Creating a WordPress Post

To get started creating your first WordPress post, locate the Posts menu on the left-hand side of the WordPress dashboard. You can either hover over the Posts link or click to expand it to reveal the submenu.

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The Add New Posts page can also be found from the + New link in the WordPress Admin Bar.

The first box is where you'll want to enter the title of your post.

On the right-hand side of the Title tab, there will be a section titled Document.

The Document tab can be broken down into six sections:

  • Status & Visibility
  • Categories
  • Tags
  • Featured Image
  • Excerpt
  • Discussion

The Status & Visibility tab allows you to edit whether this post will be able to be viewed publicly on the site, private for only site administrators or editors, or password protected. It also grants you the option to schedule when this post will be released, so instead of publishing immediately, it can be scheduled to be posted on the next day.

The Categories tab allows you to categorize your post, which will display already made categories or you can also add a new category if necessary. If the post is placed in a category then that's where the post will be stored.

The Tags tab will allow you to enter keywords that describe what the post is about, and all tags must be separated by commas (,) - This creates better results for SEO performance.

The Featured Image tab will allow you to add an image that will be displayed whenever a viewer first sees the post.

The Excerpt tab gives you the option to write a description about what the post is about, or you can create a preview of what the post will be about by adding the first paragraph or so of the post so viewers who are interested in reading more of the post will have the option.

The Discussion tab is where you can decide if you want to allow comments on the post, and also if pingbacks & trackbacks will be allowed (allowing other blogs to link to this post).

Once you have saved the post, there will be another tab Permalink that will be available to you. The permalink tab will allow you to change the slug of the post, as by default WordPress will add the year, month, and day of the post. Adding the permalink will change this to: /year/month/day/permalink as opposed to /year/month/day/post

There will also be two checkboxes added under the Status & Visibility tab: Stick to the top of the blog and Pending Review. The Stick to the top of the blog checkbox once enabled will pin this post to the top of your blog. The Pending Review checkbox once enabled will send the post into a queue that other editors/administrators can modify before fully publishing the article.

WordPress Text Blocks

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After configuring the Document tab and after you changed the title, you can click on the text block and start entering content for the post.

Once you click on the first block, you'll notice a fixed toolbar above the block, which can be used for customizing the layout of the block. For example, you can use the alignment tool to either left align, center align or right-align the block. You can also bold, italicize, link URLs, add code, add inlight images, and add strikethroughs.

You can click the three dots on the far right side of this toolbar to configure the block settings. These settings include: Hide Block Settings, Duplicate, Insert Before, Insert After, Edit as HTML, Add to Reuseable Blocks, and Remove Block. There are also keyboard shortcuts for editing the block quicker, which can be found adjacent to the setting.

The blocks toolbar also includes a transform mode, which by default WordPress will start as a paragraph. You'll notice next to the Document tab there will now be a Block tab, which has settings for each type of transformation.

There are six types of transform modes:

  • Paragraph
  • Heading
  • Verse
  • List
  • Quote
  • Preformatted

The Paragraph mode has three settings: Text Settings, Color Settings, and Advanced Settings. The Text Settings will allow you to change the font size and add a Drop Cap, which will largen the first initial letter. The Color Settings will allow you to change the background color and the text color, which each setting for the colors will display a color palette you can use or you can add your own custom colors. The Advanced Settings will allow you to add your own custom CSS styles to the block, but this shouldn't really be touched unless done by a professional web designer.

The Heading mode has two settings: Heading Settings and Advanced Settings. The Heading Settings will allow you to change between the size of the heading (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6) and the alignment of the heading. The Advanced Settings will allow you to add an additional CSS class or CSS styles, and an HTML anchor that can link directly to a section on a page.

The Verse mode will allow you to insert poetry, use special spacing formats, or quote song lyrics. The verse mode only has the setting to change the CSS styles.

The List mode will allow you to create a bulleted or numbered list, and it too only has the setting that allows CSS style changes.

The Quote mode can give quoted text visual emphasis. The quote mode has two settings: Styles Settings and Advanced Settings. The Style Settings allows you to use the default style for quotes, or make the quote larger. The Advanced Settings allows you to add additional CSS styles.

The Preformatted mode will add text that respects your spacing and tabs, and also allows styling. This mode only has one setting, which will allow you to add CSS styles to the mode.

Add a New Block

Once it's time to add another block to the page, there will be a + button on the far left side of the post which will allow you to add another block. Adding a new block will display a dropdown of options that are sectioned off into:

  • Most Used
  • Common Blocks
  • Formatting
  • Layout Elements
  • Widgets
  • Embeds

Once you have picked the appropriate block for your next piece of the post, then it just needs the content added.

Before you publish

You may be eager to go ahead and publish this masterpiece of a post, but it's always best practice to preview the post before it's released to the public. There will be a Preview button, once clicked WordPress will generate a previewed version of the post with all of the configuration added to the blocks and title. This will allow you to see the post as if it is published, so take this into consideration before publishing.

Let's Publish This

Once you are ready to publish this post, then you can click the blue Publish button at the top right-hand corner of the page (next to Preview). It will bring up some confirmation information that you may want to review before carrying on with the publication. This includes visibility, when the post will be published, and suggestion for tags.

If you know you don't want these checks, then you can click the checkbox that disables this feature. Click the Always show pre-published checks as it's enabled by default, and you will no longer see this option.

Congratulations, you just made one of many posts to your WordPress site!

 

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