This is a basic guide to editing existing pages on a WordPress site.
Log in
Log in at [YOUR SITE URL]/wp-admin/ with your admin username and password. WordPress Usernames and passwords are case-sensitive, so be careful.
After your initial login, you can edit the details of your user account (such as email or password) by clicking on the “Profile” link in the main navigation on the left.
Go to the List of Pages
From the dashboard, click on the “Pages” Link in the main navigation bar on the left.
Pick a Page
Choose which page you would like to edit and click on its title.
Basic Page Edits
Make necessary changes to the page copy in the copy area (looks like a small word processor window).
Adding Images
To add an image to a page, place your cursor where you would like the image within the copy and click on one of the icons above the copy area next to the label “Upload/Insert”.
A pop-up dialog will appear titled “Add media files from your computer”. Click on the “Select Files” button and locate the image on your computer. Alternately, you can click on the “From URL” tab at the top of the window and paste the URL of an image from the web, if you have it.
Once the image has finished uploading, you will be presented with a number of fields to enter relevant data for the image. All may be left blank, but it’s a good idea to at least fill out “Title” and “Alternate Text”. Here is a rundown of the purpose of each field:
- Title: A short description of the contents of the image. Most browsers will display this text as a tool-tip when the pointer is hovering over the image.
- Alternate Text: Should be the same as “Title”.
- Caption: An optional caption for the image.
- Description: Contents of this field will not be displayed on the site. This can be used to make notes about the image for later reference.
- Link URL: If you want the image itself to be a link to anything, paste the URL here. By default, the system will insert a link to the original uploaded image.
- Alignment: Choose how you want the image to align within the Page. “Right” and “Left” will float the image to the right or left, respectively, and allow text to wrap around it.
- Size: Choose from 3 sizes created automatically during upload or the original image size. Note: WordPress will only create image sizes smaller than the original.
When you have added all your image info, click on the “Insert into Page” button to insert the image into the Page where you last left the cursor.
If you have images that were previously uploaded to the site, you may find them under the “Media Library” tab in this pop-up window. Clicking on the “Show” link next to an image in the Media Library tab gives you the same fields you would see if you had just uploaded the image.
Adding Documents
Uploading and adding a link to a document is very similar to adding an image. Start by placing the cursor in the copy where you want the link and clicking on one of the icons above the copy area next to the label “Upload/Insert”.
Next, choose a file by clicking on the “Select Files” button and locating the document on your computer. Alternately, you can click on the “From URL” tab at the top of the window and paste the URL of a document from the web, if you have it.
Once the document has finished uploading, you will be presented with a number of fields similar to the ones we saw in the image uploading process. Here is a rundown of the purpose of each field:
- Title: This will be the text of the link inserted into the copy. It defaults to the file name, but you may change it to be whatever you like.
- Caption and Description: These are not used on the front-end of the site. They can be used for internal reference or left blank.
- Link URL: This will automatically be filled with a link to the file that was just uploaded. If you accidentally change the contents of this field, click the “File URL” button to repopulate the correct link.
When you have added all your document info, click on the “Insert into Page” button to insert the link to the document into the Page where you last left the cursor.
If you have documents that were previously uploaded to the site, you may find them under the “Media Library” tab in this pop-up window. Clicking on the “Show” link next to a document in the Media Library tab gives you the same fields you would see if you had just uploaded the document.
Adding a Link
To add a link to a Page, first select the copy you would like to be the link. Then click on the “Insert/Edit Link” button in the toolbar. It looks like a short length of chain.
In the pop-up dialog, enter the full link in the URL field. You may optionally add a title to the link and have the link open in a new tab or window.
Additionally, you can choose to link to other pages in the site by clicking “Or link to existing content” to expand the list of existing pages and choose one of them.
When finished, click the “Add Link” button and the link will be added to your Page.
To edit a link, place the cursor anywhere in the link in the copy area and click the “Insert/Edit Link” button again. You will see the same options you saw when creating the link.
To remove a link, place the cursor anywhere in the link in the copy area and click the “Unlink” button, directly next to the “Insert/Edit Link” button (looks like a broken length of chain).
Update
In the “Publish” panel on the right-hand side, there are additional options you may wish to use:
- “Status” – The default status of is “Published”, but “Pending Review” and “Draft” statuses may be used for internal review purposes. Note: pages with the latter two statuses are not visible on the front-end of the website.
- “Visibility” – Default is “Public” but can also be “Password Protected” (requires a password to view the page. Admin sets the password separately for each page with this level of visibility) or “private” (only viewable to logged-in WordPress users of the site).
- Publish time: Shows the date the page was originally published. If this is changed to a date later then the current one, the page will not appear on the site until that date.
Once you are satisfied with the content of your page, you may click the “Update” button. That’s it, you’re done!