How to Edit and Use Icons on WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems, and with good reason. It is incredibly flexible, allows for a wide variety of customizations, and is very user-friendly. In this article, we will discuss some of the basic editing and using icons on WordPress.
Editing Icons In WordPress
Icons are used throughout WordPress when displaying information on a page. There are six main categories of icons, which are used for different purposes (more information below).
Category Icons
Category icons are used to display categories in a hierarchical fashion. For example, if you are marketing an e-commerce store that sells products across multiple categories, you could use three category icons on a single page to represent those products.
The most common use for category icons is to categorize posts in a blog. When a post is placed in the correct category (based on the subject matter of that post), it will display an icon associated with that category.
Tag Icons
Tag icons are used to display a list of tags in a hierarchical fashion, much like categories. However, unlike categories, tags are used to tag words or phrases that are used to describe a certain topic. For example, if you are writing a blog post about SEO (search engine optimization) and you want to use the SEO term repeatedly throughout the post, you could use the tag icon to do so.
The most common use for tag icons is to list all of the tags used in an SEO campaign. When an item is tagged with all the right tags, it will display an icon associated with that set.
Shield Icons
The shield icon is used to indicate that a certain element is available to manipulate. When clicked, a small window will popup where you can either cancel or confirm an action. Some common uses for shield icons are to show a submission form or a popup for commenting.
Filled Circle Icons
Filled circle icons are used to indicate a completed action or task. When a user completes a particular action like filling out a form or commenting on a blog post, a checkmark or comment will be displayed next to that action.
Heart Icons
Heart icons are used to indicate a favorite or recommended action. When a user likes or recommends an action, a heart icon will be displayed next to that action.
Double-Circle Icons
Double-circle icons are used to indicate a placeholder for something. When a user clicks on a page or an article and then clicks on the ‘x’ to leave that content, a placeholder icon may be displayed in its place.
Useful Hints
Besides the icons used for different parts of WordPress, there are also many useful tips and tricks for utilizing them effectively. Below we have compiled a list of some of the most helpful techniques.
Use Category and Tag Icons On Blog Posts
When displaying blog posts on a website, it is usually desirable to show the categories and tags associated with those posts. However, since these elements identify a post’s subject matter, it is usually best to avoid using them on regular web pages. This is because using category and tag icons on a web page could potentially lead to a visitor thinking that those elements indicate important information about the page itself.
There are exceptions to this general rule. For example, if your blog post is about dog grooming and you have used the dog grooming term multiple times throughout the post, you could put that term in the heading of the page and then use the category and tag icons to identify that grooming topic.
The same reasoning goes for the other five categories and tag icons we discussed above. Although the purpose of those elements is to identify content, in some instances it is possible to use them effectively without risking any misunderstandings.
Include Icon On Category and Tag Pages
If you have a category or tag page associated with a certain content element (such as a blog post), it is usually a good idea to include that element’s icon on that page. This will help users easily identify the content they are interested in without having to hunt through each post to find its corresponding icon. In some instances, it is possible to include more than one element’s icon on a single page. For example, if you have a category titled ‘Technology’ and a tag icon for the term ‘Web Design’, you could display those two elements on one page to indicate that both elements relate to the category and tag ‘Technology’ and ‘Web Design’ respectively.
Icons can be used to identify content, manipulate it, or leave it as-is. As long as you are using them correctly, there should be no problems with your content editors.