An editors guide to WordPress

Published on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 by Peter

So here’s a whistle stop tour of how to add and edit content on your website, whether you’re using it as a blog, or as a website/blogsite.

Please Note: This is a work in progress.

1. Dashboard

   The new-look dashboard is what you might see when you first log in (you will see either the dashboard, your profile page or the edit pages screen).

   The dashboard isn’t important for most users maintain their website content – don’t worry if you can’t see it.

   WordPress 2.7 dashboard screenshot
   
   

2. The difference between pages and posts

   Before we really get into editingyour site, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the difference between pages and posts:

   1. Pages are usually those which have a static purpose in life. For example, an about page, or contact forms. They do not usually contain information about news items, for example, which are frequently added to the site. Pages are generally defined so that they are always accessible from the front page.
      Some people build entire sites with just Pages – this is especially the case for sites with little need for dynamic content and is very popular with small businesses.
   2. Posts usually contain semantically and chronographically arranged information – for example, news reports, event results, and of course blog entries! The semantic structure is defined by categories and tags, and whilst making it easy for people to navigate your site will also help search engines to understand the content of your site and so improve the relevance of search results.

3. Pages

   WordPress provides easy access for you to write and edit pages on your website.

   From the Pages menu on the left hand side, selecting ‘edit pages’ shows you what pages exist in your website. Once on this page you have the option to give pages a number so they appear in a particular order. Trial and error usually gets what you want! You can add a page by clicking on ‘add page’ from the Pages menu on the left.
   

   Editing and creating a pages is much like maintaining a word document.
   

   When editing a page there is a dropdown menu on the right of the page that allows you to specify a parent page if necessary.

4. Posts (Not Applicable to all)

   Editing posts is exactly the same as pages. The difference with posts is that they are automatically added to your websites news or articles page.

5. Editing your content

   You can get to an editing screen by either, clicking ‘add new’ from the Posts or Pages section or selecting a page to edit.

   You will then see this screen – I’ve numbered the key features (click on the image below to see a bigger version):
   

   Here are the components that have been numbered in the above image:

   1. This is where you type the title of your post.
   2. This is where you write the content of your post.
   3. If you want to put something in bold, highlight it with your mouse and click on the B icon from the formatting bar.
   4. If you want to put something in italics, highlight it with your mouse and click on the I icon from the formatting bar.
   5. If you want to password protect your post, you can do so here.
   6. If you don’t want to publish your post yet – you want to write it now, but have it appear on your site tomorrow for example, edit the settings here.
   7. You can categorise your blog posts – add a new category here, or once your blog’s set up how you want it, select a category from here. You can also use the Categories option from the left hand Menu (Posts >> Categories) to edit/arrange these.
   8. If you want to save your post to finish later, click here.
   9. Don’t forget, you have to click the publish button for your post to show anywhere!

6. Add a link

   To link to another website from your post, select the word(s) you want to be the link, and click on the icon of a link of a chain from the formatting bar.

   A box will appear where you can fill in:

   1. The website you want to link to.
   2. The option to pick whether the link opens in a new window.
   3. A title for the link.
   4. A class (beginners don’t need this).

   Add link to post in WordPress 2.7:
   

   To delete a link, select the text again and click on the icon that shows a link from a chain breaking.

7. Add an image to a post.

   To add an image to a post, click on the square icon to the right of Upload/Insert (above the box where you’re writing your post).

   If your computer has flash installed, you’ll see the following screen. If it doesn’t, you’ll see the similar looking ‘browser uploader’.

   Add image to post in WordPress 2.7
   

   Select your image from your computer (like you’d add an attachment to an email – click on ’select files’ and find the file on your computer) and you’ll be moved on to this screen:

   Add image to post in WordPress 2.7 (screen 2)
   

   If you want a caption to appear under your image in your post, then fill in the caption box.

   If you’d like your image to have a description, or link somewhere, fill in the following areas.

   If you’d like to lay your page out nicely, and align the image within/around your text, pick which layout from the options there. You can also choose whether the image appears full size, or thumbnail, medium or large.

   Once you’re done, click on ‘Insert into post’.

   That should give you this:
   

8. Comments(Not Applicable to all)

   You can use the pages in this menu section to approve or delete comments left on your blog. If you’re on the ‘edit comments’ page hovering over any comment shows options of what to do with it.

9. Users

   If you are an administrator for your website you may want to add other users to your administration system. These might be users who can update your website. Different user types allow people to do more or less accordingly. See here for a list of what the various subscription types allow.

Ok – I think you’re done! Happy content editing

This is a work in progress and will be expanded as needed.

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