Most WordPress users spend the majority of their time in WordPress visual editor writing posts. Learn how to become a power user with me and make your life easier.
WordPress visual editor lets us create content in a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) environment. It’s easy to use, but as a power user, you can increase your productivity greatly. Read on for some hints and tips on making the visual editor work for you. Remember, repetition is excellence so take your learnings and practice.
1. Don’t forget the kitchen sink…
By default the Visual Editor only shows a single row of buttons in the editor. Kitchen Sink is the last button in this row. Clicking on it will display another row of buttons with more commands that will make your editing life a lot easier and more exciting.
2. Learn some simple keyboard short cuts
Many beginner level users often find it difficult to figure out how to create paragraphs and line breaks in WordPress. To add a new paragraph in the visual editor you need to press the Enter key. WordPress will add a new paragraph with double line spacing.
If you would like to just enter a line break with single line spacing, then you need to press Shift + Enter keys together.
3. Rearrange the post editor screen
The post editor screen in WordPress is not just have a post editor. It houses other sections that control many other things such as categories, author and custom fields. When writing posts, you probably only use a few sections, the rest can be somewhat redundant. Luckily WordPress lets you ‘show’ and ‘hide’ items from the post edit screen. You can even rearrange the layout to suit your prefernece.
A clutter free writing area helps focus your efforts so do what you need to do to make the editor more conducive to how you work.
4. Use distraction free or full screen writing mode
There are times when you need to focus purely on writing without any user interface distractions. WordPress comes with a full screen writing mode which offers distraction free editing. Just click on the ‘fullscreen’ button and your post edit screen will de-clutter itself automatically.
5. Change the font size in WordPress visual editor
Typography plays a very important role in web content. Use different font sizes to grab your audience’s attention or highlight different sections in a lengthy article.
By default, WordPress visual editor allows you to change the font size into paragraph text, headings, etc.
6. Switch to the HTML editor
While the visual editor is great for ease of use, keyboard short-cuts, and visual appearance, don’t underestimate the power of the text editor. Sometimes when you are struggling with image alignment or the editor not allowing you to start a new line after adding an image, switching to the HTML editor is often the best solution. Just click on the ‘Text’ tab on the editor and you can easily manipulate your content to force the layout you desire.
More info
If you would like any more info about WordPress, SEO, search or digital marketing in general email me at firas@candidsky.com or reach out on LinkedIn.