If you’re new to WordPress, logging in might seem a bit confusing at first. For example: how do you access the login page, where do you find your credentials, how do you change a password you can’t remember? The Mayor is by your side on this one, as he knows exactly how to log into WordPress!
For this guide, we’ll look at everything to do with the WordPress login screen. I’ll explain how to find the login screen, offer a walkthrough of various related tasks, and give you plenty of helpful tips along the way.
The WordPress Login Page
Think of the WordPress login page as the front door to your website’s control center—the dashboard. This is where all the action happens: writing blog posts, creating pages, changing your site’s design, adding plugins, and much more:
Most of the time, WordPress websites have a pretty standard way to log in: you simply add /wp-login.php or /wp-admin/ to the end of your website’s address. For example, if your site’s address (or URL) is www.mysite.com, your login page will be www.mysite.com/wp-admin/:
Sometimes, your login URL could be different from this ‘typical default’ one. This can give you a headache if you don’t understand why, so let’s go through it next.
What To Do If You Can’t Find the WordPress Login Page
If you get a 404 error when heading to the /wp-admin/ or /wp-login.php URL, there could be a few reasons why. It may not be that you have caused the error.
- Your site might be in a subdirectory (basically, a folder within a folder on your website). In that case, try something like /blog/wp-admin/.
- Your site could have a custom login URL (some people do this for security). If that’s the case, and you’re not sure what it is, you might want to check with the person who set up your site or your hosting provider.
With the latter, some site owners feel that the default login URLs are insecure, because practically every website will use the same format. This leads them to create custom URLs that a malicious user won’t be able to find through a typical web scrape.
There’s another niche case where you may find a site uses a /wp/ directory, which might be hard to spot in the URL:
This is a subdirectory, but it’s specific to using the Bedrock development framework. The specifics of this don’t need more explanation, but simply note it for future login attempts. Regardless, once you find the right URL, you have only a few steps left to log into WordPress.
How to Log Into Your WordPress Site
With the login screen in front of you, you can finally get into your site! Fortunately, the process is straightforward and takes seconds. In your favorite browser (such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari), open a tab and type in the login page address.
This will bring you to the WordPress login page. In most cases, this will have its default design, but some sites have custom layouts and color schemes. Once you’re here, you’ll see two boxes:
- Username or Email Address: This can either be your site username or your email address.
- Password: This will be the password either you set or one that WordPress generates for new signups (more of which shortly).
Like any other login page, type in your credentials, and get ready to log in.
You should also notice the Remember Me checkbox. Ticking this tells your browser to save your login details as a cookie, so you won’t need to type them in every time. If you use a public or shared computer, we don’t recommend you do this for security reasons.
When you’re ready, click the Login button. If your sign-in credentials are correct, you end up at your WordPress dashboard. From here, you can manage your site as you wish.
Logging In as a New User
A site’s admin will arrange your access when you first join a site, and this means you’ll need to go through a one-time process to log into WordPress.
This will start from your email inbox. You should have an email that provides your initial credentials and a direct login link:
In some cases, heading to the login page from here will ask you to reset your generated password—so you’ll need to do this to continue. Sometimes, you’ll find that the link you get has an expiry date. If you take too long to access the link, you won’t be able to sign up in the typical way.
In these cases, you should treat your situation as though you’ve forgotten your password.
What to Do If You Forget Your Password
Let’s be real—everyone forgets their password now and then. If this happens to you, WordPress makes it easy to reset your password. On the login screen, look for the Lost your password? link, and click it.
You’ll then need to enter your email address or username—whichever is relevant for your typical login—then click to confirm. Either one will work fine, and we use the email address for clarity. WordPress will then send you an email with a link to reset your password.
Within your inbox, find the email, and click the link inside it.
This will take you to a page where you can choose a new password. This time, make sure you pick something secure but easy for you to remember! The Bitwarden password generator lets you set a passphrase, which is ideal:
Remember to store a copy of this password for the future—again, Bitwarden is an excellent open-source password manager that incorporates its generator into the interface. Either way, once you confirm this new password, you can log into your site again with it.
Other Ways You Can Log Into WordPress
The typical login page is the most popular way to access the WordPress dashboard. However, there are a few other ways to get in, depending on your site. We mention the Remember Me checkbox, but there are even more ways to consider. Let’s go through some of them.
Logging In Through Your Hosting Provider
Did you know that you can sometimes log in to WordPress directly from your web hosting account? Hosting companies such as Bluehost, Hostinger, or SiteGround often provide a shortcut to log into WordPress from their dashboard:
Each host will likely have a slightly different approach to this, but the steps have a broad similarity:
- First, log into your hosting account.
- Find the section relating to WordPress or to Manage Your Website.
- Look for the button to Log into WordPress.
This way, there’s no need to remember your login URL—this method will take you straight to the dashboard.
Managing Multiple WordPress Sites
If you manage several WordPress websites, you might use tools such as Jetpack or ManageWP. These services let you log in and control multiple sites from one dashboard. This saves you the time you’d take to switch between different sites. A bonus piece of functionality is that you often have a one-click option to log into WordPress too.
Looking at these tools is beyond the scope of the post, but the Mayor has a roundup of the best site management tools for you in case this piques your interest!
How to Keep Your WordPress Login Credentials Safe
Once you can log in, it’s important to talk about something just as vital: keeping your site secure. Here are some simple tips to make sure your WordPress login credentials are safe from malicious users.
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). This adds an extra layer of security. With 2FA, even if someone cracks your password, they still need a code sent to your phone to log in. You can enable 2FA using plugins such as WP 2FA or Two-Factor, both of which are free.
- Limit login attempts. These plugins block anyone from trying to guess your password too many times. For example, Limit Login Attempts Reloaded temporarily locks you out after several failed login attempts. This makes it harder to break into your site using brute force tactics.
- Update regularly. WordPress updates often include important security fixes. By updating your site, themes, and plugins, you reduce the risk of security issues. There are also a few blogs where you can monitor potential security issues within WordPress. Wordfence and Patchstack‘s blogs are essential reading to keep on top of things.
Finally, there’s no substitute for using a strong password at first. Previous industry advice on creating secure passwords suggests using a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols. However, modern password security prioritizes length. In short, long passwords take a greater amount of time to crack. Of course, you should avoid using easy-to-guess passwords such as “123456” or “password.”
Conclusion
Logging in to your WordPress site is easier than it might seem. With the tips in this guide, you should have no trouble getting into your WordPress dashboard.
Of course, you’ll want to make sure your password is as secure as possible too. Fortunately, it takes little effort to make your credentials tough to crack. In addition, you help keep your site safe too
Do you have any questions about how to log into WordPress, and any of its related tasks? We’d love to hear about it in the comments section below!
