Category: Tutorials

January 21, 2017

How To Change WordPress Permalinks

At WP By Hand, we recommend websites choose the correct WordPress permalinks for their website.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss which WordPress permalink structure you should be using and how to make the change on the back end.

What Are WordPress Permalinks?

Permalinks, permanent links, are the permanent URLs to your individual pages and blog posts, as well as your category and tag archives. For example, a permalink looks like this: http://www.domain.com/about-us. The About Us part in the domain name is the permalink. A clean structured domain with permalinks helps with a businesses search engine optimization (SEO). The easier the URL is to read for humans and search engines. The better chance your website will rank on the search results page. We will not dive deep into SEO, but feel free to read an excellent post on WordPress SEO. In short, using permalinks for a website is a must!

What Type Of Permalinks Should You Use?

There are a variety of WordPress permalinks to choose from. For instance, a news website should use the permalinks that include the dates. This particular permalink is called day and name. News sites are publishing stories on a daily basis. Having the date for news articles is helpful for current events. Another example of a permalink is the post name. This particular permalink should be used for brochure and eCommerce websites. We will take the concept a step further. Due to eCommerce websites that sell products, having the post name option is optimal. The post name provides a clean URL structure similar to the example we provided in the first paragraph. The product page has a better chance of ranking well in the search results with a clean URL.

Changing WordPress Permalink Setting

Head over to the Settings – Permalinks section in order to change the structure. You will choose which WordPress permalink setting is right for you website. Once you decide on the setting, scroll down to the bottom and click on Save Settings. A word to the wise. If your website has been live for awhile and you are looking to update the permalinks. Be sure to redirect the old permalinks to the new permalinks. Here is a helpful redirect tool from the folks over at Yoast SEO.

WordPress Permalinks

The redirect tool will allow you to place all of the redirects in the .htaccess file. The .htaccess file may be hidden within your root directory. For instance, you will need to contact your web hosting provider or show hidden files in your FTP client if the file is not present. Once you have finished all of the redirects. Head over to the .htaccess file, open with a text editor, and begin to add the redirects. If the redirects don’t appear to be working, contact the web host provider for more assistance.

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September 27, 2016

How To Add An Image

Adding an image to WordPress is easy peasy lemon squeezy. We’ll walk you through every step of adding an image through the WordPress admin.

In addition, we’ll provide step by step instructions uploading an image to your WordPress website. Adding an image to a WordPress page or post can augment the page’s appearance. The content is broken up into sections on the page rather than one long section of text. Images compliment the page’s message for the reader, which allow the user to scan the web page more quickly. In this tutorial, how to add an image to WordPress, we’ll provide steps with screenshots you can perform in order to add an image.

The first step is to log into the WordPress admin. The WordPress admin area is accessed by typing in the website’s domain name followed by /wp-admin or wp-login.php. If the domain name followed by either one of the directories provided does not display the login page please contact your web developer.

WordPress Login

Once you log in, you’ll be on the WordPress Admin area. Let’s head to the Media menu item on the left hand side. Click on Add New. Here you’ll be on the Upload New Media page. You will have two options when adding an image. The first option is to drag the image from your desktop and onto the dotted square area. The other option is to click on the Select Files button within the dotted square area. A window will pop up asking you to pick an image from the desktop.

WordPress Login Screen

WordPress Dashboard

Add An Image

Below is a screenshot of what the page looks like when you click on Add New. As a WordPress admin you have the option of controlling what images to add to the website. You will have the ability to add large, medium, or small images. Before you add an image, you’ll want to make sure the image is compressed to the smallest size possible. An image that is compressed and optimized for a website will load faster. Search engines will thank you when images are optimized for websites by helping you rank better in the search results page. Don’t forget about mobile websites. An optimized image for desktop and mobile is a win win for the website owner.

Add New Media

WordPress Media Library

The WordPress Media library consists of images, videos, audio, and files that you can use in your page or blog post. The WordPress admin can access the Media Library by clicking on the Library menu item. In the Media Library page you will have the ability to edit the image. Simply click on the image and an Attachment Details module will pop up. We highly recommend including a title and alt text for the image. Including an alt text description specifies an alternate text for an image, in case the image cannot be displayed. Search engines recommend websites to include alt text for every image on the website.

WordPress Media Library

Attachment Details Overview

How To Add An Image To A Page Or Blog Post

This next step will show you how to add an image to a Page or Blog Post. For this example, we’ll demonstrate how to add an image to a Page on your WordPress website. You’ve already uploaded the image to the Media Library. From here will insert the image into the page. Within any page click on the Add Media button located in the top portion of the website editor. Once you click on the Add Media button, you’ll find yourself in a recognizable place. An insert media module will display on top of the existing page. From here, you will notice all of the images you have uploaded are in one location. Pretty neat huh! Select an image to add to the page. Include the alt text in the Attachment Display Settings for search engine optimization purposes. Voila! Image has been added.

Insert Media Module

Congratulations!

Now that you have mastered adding an image to WordPress you are ready for prime time. Head over to your WordPress website and give this tutorial a try! Start by drafting a blog post for your business and add images to each section of the post. Separate the content out by adding images to each section. By adding images to the blog post, you are breaking up the content into sections. Therefore, helping readers scan the post quickly for their desired content. If you have any questions, let’s chat in the comments section below!

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August 18, 2016

How To Add A Blog Post To WordPress

Let’s Discuss How To Add A Blog Post To A WordPress Website.

We’re starting a new series of blog posts helping WordPress users by providing detailed tutorials with screenshots. These tutorials will be guides into performing everyday WordPress tasks that website admins perform on a regular basis. In this first tutorial, we’ll focus on adding a blog post to a WordPress website. The tutorial is specific to self-hosted WordPress websites. You may be able to use the advice we presented for WordPress.com. Let’s begin on how to add a blog post onto the back end of the website.

WordPress Admin Login

Before you publish any content, you’ll need to log into the back end of the WordPress website. To do so, simply type in the website’s domain name, followed by /wp-admin/. The /wp-admin/ will work for most WordPress websites. If the website does not redirect you’ll have to contact your web developer for the login page. The web browser will work its magic and place you on the WordPress login page.

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WordPress Dashboard

Once you have successfully logged in, you’ll be in the WordPress Dashboard. From here click on the Posts link located in the left hand side menu. We highlighted the area in a blue box for visual reference.

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WordPress Post – Add New

Here’s where you click on Add New button. Located in the top area of the web page next to the title Posts.

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WordPress Post Page Editor

Tada! You have landed on the WordPress Post editor. From here you’ll need to add a title, a custom permalink, the text content for the blog, and many other aspects to complete a blog post. We’ll provide details about each number on the screenshot to better equip you for a blog post.

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Filling In A WordPress Blog Post

Each number correlates with a field in the screenshot above. See below explanation for each number in the screenshot.

Post Title is the headline the user will see on search engines and the website. Make sure to add a relevant title that represents the blog’s post.
When editing a WordPress post permalink, keep the URL concise with the title for the blog post. Good for search engine optimization purposes.
When creating or editing a WordPress blog post, you can easily add images at any time using the WordPress Media Uploader tool. Simply upload the image by clicking on the Add Media button.
The large white space area is for the blog post. As a publisher, you will need to add images, text, and incorporate headers to break up the post. A Microsoft Word document has the same tools as the WordPress editor.
Posts are entries that display the content written by the author. The author can save a draft as the blog post is being written or publish a blog post when the blog is completed.
A Post Format is used by a WordPress theme to customize the presentation of a blog post. Each theme will have it’s own interpretation of a Post Format.
Categories provide a helpful way to group related posts together, and to quickly tell readers what a post is about.
Tags are similar to categories, but are generally used to describe your post in more detail.
The Featured Image is up to the theme’s discretion. However, most themes add the image to the header of the blog post.

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