We have had a first look at the Control Panel screen layout and the main backend toolbars. You're probably curious to try out how the thing actually works! I'll test your patience just a little more. First, we'll make some more sense of Control Panel and find out what you really need to know to get started on this impressive toolbox. After all, its main menu bar consists of seven menu options with more than 40 submenu items. That's a wealth of CMS power—but it's also quite daunting.

We won't go into all of the menu items and their capabilities here; rather, you'll learn how to use the important menu options as you go along building your site in the next chapters. For now, let's go ahead and see what the primary functions are.