How to Manage All Your WordPress Sites With One Tool

In this tutorial, you will learn:

• How to create a WordPress.com account.
• How to install and activate JetPack.
• How to connect JetPack with your WordPress.com account.
• How to install the Calypso tool on your computer to manage your WordPress.com and WordPress.org web sites.
• What management options are currently available within the Desktop App.

To begin, please be sure that you have a WordPress.com account, and that JetPack is installed and connected on your self-hosted web site.

Now, let’s install the Desktop App.

1. First, go to: apps.wordpress.com/desktop/
2. Click the button below where it says Download the App.
3. Find the setup file on your computer, and double-click it.
4. If you get a box asking if you would like the application to be able to make changes to your device, click Yes.
5. Then, click the Install button.
6. Click Finish to launch the app.
7. Now, login with your WordPress.com credentials. If you are an active WordPress.com user, you will be familiar with the interface here, because it’s essentially your WordPress.com account, but on your Desktop. You will initially land in the WordPress Reader app.
8. Click on the My Sites button at the top left. This is where you are able to manage your WordPress.com sites, as well as your JetPack connected self-hosted WordPress web sites.
9. By default, you will be in the Management Panel for your WordPress.com web site if you have one. Click on the Switch Site link to see the web sites that you enabled via JetPack.
10. Here you can add another site if desired, otherwise, click on the site you want to manage.

The options available for web site management include: viewing stats, adding and editing posts and pages, managing and customizing your theme, managing menus, managing plugins and turning on auto-update for plugins that are in the WordPress Plugin Repository, and other WordPress settings. You can also launch the WordPress Admin for your web site if you need to perform other tasks.