if you have installed WordPress then you should be the administrator of your site. In this case, you have to manage the backend by logging into the administrator panel. With this access, you can update WordPress core / plugins / themes, edit files and publish content and do many other stuff.
Custom User Roles
Other than default WordPress roles, your theme and plugins can create custom user roles for logging into your site. The best example is using WooCommerce plugin on your site for creating an online store. In this case, the plugin will create roles for customer and shop manager without the need of logging into the admin panel. For example, a customer should login to your frontend store and order the items. In this case, the website will have a login option and use different login page.
We have a store on this site and the login URL is https://www.webnots.com/home/my-account/ which is different from the default WordPress login page.
Other example of custom user role include SEO Editor and SEO Manager created by Yoast SEO plugin. In this case, users with these roles need to use the default WordPress login page to access the backend admin panel. Therefore, the login page depends on the plugin’s purpose and design.
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