In this beginner’s guide, we will explain how to add a blog post in WordPress. You will learn what a WordPress post is and the various settings associated with a post.
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What are Posts in WordPress?
Posts in WordPress are intended for dynamic content that is considered timely such as news items. They almost always include the author and a published/updated timestamp.
Unlike WordPress pages, posts are your blog content, displayed on your site by date in a reversed chronological order. This means your newest blog posts will start at the top.
Learn more about the difference between a WordPress page and a WordPress post.
Blog posts are meant to be shared to offer your reader new content, which keeps your site fresh and interesting.
WordPress posts can be found in categories, tags, archives, widgets, and your RSS feeds.
Now that you have a good idea of what a WordPress post is let us take a look at how to add a blog post in WordPress.
How to Add a Blog Post in WordPress
Adding a new WordPress post to your website is easy and similar to adding a new page. To get started, make sure you are logged in to your WordPress website.
Navigate to the Add New Post Screen
On the left side of the WordPress admin area, hover with your cursor over Posts, then click on Add New. Doing so will redirect you to the WordPress post editor where you will see the WordPress block editor (Gutenberg).
Add a Post Title
In the block editor, at the top, you’ll see Add title. Go ahead and type in a clear and helpful title for your post.
Add Your Content
Once you’ve finished adding your post title, it’s time to add some content using the block editor.
Creating and editing posts and pages in WordPress is a simple and intuitive process using the block editor. The block editor acts as a page builder that lets you use blocks to create media-rich posts.
You can use the block editor to easily build complex layouts with rich content quickly by using WordPress block patterns. You can also use reusable blocks to speed up your content creation.
Below is a list of the most commonly used blocks that you can use to create content for your post.
- Heading – Use headings to organize content that helps visitors understand your content’s structure. These also play an important role in your website’s search engine optimization.
- Paragraph – This is the default block used in the block editor to create a paragraph of content.
- Image – You can use the image block to add images in three ways bu uploading, from the Media Library, or inserting from a URL.
- Buttons – This block allows you to add a button or a group of buttons to your content.
- List – The list block has two options, bulleted or numbered.
- Quote – Gives quoted text visual emphasis.
- Cover – This block lets you add an image or video with a text overlay. This is great for headers and call-to-actions.
- Gallery – Use the gallery block to display multiple images in a rich gallery format. This is great for portfolios.
- Video – The video block lets you embed a video from your Media Library, upload a video file, or insert one from a URL.
- Audio – The audio block lets you embed audio from your Media Library, upload an audio file, or insert one from a URL.
- File – The file block you add a downloadable file to your content.
To start adding content to your new blog post, you can either start writing, click the Add Block button, or click the Block inserter toggle at the top to view all blocks.
Once you insert a block into your blog post, you can then use the block settings located on the right to customize it. If the block settings are not visible, click on the gear icon at the top-right of the page editor.
Now that you have learned how to add content to your blog post, let’s look at the various settings of a WordPress post.
WordPress Document Settings
Located on the right side of the WordPress post editor, you should see the document settings for your blog post. If you’re unsure, make sure that Post is selected. This area contains various settings for your post. Below we will explain each one.
Status & Visibility
The status and visibility section is where you will choose how you want to display your blog post. You can choose between three options Public, Private, or Password Protected.
To view the page visibility settings, click on the Public link next to Visibility.
Permalink
The permalink, short for ‘permanent link’ is the section where you will set the URL for your blog post. By default, WordPress will set it as your post title. If you want a different URL for your blog post you’ll need to set this manually. Just make sure to use a dash between words.
TIP: For search engine optimization (SEO) purposes it is often a good idea to have the permalink match your page title.
Categories
Categories are one of the two default taxonomies in WordPress that are used to organize and structure your blog posts. They are designed as a way to group a broad range of related posts.
You can use categories to group and sort related blog posts into different sections to help visitors quickly identify the type of content you offer and what your website is about. They can enhance your website’s usability and accessibility by offering visitors an easy way to locate content.
Learn more by reading our guide on how to add categories in WordPress.
Tags
Tags are the second default taxonomy in WordPress. These give you the ability to provide additional topic-specific grouping between blog posts where categories fall short. You can use them to provide better grouping and relationship opportunities by attaching topic-specific keywords to a post that helps describe the content.
Learn more by reading our guide on what are tags in WordPress and how to use them.
Featured Image
The featured image setting allows you to upload or choose an image from your media library that describes your blog post. Featured images are what will be shared on social media.
To attach a featured image, click on Set featured image.
Then you can either upload a new image to use or select an existing image from your media library.
Once you’ve selected an image to use, click on the Set featured image button located at the bottom right corner of the window.
Excerpt
The excerpt serves as a short extract or summary for your blog posts. By default, if this field is left blank, WordPress will automatically create one using the first 55 words of the post.
For best practice, we recommend you treat this field as a teaser for your readers. You’ll want to write something to attract your readers and convince them to read more.
Discussion
The discussion setting is where you will enable or disable comments for individual blog posts. To enable comments, check the box next to Allow comments and uncheck to disable comments.
There is also a check box to allow pingbacks and trackbacks. Pingbacks and trackbacks are link notifications that keep track of when other sites link to your content. These notifications appear in the comments section of your blog post.
Pingbacks and trackbacks allow for communication between blogs but can be abused by spam bots that insert links on your site. Therefore, it is often a wise choice to disable them unless you are absolutely sure you want to use them.
Publish Your Page
Finally, when you feel you have completed your new WordPress blog post, you can go ahead and click the big Publish button at the top-right. If you want to learn how to publish your post on a schedule, then continue reading.
How to Schedule When Your WordPress Post Will be Published
Sometimes you may want to publish your blog post at a later time. You can do this by using the schedule feature located under the publish settings.
To schedule your WordPress post to be published in the future, click on the Publish button. Then click on the drop-down labeled Publish: Immediately right underneath the Visibility setting.
Now use the date/time picker to choose your preferred publish time. Once you’ve finished selecting a time, click on the Schedule button at the top.
How to Delete a Post in WordPress
To delete a blog post in WordPress click on Posts in your admin area. Doing so will redirect you to the Posts screen where you can see a list of all your WordPress posts.
Now simply use your mouse cursor to hover over the desired blog post you wish to delete. Then click on the Trash link.
You can easily restore a blog post by clicking on Trash at the top. Then hover with your cursor over the post you wish to restore and click on Restore.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Unpublish a Post in WordPress?
On the left-hand side of the WordPress admin area click on Posts. Now with your cursor, hover over the blog post you want to unpublish and click on Edit. Finally, at the top-right, next to the Update/Publish button, click on Switch to draft.
How to Add Post to Menu in WordPress?
Follow our step-by-step guide and learn how to add pages, posts, categories, tags, and custom links to your navigation menu including how to add menus to other parts of your website.
How to Change the Permalink of a Page in WordPress?
In the document settings of your WordPress blog post, look for the Permalink section. The text field located under URL Slug is your permalink. You can change it here but make sure you use a dash in between words.
How to Change the Author of a Post in WordPress
In the document settings of your WordPress post, look in the Status & visibility section for Author. Below it, you will see a dropdown field where you can select the author.
In this guide, we showed you how to add a blog post in WordPress and walked you through the various settings associated with a WordPress post.
Remember that posts and pages are two separate things. WordPress posts are intended for dynamic content that is considered timely with an author and timestamp.
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