How to Upload a Font to the WordPress File Manager
The word “font” may bring to mind thoughts of Times New Roman or Arial, when in fact there are hundreds of fonts available to choose from. Being able to select the right font can significantly enhance the look and feel of your website or blog. In this article, you will learn the basics of uploading a font to the WordPress file manager so you can start using it right away!
The Difference Between Web Fonts and Regular Fonts
When someone visits your website or lands on your blog’s front page, the first thing they’ll see is the “web font”, which is the generic term used for the type of font used on the web. Web fonts are usually either Helvetica or Arial and, although they look the same on the screen, they don’t look the same as the fonts you’re used to seeing in books or on signs because they’ve been scaled down to fit the web. Scaling down the fonts can also potentially damage their legibility; meaning that when printed or displayed in larger fonts, the letters tend to blur together or become unreadable.
Why Use Web Fonts?
While regular fonts have existed since the 1500s, they were mainly used for writing purposes during that time. Since the invention of the printing press, starting in the early 1400s, fonts have been used to decorate printed matter such as books and pamphlets. Regular fonts were also the only type of font available at the time and were originally only used for decoration because they were designed to be used in a graphics editor such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.
Why Should You Care About The Difference Between Web Fonts and Regular Fonts?
The answer to this question is quite simple: the fonts you’re used to using aren’t necessarily available for use on the web. The sad truth is that not all fonts are created equal and some are simply not suitable for use on the web. If you’ve ever tried to use a custom font that you created for your logo or text on a website or blog, you probably learned that, although the font may look perfect when you first download it from the internet, the end result is often horrific.
How Do You Make Sure Your Logo And Text Will Show Up Correctly On The Web?
The best practice when using fonts on the web is to create a completely independent web font from the logo and text you’re using. Why? Because when you combine the two together, the results can sometimes be disastrous. Creating an independent web font makes everything much more predictable.
The second best practice is to use a graphics editor such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro to create your logo and text, and only use the font for decoration. Don’t get me wrong, some types of fonts are perfectly suitable for decoration, but as a general rule, the less you use them for formatting purposes, the better.
Where Do You Get The Fonts You’re Using From?
The most convenient and the most popular place to get fonts from is either the Adobe Fonts or Monotype Fonts websites. These websites offer up-to-the-minute information on hundreds of fonts and allow you to download any font you want to use for free. Since these sites are the font repositories of choice for many designers and developers, they often have large backlogs of fonts you can choose from. The catch is that you can’t download the fonts directly into your computer’s font folder. Instead, you need to upload them to a folder on your computer called “fonts”, then you need to add that font folder to your computer’s font list.
To get the most out of this article, you’ll need to have a working knowledge of HTML, CSS and a little bit of JavaScript. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to learn basic coding skills, check out the Codecademy website. They offer courses on all things web related, from web design and development to marketing and business processes.