How to Add an Inspect Element Change to Your WordPress Website
WordPress is the world’s #1 content management system and one of the most popular tools used to create websites and blogs. If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either already using WordPress or are just beginning the process of exploring this flexible and powerful platform.
WordPress is designed to be user-friendly and extremely customizable, which makes it a great fit for professional webmasters and marketing executives who need a simple yet effective blogging platform to build and grow their blogs.
However, sometimes it’s not easy to find exactly what you need in the WordPress Documentation. This is where blogs called ‘blog helpers’ step up to the plate and offer unique tips and tricks for adapting WordPress to your needs.
In this article, we’ll discuss how to add an ‘Inspect Element’ change to your WordPress website.
What Is an Inspect Element Change
An Inspect Element change allows you to add additional CSS or JavaScript to your WordPress website’s live environment (also known as ‘the loop’) so that it can be monitored and tested in real-time as you edit it.
It’s a great way to see how your design is affecting your website’s overall look and performance in real-time, without needing to refresh the page to see the changes you’ve made. Essentially, an Inspect Element change allows you to debug your website while it’s live on the internet.
Why Do You Need To Add An Inspect Element Change To Your WordPress Website?
The need for an Inspect Element change varies from person to person, but there are three main reasons why you might want to consider adding this feature to your WordPress website.
- To see how a design will look in real-time.
- To test the performance of your website.
- To debug any unexpected issues that might arise while editing your website’s design.
How Do You Add An Inspect Element Change To Your WordPress Website?
To add an Inspect Element change to your WordPress website, you will need to do the following steps:
- Visit your Dashboard.
- Click on the ‘Customize’ button.
- On the next screen, locate the setting called ‘Edit Theme Options’ and click on the ‘Edit’ button.
- In the resulting dialog, locate the setting called ‘Script Taminator’ and click on the ‘Disable’ button to the left of it.
- Click on the ‘Update’ button at the top of the screen to save your settings.
- Visit your site again and click on the ‘Inspect Element’ button (located at the top-right of your page) to view the live version of your website.
What Can You Do With An Inspect Element Change?
Once you have an Inspect Element change set-up on your WordPress website, you can begin exploring the powerful features that this platform has to offer. Here are just a few tips to get you started.
- You can add additional CSS styles to your website’s live environment so that they can be monitored and tested in real-time as you edit them.
- You can add JavaScript components to your website’s live environment so that they can be monitored and tested in real-time as you edit them.
- You can add URL parameters to the end of your website’s links (for example, mywebsite.com/link/?foo=bar to mywebsite.com/link/?foo=bar) to have your website perform specific functions when certain events occur (such as a user clicking a link or viewing a particular piece of content).
- You can create different landing pages based on the link that a user clicks (for example, mywebsite.com/link-a to mywebsite.com/link-b)
When Do You Need To Add An Inspect Element Change To Your WordPress Website?
Depending on your needs, you may need to add an Inspect Element change to your WordPress website at any point in the process. However, there are a few instances when you might want to consider delaying the addition of this feature.
- During the design process, you might want to add additional CSS or JavaScript to your website’s live environment so that it can be monitored and tested in real-time as you edit it. However, if you make any major changes to your website’s design, you will need to remove the additional CSS or JavaScript and add it again once the design is finished.
- If you’re adding a JavaScript component to your website, you will most likely need to add it at the very end of the file so that it is ready once the rest of your site’s JavaScript is loaded. This also means that you will need to ensure that all your site’s resources are loaded before you add the JavaScript (which can sometimes be a lengthy process).
- If you’re using plugins on your WordPress website, you might need to wait until the plugin’s developer(s) release a new version that includes the necessary functionality for adding an Inspect Element change. In some cases, you might also need to set-up the plugin once again after you’ve updated your WordPress website to the newest version.
In this article, we discussed how to add an ‘Inspect Element’ change to your WordPress website. By offering a live view of your website as you edit it, inspecting element changes can help you to see how your design will look in real-time, identify any unexpected issues that might arise while editing, and track the performance of your site.