This is the main toolbar you will see when you start a new post in WordPress.
I am going to give you the basic function of each icon.
*Note that text you want to change must be highlighted before pushing the icon to format the specific word(s).
I have expanded on some icons below that may require more of an explanation.
Bullets for an ‘unordered list’
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Numbers for an ‘ordered list’
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
The Blockquote button formats text as a quote.
From Stephen Covey’s “The 8th Habit”“Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “…our significant challenges cannot be solved with simplistic little quick-fix programs-of-the-month or psyche-up slogans and formulas. We must earn a comprehension of the nature and root of the problems we face in organizations and likewise earn our learnings about the principles that govern the solutions by incorporating the new mind-set and skill-set they represent into our character. This will require some real effort. But I promise you if you will hang in there, you will be empowered with a powerfully simple and clear combination of KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, and SKILL – three elements of HABIT – that will make you equal to the new challenges of the new world.”
Hyperlink text or images to a designated url. When you select what you want hyperlinked, click on this icon and you will see this box pop up.
Fill in the URL with the appropriate website. I suggested clicking the ‘open link in a new window’ box, to make it easier for readers to return to your blog.
The Insert More button inserts a split or break into the post, which can be used to limit the amount of a post that is shown on the front page of your blog and encourage users to click through to read the rest of the post.
The Full Screen button will expand the writing area to the full size of your web browser, which can be handy when writing long posts.
The Kitchen Sink button is used to hide or reveal even more editing functions.
Woo Theme Shortcode. I won’t go into much detail since this will vary with each theme.
The drop down menu under paragraph offer more text formatting options.
The button “A” opens a drop down list allowing you to change the color of text.
The “Paste as Plain Text” button opens a window into which you can paste text from other sources that you wish to include in your blog post. This text is then stripped of all formatting and added to the post as plain text. This helps avoid formatting problems when pasting from sources such as other websites where formatting is already applied to the text that may clash with your own formatting.
The “Paste from Word” button works in much the same fashion as “Paste as Plain Text”, and is useful when pasting text from applications such as Microsoft Word or Excel. Although the text is neatly inserted into your blog post it will retain some characteristics such as hyperlinks.
The “Remove formatting” button is handy if you’ve pasted some content into your blog post without using either of the previous buttons and have found that the formatting is inappropriate. You can select the newly pasted text and click this button to remove all formatting. This has the same outcome as though you’d used “Paste as Plain Text” in the first place.
The “Insert custom character” button opens up a dialog containing a list of characters that you can insert into blog posts.
The “Outdent” button is used to move text to the left by 30 pixels. However since most text is already as far left as it can go you would usually only need to use this button if you’ve indented some text too far.
The “Indent” button moves text to the right by 30 pixels. If you want to indent text even further you just press it again and the text is indented a further 30 pixels.
I hope this explanation helps you start your blogging with ease!
If you have any further questions, I’m always here to help.
Thanks so much Heather! I am in the beginning stages of figuring out all the ins and outs of wordpress and this will really help!
Janet Bailey recently posted..Build Confidence with Strategies that Really Work
Thats so exciting Janet! I’m looking forward to following your blog.
Heather Calhoun recently posted..How to Use the WordPress Toolbar and Formatting Features
Great outline of what each of those little buttons can do for your post! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I always wondered what a couple of those buttons did, but was too afraid to click on them! LOL
Kimberly Turner recently posted..Tips for Facebook Timeline
I thought you were the WordPress Queen Kim, lol! I’m glad I could teach you something
Heather Calhoun recently posted..How to Use the WordPress Toolbar and Formatting Features
Thanks again for the great tips Heather!!
You’re welcome Ginger