How to Edit Your WordPress Website
WordPress is undoubtedly the largest content management system (CMS) available and is used by millions of websites worldwide. It’s easy to use, free, and open source — and it offers a wealth of features.
But it’s also a platform that is increasingly difficult to master, particularly if you’re a newcomer. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and curated this detailed guide. It will take you step-by-step through the process of editing your WordPress website from scratch. So whether you’re an experienced user looking to further your knowledge or a complete beginner looking to build a website from the ground up, this guide is for you.
The Need For Editing
Let’s be honest — at some point in your life, you’re going to end up editing a WordPress website. It might be to update the content or add / remove images. Or it could be to change the theme totally and make it match the vibe of your site. Whatever the case, editing a WordPress website is a crucial step in the development process.
Why? It’s all about giving your website the best possible chance of standing out from the crowd. When you edit a WordPress website, you’re not simply fixing spelling errors and adjusting the wording of the content – although that may be part of it. You’re really transforming the whole experience of the site for the better. And that’s what makes all the difference.
What To Keep In Mind
When you’re editing your WordPress website, there are a number of things to keep in mind. First, always make sure that you’re working from a clean install. That is, remove all the plugins and themes and replace them with fresh copies. This will ensure that your changes are applied correctly and that you don’t end up with any unexpected results. Second, make sure that you’re using the right tools for the job. For example, if you’re editing the CSS, use a separate CSS editor (such as CSS Desk) rather than the built-in browser tools. Or if you’re doing some complex HTML editing, use a professional HTML editor (such as Tholio).
Third, learn from the pros. There are many WordPress tutorial videos and podcasts which you can listen to or watch to learn the ropes. And don’t be afraid to ask questions. There are plenty of helpful, kindhearted souls out there who will happily guide you along the way.
Step-By-Step Guide To Editing Your WordPress Website
OK, ready to begin editing your WordPress website? Let’s get to it.
The first step is to log in to your WordPress admin area. If you use a desktop computer, launch your web browser and click on the WordPress icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Or, if you’re dealing with a mobile device, open the WordPress app (from the App Store or Google Play Store) and log in with your username and password.
Once you’re in the admin area, you’ll see a navigation menu on the left-hand side. At the top, you’ll see the option to dashboard. This is the central point where you can make changes to the look and functionality of your site. From here, you can access the Settings page (top right) which contains all the configuration options for WordPress. You can also access Generate and Create (bottom left) which are short-cuts for the dashboard.
The Basic Settings
To begin with, let’s change the Admin Area Skin option under the Settings menu. This controls the overall look of the WordPress admin area. If you’re a regular user of the site, then you’ll probably want to keep the default option which is clean. But if you’re a content creator or a power user who spends a lot of time in the admin area, then you might want to try out a different skin.
The next step is to scroll down to General Settings and make some minor changes to the heading and language on the About page. Then, access the 404 Page under the Settings menu and choose Not Found as the default option for displaying content when someone tries to visit a webpage that doesn’t exist (naturally, WordPress loads the default setting for all new websites).
If you’re looking to get your site up and running as soon as possible, then you might want to go for the WordPress Quick Start Guide. This is a one-stop-shop for beginners who want to get their site up and running as soon as possible. It’s a fully-detailed, step-by-step guide that will take you from zero to WordPress-editing in no time.
Once you’re in the WordPress Quick Start Guide, click on the Get Started button to continue to the next step.
Choose A Theme
From the Settings menu, navigate to Appearance and click on the Themes tab. Here, you can choose the theme you want to use for your WordPress website.
The last step is to scroll down to Install Theme and click on the Install button to begin the process of installing the WordPress theme you’ve chosen.
Congratulations! You’ve just launched your WordPress website and are about to start editing it. But before you begin, it’s important to remember that themes are a crucial part of a site’s functionality and design. You can’t really edit a theme you don’t have. So don’t forget about this step!
To save you the effort and stress of finding a missing link or image after your theme’s been installed, you can choose to Activate the theme’s built-in functionality. This will make all the links and images on your site work automatically without needing to find a missing piece of content.
After the theme’s been activated, you can access it from the Appearance tab. You’ll find the Settings button at the top right of the page.
Adding More Content
OK, so you’ve completed the basic setup process for your WordPress website. You’ve got a theme installed and activated, and you’re ready to start adding content. But before you begin, it’s important to remember that WordPress doesn’t just stop at blogs and news articles. It can absolutely handle any form of content you might want to add to your site.
To begin adding more content to your site, click on Add New at the top of the left-hand menu. This will open up a box where you can start creating new sections or posts of content for your site. When you start adding content to your site using the WordPress interface, you’ll see a small section of sample posts at the top of the page. These are great for getting started but don’t represent the full functionality of the platform.
To create a full-fledged blog post on your site, use the Post button on the left to open up the Post area of the WordPress admin area. Here, you can start creating new posts in a familiar fashion. But now that you’re editing a WordPress website, there are a few extra steps you need to consider.
Formatting Your Content
When you’re creating content for your blog, the software will automatically format the text for you based on a number of settings. If you want to take advantage of this feature, then you need to make sure that your settings are correct before you start publishing content. Otherwise, the software will just continue to assume that you want things left-aligned or centered.
Adding Images
One of the most interesting aspects of a WordPress blog is the ability to add images to the content. When you’re editing a post on a WordPress site, you can click on the Add Media button at the top of the screen (in the Post area) to open up a gallery where you can find and add images from almost any device (mobile, tablet or desktop computer).
For images to appear on your site, you need to make sure that they’re the right size. You can either upload a new image (if you don’t have a gallery set up yet) or look for an existing image on the web that you can use. When selecting an image for your site, make sure that the resolution is high enough to ensure that everything looks crisp and that there aren’t any pixelated sections or artifacts which interfere with the viewing experience.