How to Copy & Paste an Existing Element to a New Page in WordPress

There are so many times when we want to copy and paste content from one page or post to another. Maybe you want to share a fantastic article you just wrote with your friends and family or you want to create a detailed blog post step-by-step to show exactly how to accomplish something.

If you’re using WordPress, you can actually accomplish this very easily. In this tutorial, you’re going to learn how to copy and paste an existing element to a new page or post in WordPress. Let’s get started.

The Basics

Before you begin, you should first make sure you have a complete understanding of what copying and pasting content means in general. When you copy content, it usually means you’re going to paste the content somewhere else. What you’re actually doing is duplicating the content so you can have two copies. You’re not really “copying and pasting” as much as you’re creating copies. This can be a really helpful thing to do if you want to have multiple copies of something for different purposes (e.g., a draft, a short-term goal version, etc.).

Another important thing to note is that when you paste content, it usually means you’re going to change the formatting of the content as well. This is called “cloning” the content because you’re basically making a copy of the original content and changing some things about it (the most important thing you’re usually changing is the formatting).

The Steps

Now that you have a basic understanding of what copying and pasting content means, it’s time to get started with the tutorial. First, you need to make sure the page you want to paste the content into is empty. You can do this by going to that page and clicking the “Edit” button in the top right corner or by simply opening up the page in a new tab or window. When the page is empty, you can paste the content in any way you want and it will appear just as you put it in. Before you begin, it’s important to note that this method of copying and pasting content assumes you’re using a local copy of WordPress on your computer. If you’re using a WordPress.com account, you can actually paste content in a way that reflects the appearance of the original post. However, this is usually not what you want when copying and pasting content for personal use. If you’re not sure how to properly paste content from one page or post to another using WordPress, this tutorial is going to help you out.

Step one: Open up WordPress

Once you have a local copy of WordPress on your computer, you can go to the directory that contains the folder in which you installed WordPress. This is usually the “wp-content” directory located in the “public_html” directory on your computer. Once you’re in this directory, you can open up WordPress in any way you want using your favorite text editor. In this tutorial, we’ll be using Atom because it’s widely available and has a simple interface. If you do not have Atom, you can download it for free from https://atom.io/ and install it on your computer.

Step two: Create a new page in WordPress

Once you’ve opened up WordPress, you need to make sure you’re in the “Posts” section of your WordPress site. Once you’re in the “Posts” section, you can click on the “new page” button at the top of the page to create a new page. When you create a new page using this method, you are putting an empty page in your website with the heading “New page.”

This is how a new page in WordPress should look like:

Step three: Copy the content you want to paste

Now that you have a new page with an empty screen, it’s time to start copying the content you want to paste. You can copy the content from any page on your WordPress site to the new page you created. Just make sure you have an empty clipboard and focus on one piece of content at a time. When you’re done copying, you can either use the button at the top of the page to paste the content or you can go to the “Edit” section of the new page and click on the “Paste” button below the post editor. If you chose to paste the content using the button, your content should appear just as you copied it. To be extra careful not to mess up anything, it’s best to navigate to the page you want to copy content from and then come back to the page you created to paste the content. This ensures you are not going to paste content from one page to another while still in the same session. It’s also important to note that when you paste content, it usually means you’re going to change the formatting of the content as well. This is called “cloning” the content because you’re basically making a copy of the original content and changing some things about it (the most important thing you’re usually changing is the formatting).

Step four: Come back and edit the new content

Once you’ve copied the content and pasted it on your site, it’s time to come back and edit it. If you chose to use the button to paste the content, you can click on the “Edit” tab at the top of the page. If you went to the “Edit” tab using the keyboard, your edited content should appear below the original content you copied. Using the “Edit” tab is very similar to using the “Back” button on your web browser. This brings you back to the place you were before you left to edit the content you copied. Remember: it’s best to avoid selecting entire paragraphs while in the middle of editing content. Instead, you should click on individual words or phrases to be able to add or change them more easily. When you are finished editing, you can either hit the “Update” button to save your changes or you can click on the “Preview” button to see how your content looks.

If you previewed your content in the “Edit” tab and you decide it’s not ready, you can go back to the “Draft” tab and start over again. Once you’re back at the “Draft” tab, you should click on the “Publish” button to make your content live.

This method of copying and pasting content from one page to another assumes you’re using a local copy of WordPress on your computer. If you’re using a WordPress.com account, you can actually paste content in a way that reflects the appearance of the original post. However, this is usually not what you want when copying and pasting content for personal use.