16 Simple Tips & Tricks for WordPress Users

Last week, I did a presentation for the Seattle WordPress Meetup titled 16 Simple Tricks for WordPress Users. They are not snippets of code or complex, or mind-boggling. Just some simple methods to get the most out of WordPress’s built-in capabilities. I am concept why not percentage them with you as properly.

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Here you move….

1. Easy HTML & the Text Widget

The text widget is pretty reachable that incorporates WordPress. You can effortlessly create a widget of textual content in a sidebar or footer area. And in case you tick that field, it’ll destroy the paragraphs for you. But what in case you need to do something a little fancier? Maybe an easy link to purchase your eBook. The true information is that the textual content widget works with HTML. The terrible news, now not all people recognize HTML. So right here’s a workaround.

Open a brand new post or web page. Don’t worry; you ain’t be publishing it or saving it. Now cross in and layout the textual content, upload a photo, add links, and exact stuff. Remember, as you’re doing this, it’s going to match in a widget region, for example, a sidebar, and could only be so extensive. If you are adding pics, maintain that in your thoughts. What you grow to be with might be something like this. Now that you have formatted it, clearly click on the text tab and duplicate the HTML or name the blob of code.

2. What Homepage?

When you put on your subject, you often get a homepage with the aid of default. And depending on your theme, it’s going to determine what that web page looks as if. It just defaults to the list of your weblog posts in many subject matters, but what when you have determined you want a simple homepage. Maybe something like one among your inner pages. You looked at the demo and idea something just like the sidebar’s content on the right might work. But how on earth do you do that? And what about your blog? You want that to go internal somewhere.

First, you will create your page. For the sake of ease, I am naming it the homepage. I keep that, and of direction could have brought any snapshots or video as well. Now I pass in and create my blog page. Name it, select weblog over at the proper hand aspect under Template, and keep. No content material was wished. This will routinely make it your weblog index web page. Now you will do three things:

Tick A static page

Choose Homepage or whatever you titled your homepage from the Frontpage drop-down menu.
Choose Blog or something you titled your weblog from the Post web page drop-down menu.
Save, and move to check out your emblem, spanking new homepage.3. Underscores vs. Underlines
When you are naming documents, a few people tend to use underscores instead of dashes. Something like this: Your media files might be an instance of this as properly. In any case, it’s excellent to keep it to dashes. Why? Because Google appears at underscores as joiners. That way, it looks at it as one phrase. And that sucks for the Google SERPs.

4. !#%!# Doublespace

You are typing alongside on your editor in WordPress, and you do a go back. Damn, just this one time, you need no area among the strains. There are two easy solutions. Click on your text tab, now delete the gap. Or use the old popular key combination of:

shift > return

5. Bad “Admin,” Bad

Are you still using Admin in your username? Or maybe someone else to your site is? In any case, time to do away with that bugger. You see, everybody can effortlessly find out your username if they know-how. But the one’s bots that roam in packs on the internet looking to break into WordPress websites are set to strive Admin first. So in truth, you are giving them half of your login with the aid of using it. There are some steps to doing this, as you cannot alternate a user admin.

Create a brand new username

While you’re logged in, add a brand new username. Make sure which you deliver it an Administrator Role. You may also need to use a one of a kind email because customers can not have identical e-mail. You can constantly exchange that in a while: Og Out and Log In Time to remove it. But there may be one very essential step right here. When you click on the delete, this display will show up. Considering you can have already created numerous posts and pages even as the usage of that Admin username, you don’t need them to go away. So make certain to tick the field “Attribute all posts and links to,” and this can be your new person call and the only one you’re logged into now.
Now log off and log in along with your new person’s name. Once you are returned in, go into your User listing and discover that vintage Admin user. That will do it.

6. Who Gives a Damn About You?

This isn’t so much a capability of WordPress, however an important tip. I actually have had individuals who either select no longer to create an approximate web page or, if they do, decide to cover it within the navigation. Make certain it’s prominent! These days site visitors for your site need to know who’s in the back of the weblog or business. In reality, I understand many websites in which the About web page is the second maximum often visited a web page.

7. You Said It’s Where?

Here is a tale for you. Someone is the use of WordPress. They have remarks open on all of the posts. But they’re growing one submit where they need the remarks closed. When they Google it, they discover all they need to do is untick the box at the publish editor page, beneath Discussion, in which it says Allow Comments. Well, they don’t see that. They look, and they appear and that they look. Google it greater, identical solution. It’s driving them nuts. Maybe a stiff drink will assist.

Whatever the quiz results are, they typically locate that one way or the other; it got unticked in the Screen Options on the web page’s pinnacle. A lot of pages in WordPress have Screen Options. This permits you to declutter what indicates on that display. You can hide the belongings you don’t care about or want to peer.

For instance, on the web page, when you open the dashboard. Don’t care approximately WordPress news? Or perhaps something else there that clutters the web page for you? You can do the same aspect. Eight. Where Are The Heck They All Coming From?
Are you finding lots of recent customers displaying up on your personal page? People who are subscribing to your blog via your RSS? Well, unless you’ve got a plugin that calls for this box to be checked, make certain it’s not.9. Full Posts Are Not Meant For Your Blog Page

Have you ever landed on a weblog index page or blog web page that has the entire posts listed and the web page is going on and on? For instance, examine this subject matter demo. To make your blog page more person-pleasant, attempt setting excerpts or the primary numerous words of the submit as a substitute, so human beings must click on thru. Do you word something lacking? First off, there aren’t share buttons in case you are the use of them. Likely you don’t have them in your weblog web page, just on unmarried posts. And in which are the remarks? What if I want to depart one? As you could see on this screenshot, each is there, resting at domestic nicely at the single submit page. It would help if you had human beings click via from the weblog page to the single publish web page for this very cause.

10. Don’t Have Share Buttons or Open Comments on Pages

I see this all the time: people setting percentage buttons on the service pages or about a web page. Or even worse, comments. Those two gear are generally meant for blog posts. You don’t want them there. Likely no one wants to comment on a static carrier web page. And I doubt very many people will choose to share yours on a web page. In truth, they’re additional distractions and could tend to steer human beings far away from your essential content.

Worst-case scenario The Contact web page.11. Don’t Get All Permalink

You can be possibly putting in place your permalinks when you construct your web page. I even have an entire post here that tells you more. But in a nutshell, be careful. If you pick out to change those down the road, probably all inbound links will be broken. Sure, you would possibly think that you could do redirects, but on all your pages? Not! So set these inside the starting and live with them. By the manner, the maximum usually used Permalink is Post

call.12. Creating a Dead Link in Your Navigation Bar

Have you ever created a navigation bar with the principle button acting like a greater header even as you list your services underneath that? For example, here, I even have offerings, after which links to all the separate offerings. But whilst doing it this manner, frequently you find you need to create a Service web page. What occurs is that you create this page and basically upload content material to it, explaining these offerings and hyperlinks to them. Sometimes that can be ok. But in other instances, it’s simply one more click on thru on your weary reader.13. Those Nasty Buttons
There are clear buttons that trojan horse me inside the submit and page editor window: underline and complete justification. There they sit down, after every different, like partners in crime. The motive is this:

Underlines: What do you believe you studied of whilst you see text underlined? You think link. It’s quite natural. And there’s not anything more frustrating than clicking on it and only wondering it turned into a screw-up. And the web page proprietor individual gets emails telling them their hyperlink is broken. In truth, you could have been tempted to click on the underlined words buttons. Typically underline is used for emphasis, and you are higher off bolding or italicizing. Full Justification: In print and mag newspapers, it worked. But it makes for hard reading on the internet. Compare this paragraph with the others on this web page.

Since 2008, I have taught lots of humans in companies and, for my part—online and in actual lifestyles. But what the majority don’t recognize about me is that I owned my own marketing firm for extra than a long time. So when you attend considered one of my workshops or sent me for online or in individual one-on-one coaching or training or offer you group training, you furthermore might get my 20+ years of marketing, layout, and entrepreneurship experience—all at no extra price.

And even worse, in the cell, it can certainly suck.14. Avoid Abandoned WP Installs
Again, no longer a lot a function, however something to be privy to. In a nutshell, all those sites you started or used for testing on a stay host want to be either deleted or saved up to date. The motive being, specifically if they’re sub-folders, in case you let WP and plugins and topics come to be outdated, they may be less complicated to hack. And as a friend in protection told me, “If they could get in there, they’re more likely so one can get into your major website, no matter how secure you have it.”

15. Don’t Muck Up Image Names and Alt Text

If you want your pics to play a function in your SEO, ensure you do it properly. This is not an in-intensity explanation but an alternative to making you conscious. It’s satisfactory to call your picture document something relevant before importing it to your media library. As you could see here, Not much precise there except someone is looking for that (and that is extraordinarily not going). You can add a name, that’s important, but it received changes the file name. Do include an Alt Text irrespective of what. Google frowns on empty Alt Text.
Beyond that, deciding to install there will rely on numerous variables. So you may want to do a little studies.

16. How Long Should My Posts Be?

Okay, I changed this ultimate one from my presentation because I desired to cope with this problem quickly. We all struggle to locate that perfect weblog publish period. It may be argued till the ceasing of the sector. In reality, there isn’t always perfect length. Here are matters to realize. Up to a limit, longer articles have higher probabilities than Google. But they should nonetheless focus on fashion, structure, and exceptional content. Google does no longer like posts or pages which can be much less than 300 phrases. So that’s it: 16 random tips. Of route, there are a ton more, and you may already be aware of most of those. But from having worked with hundreds of novices, I can inform you that these go with the flow to the listing’s pinnacle.