1. USING THE EDITOR
THE PROPER WAY
BY SETH ALLING
@sethalling
#WCTO

2. RIFLE RIVER
RECREATION AREA,
MICHIGAN
#WCTO

3. NOTE:
THIS GUY IS NOT ME
#WCTO

4. THAT HURT
NOTE:
I WISH THIS WAS ME
#WCTO

5. YUP... IT’S BROKEN
1. Learn what to do
2. Be aware of surroundings
3. Do things correctly
4. Don’t give up
#WCTO

6. LEARN
WHAT TO DO
#WCTO

7. LEARN THE PARTS OF THE EDITOR
#WCTO
LEARN
WHAT TO DO

8. TITLE
CONTENT
ADD IMAGES

9. SLUG

10. USE THE KITCHEN SINK
#WCTO
LEARN
WHAT TO DO

11. TOGGLE KITCHEN SINK
ELEMENT BREADCRUMB

12. UNDERSTAND ELEMENTS
Block Level Elements
▸ Paragraph
▸ Heading 1
▸ Headings 2 - 6
▸ Ordered List
▸ Unordered List
▸ Blockquote
▸ Preformatted Text
Inline Elements
▸ Bold
▸ Italic
▸ Links
▸ Images
#WCTO
LEARN
WHAT TO DO

13. KNOW HOW TO MAKE LINE BREAKS
Visual Editor
Press ENTER for new
paragraph
Press SHIFT-ENTER for
single line break
Text Editor
Press ENTER twice for new
paragraph
Press ENTER once for
single line break
#WCTO
LEARN
WHAT TO DO

14. ADDING YOUTUBE VIDEOS
1. Copy Video URL
2. Paste into Editor
(on its own line)
3. DONE!
This also works for
Vimeo, Vine, Twitter,
SlideShare and more.
#WCTO
LEARN
WHAT TO DO

15. USING [SHORTCODES]
Example:
Size embedded content
[embed width="123" height="456"]http://youtube.com/url[/embed]
#WCTO
LEARN
WHAT TO DO

16. SCREEN OPTIONS ARE YOUR FRIEND
#WCTO
LEARN
WHAT TO DO

17. SCREEN OPTIONS ARE YOUR FRIEND
LEARN
WHAT TO DO
#WCTO

18. BE AWARE
OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
#WCTO

19. DON’T PASTE CONTENT DIRECTLY INTO
THE EDITOR (UNLESS YOU REALLY WANT TO)
Toggle the Paste as text
button or CMD-SHIFT-V
(CTRL-SHIFT-V on PC)
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
#WCTO

20. Sample Layout
▸ Heading 1 (Usually post title)
▹ Headings 2
▹ Heading 3
▹ Heading 3
▹ Heading 2
▹ Heading 2
PROPER FORMATTING CAN GREATLY
IMPROVE READABILITY
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
#WCTO

21. If you need to add code, make sure
you are under the Text tab.
Know allowed html tags:
wp-includes/kses.php
USING YOUR OWN CODE
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
#WCTO

22. AVOID ALL PLUGINS
that allow inserting
of PHP code.
No exceptions.
NEVER, NEVER INSERT PHP CODE
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
#WCTO

23. Things to watch for:
1. Not current (especially if no updates in 2 years)
2. Bad reviews
3. Few active installs
CAREFUL USE OF PLUGINS
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
#WCTO

24. GET RID OF DISTRACTIONS
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
#WCTO

25. [SHORTCODE] CLUTTER
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
Can be fixed. Add to theme’s functions.php
add_shortcode( 'shortcodetag', '__return_false' );
(Even better to create a custom plugin! Talk to me after if you need help.)
#WCTO

26. DO THINGS
CORRECTLY
#WCTO

27. TAKE YOUR TIME
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY
“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” ― Lewis Carroll
#WCTO

28. PUBLISH PROPERLY
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

29. ADD SPECIAL CHARACTERS (1/2 is not ½)
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

30. ADD AND EDIT IMAGES
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

31. ADDING IMAGES
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

32. EDITING IMAGES
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

33. REMEMBER THAT MISTAKES HAPPEN
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

34. DON’T PANIC!
#WCTO

36. REVISION RESTORATION CAN SAVE YOU
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

37. ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP SYSTEM SETUP
#WCTO
DO THINGS
CORRECTLY

38. DON’T
GIVE UP
#WCTO

39. IT’S YOUR WEBSITE! OWN IT!
DON’T
GIVE UP
#WCTO

40. RESOURCES
▸ 14 Tips for Mastering the WordPress Visual Editor
▸ 10 More Tips for Using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor
▸ Getting The Most Out Of The WordPress Post Editor
▸ 5 Key Steps to Mastering the WordPress Visual Editor
#WCTO

41. http://sethalling.com/wcto
THANKS!
SETH ALLING
sethalling.com
LEAD DEVELOPER
AT RANCH HOUSE DESIGNS
@sethalling
#WCTO