Jenn Mears Web Design

Now that you have your Pages in your WP site up and organized into their little families, it’s time to add your content! Yay!

So now what? Since Wordpress is free and open-source driven, one of the caveats is that one is given the files with a “Here you go, now run along.” kind of attitude which can send users to the codex and forums ad nauseum. Usually what happens on my end of things is that I create the “shell” of the website and my clients are given login info so they can open up the pages and add/change content on their own. If the idea of using the dashboard is a new one, then allow me to make introductions.

Editing an Existing Page in Wordpress

Step 1:

Log into your site’s admin area either by going to the home page and clicking “log in” or go to your URL and add /wp-login.php at the end of it in the address bar. If your log in info is correct and you have at least Editor status as a user, then click on Manage.

Step 2:

Click on Pages.

Step 3:

Now you will see a list of Pages that you have created, organized by their Parent/Child relationships. (and as you see here, you can make little grandkid and great grandkid pages too). Select the Page you wish to edit, in this case, Design Committee.

Step 4:

Now you can add your content. Many versions of Wordpress offer the option of editing a Page either in the WYSIWYG “visual” mode, or, an HTML edit window and it’s always good to check which mode you have selected to make sure your stuff turns out ok. Do not fear the HTML window, it’s not that much different than the visual window and switching back and forth is a good way to learn some basic HTML.

Note the little button that’s highlighted on the far right. In fact, click on it to see what happens.

This is called “kitchen sink” mode and it’s handy for things like changing the color of your text, adding video and inserting specialized characters. Just mouse over the buttons and use them to play around a little with some text, to explore your options.

Step 5:

Once you have things the way you like on the page, now it’s time to either save the Page, if you need to head out the door for something, or publish it so the new Page can be seen by all. But wait, you have options too.

Custom Fields: Add meta-data to your content. Here’s a good explanation to what exactly that means.

Comments and Pings: Leave these options alone if you are OK with people posting comments on your site and name-checking you on their own sites. Otherwise, un-check ‘em.

Password Protect this Page: If you only want certain people to view content. The Wordpress version of the Captain Fantastic De-Coder Ring.

Page Parent: Where you can set where your Page appears in the site’s Page hierarchy.

Page Template: Set the appearance of the Page according to templates that can be added to your site files.

Page Order: This is one way to control the order your Pages are displayed in your site’s navigation. Word to the wise, if you number one, ya gotta number ‘em all for the idea to work.

Page Author: If you have multiple Contributors/Authors/Editors on your site, you can select who to credit with the Page’s content.

Page Revisions: View the Editing timeline for your Page.