Understanding the Visual Editor For Easy Formatting

Do you know how your way around the WordPress editors? A major part of creating your own WordPress website is publishing new posts. While you may spend hours adjusting the theme settings, installing plugins, and customizing your website, you still need to create pages and posts. WordPress has two separate editors that you can use when creating content. There is a visual editor and a text editor. The text editor allows you to insert HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The visual editor provides an interface similar to most word processors. Most WordPress users will be more comfortable using the visual editor; though, there are certain features and tips that can help you with the formatting of your posts and pages. By learning more about the WordPress visual editor, you will have an easier time formatting your content.

Navigating the WordPress Editors
When you first go to create a post or page, you will either be presented with the Visual editor or the Text editor. You can easily switch between the two by selecting the appropriate tab in the upper right corner of the editor. The visual editor contains two rows of formatting options; though, typically only the first row is presented at first. The very last option along the top row is the Show / Hide Kitchen sink button. This will hide or show the second row of formatting options.

The first row contains the basics, such as bold, italic, strikethrough, lists, alignment, links, and a spell checker. Along the second row you will find options for changing the color and style of text, undo and redo buttons, options to paste from Word or as plain text, and a remove formatting button. The remove formatting button can be quite useful, when you simply want to remove all formatting and start over again, without having to delete any content. If you have ever used a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, then you will have no problem understanding the formatting options included in the visual editor.

Inserting Images and Media into Posts
Without a few images, most posts will look bland and unappealing. This does not mean that you should fill your post with dozens of images. Try to include at least a couple of images in your post, to help break up your content and to provide a more visually interesting article. When inserting images, use the button located above the first row of the visual editor. This will bring up the Media Uploader Window. Either upload a new image or select an image from your media library. Once you select and image and press the button to insert it into your post, you will be shown the Attachment Details panel. Make sure you fill out a title for each image in section labeled Alt Text. This information is used by search engines. Since a search engine cannot see the image, they use the alt text to determine the relevance of the image. After entering your alt text, you will also have to decide how to align the image. Choose to have the image float left or right, with text wrapped around the image, or make the image centered with no wrapped text. The other option is to choose no alignment.

The more you use the visual editor, the easier it will be to understand. Soon you will have no problem formatting your posts however you see fit.