I recommend using multiple tabs/windows when working in WordPress. One for the live website, one for the admin, and one for these instructions (whether viewing in the admin or on the live site). You may update this admin to make things clearer for yourself. I avoid using the Preview Changes and just click between tabs/windows so as not to lose my place or wait for rendering. Refresh in live tab as needed to display updates.

Pages and Posts are the first of the functionality to learn. Then media/images.

The non-italicized headings match the links in the left-hand nav of the admin.

Workspace Layout

Title, upper left, with permalink
Content area with Add Media button, formatting toolbar (2 levels), Visual and Text (source code) tabs
Publish box
Page Attributes box OR Categories (for posts)

When on a page or post, click the down arrow to expand the Screen Options (upper right, for uncluttered admin).

Pages: Page Attributes, Layout 2 column, Enable…
Posts: Categories, Tags ?? (not recommended), Layout 2 column, Enable…
Featured Image is not used in this theme.

Near right side of toolbar, click Toggle Toolbar to show two levels. If additional formatting choices are desired, we can discuss.

Page and Post Titles (Prep)

Assign a meaningful title, sometimes rich in keywords.
When adding (a page) to nav menu (see below for instruction), shorten as desired. That is how “Home” is in the menu for the page entitled “Manchester & The Mountains.”
You do not need to add Posts to any menu, just a category as instructed below.
If you change a title after saving the page/post, you will need to edit the permalink right below it if you want it to match (recommended). The way to avoid having to do this is to “Save Draft” shortly after establishing page and naming it; this will establish a permalink. Then if you change the title, change the permalink, then Publish.

Posts

“Read More” tag, located in the top row of the formatting bar, will keep your post short on summary pages–a teaser.
Select Categories (you can create new ones as desired, but give some thought to the long-term organization if you do)
Tags??? (I strictly use categories.) You can hide this in Screen Options if you agree.
Featured image: simple way to add a 300X300px max image to both the post and the post summary on news pages. It will appear near top, aligned to left. You can also add additional image to the body of longer posts.

Note: NEVER allow trackbacks and pingbacks (in hidden Discussion panel) on posts or pages. Although they were good in concept, the abusers have totally thwarted their usefulness and they result in huge amounts of spam.

Media — Images (or Videos, PDFs, Docs, etc.)

Upload individually or in groups. Best if descriptively named prior to upload.
Server will save multiple image sizes upon every action.
Crop individually as needed for page and post content. Rename as desired.
For home page slide show, see below.
The media section can become unruly. If you want to add an image to a particular page or post, best to do it inside that page or post by putting cursor where image is desired, click Add Media, then select Upload Files tab.

Meta Slider (Home Page SlideShow)

Best to edit images to 700px wide in Media gallery first using “Scale,” then X out of each panel. You can also re-open and crop them to 400px tall there, or do it below.*
Click Meta Slider. (HomeGallery is currently the only gallery.)
To delete a slide, hover over it and click red trash can, upper left.
To add, click Add Slide. Media gallery window opens. Select image to be added.
If you didn’t already, crop to 400px high. Place cursor inside image. Drag to size. In right column, manually input the 700 and 400 dimensions into the Image Crop Selection fields to make sure full-width and exact height. Drag highlighted area up or down as desired. Click crop symbol, upper left. Save. Add to slider.
If any captions are desired, try it and let me know if they need to be styled better. They are white on black translucent bar currently.
Drag the entire slide to change the order as desired.

Optimization

Need to update this.

Appearance

Appearance > Customize

Do not use.

Appearance > Widget (Sidebar is a loosely defined word)

Widgets are in the more advanced functionality; generally I will install new ones.

Appearance > Menus

For new pages to be added to main menu, including dropdowns.
(I manually added your two “News” categories. One is currently empty.)
Select page from left column, usually at top. Add to menu. Open down arrow, shorten nav bar title as desired in expanded view. Drag and drop to desired location and indent (or not) in menu. Save menu.

Plugins

Do not change.

Users

Just you (donna) and me (varick), babe!

Settings

Review, don’t change.

Check Your Work when done on the live website.

Images Available on the Server

http://162.144.118.101/~varickrealestate/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/