How to Copy and Paste in WordPress without Formatting Issues

Recently, a reader asked us how to copy and paste items into WordPress without causing formatting issues?

Often when you are copying and pasting content from a desktop app or a web page, you end up pasting unwanted formatting too. This does not match your WordPress theme’s fonts and colors which simply looks odd.

In this article, we’ll sahre how to easily copy and paste into WordPress without any unwanted formatting and styles.

Understanding Copying and Pasting in WordPress

Copying and pasting means copying text from one place to another without needing to type it all out again.

To copy text from a document or webpage, you need to highlight it using your mouse. Then, simply right-click and select ‘Copy’ from the menu. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C (Command+C on a Mac) to copy the highlighted text.

To paste text into WordPress, you can right-click and select ‘Paste’ from the menu. Or, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V (Command+V on a Mac) to paste the copied text:

When you copy text, the formatting of the text is copied with it. The problem is that sometimes you will end up with formatting that you don’t want.

This unwanted formatting can affect how your text displays on other devices.

Some WordPress users choose to avoid copying and pasting altogether. Instead, they draft their posts straight into their WordPress site.

However, you may prefer to draft using a separate tool, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs. This lets you work offline and can make it easier to share your work for comments and revisions before publication.

It’s also important to avoid adding unnecessary formatting because it impacts your page size which means slower site speed.

That’s why we have created this ultimate guide on how to properly copy & paste text in WordPress. You can use the links to jump straight to the sections you need:

• Coping and pasting from Word to WordPress using the block editor
• Copying and pasting from Google Docs to WordPress using the block editor
• Coping and pasting using the classic editor
• How to check and fix copy and paste formatting errors

How to Copy and Paste from Word to WordPress (Block Editor)

Copying text from Microsoft WordPress is quite straight forward.

For years, WordPress has allowed you to copy rich (formatted) text from Word documents straight into the editor. This is a big advantage if you like to write and format your posts in Microsoft Word.

Copying your post from Word into WordPress lets you keep elements like headings, bold and italic text, links, and lists. It will discard any styling options like colors, spacing, etc.

Here is a document that we’re going to copy from Word into WordPress:

This document is formatted with two Heading 2 subheadings for subsections of the post. There is bold and italic text, a bulleted list, and a link.

We will simply copy all the content from Word document and paste it inside the WordPress block editor.

Note that some formatting has not been copied over. The image has been left out, but WordPress has created an image block in the correct place.

Tip: Always use the ‘Heading styles’ in Word to create your subheadings. Don’t highlight the text and increase the font size manually.

Want to confirm that your text has copied over correctly? Just follow our instructions later in this article on checking for and fixing formatting errors.

How to Copy and Paste from Google Docs to WordPress (Block Editor)

Google Docs is a very popular word processing tool. Just like with Word, it’s easy to copy and paste from Google Docs into the WordPress block editor.

Here is our piece of text in Google Docs. It’s identical to the piece we used in Word, above.

When we copy and paste the text from Google Docs to WordPress, again, WordPress has formatted the text correctly.

This time, the image has also been uploaded to WordPress too.

Copying and Pasting Using the Classic Editor

Are you having trouble with formatting errors after copying and pasting text into WordPress? Then you are likely using the old classic editor.

The classic editor handles Word documents well and shouldn’t add any unnecessary code. However, it doesn’t do such a good job with the text copied from Google Docs.

Here’s how our text from Google Docs looks when pasting it into the classic editor:

The headings, link, bold, and italic text all look correct.

However, some unnecessary extra formatting has been added that isn’t visible.

How to Check and Fix Copy and Paste Formatting Errors

Let’s take a look at how to check for and fix formatting errors now.

All the text in your WordPress posts is formatted using HTML (hypertext markup language). HTML tags go around the words that are formatted in a particular way.

For instance, bold text in WordPress posts looks like this in HTML code:

There is <strong>bold text</strong> in this sentence.

The words ‘bold text’ will appear in bold.

To check for and fix formatting errors after copying and pasting, you need to check the HTML code for your post.

Checking the HTML Code in the Block Editor

In the block editor, it’s easy to view the HTML code of any block. First, click on the block. Then, click the three vertical dots to the right of the block’s menu.

You will see a dropdown menu. Here, you just need to click the ‘Edit as HTML’ option:

You will now see the HTML code for the block. With the block editor, you should normally find that no unwanted formatting has been added.

Here, the paragraph correctly begins with the opening <p> tag and ends with the closing </p> tag.

The sentence in bold is also correct. It begins at the <strong> tag and ends with the closing </strong> tag.

To switch back to the normal view of your block, simply click the three vertical dots again. Then, go ahead and select the ‘Edit visually’ option.

Checking the HTML Code in the Classic Editor

In the classic editor, it’s easy to view the HTML code of a post by clicking on the ‘Text’ tab at the top of the box containing the text of the post. This is the HTML code for our post copied from Google Docs:

The span tags here are extra, unnecessary code.

Also, the bold text and italic text are formatted using the <b> tag instead of <strong> and the <i> tag instead of <em>. It is generally considered best to use the <strong> and <em> tags as these give your words semantic meaning, not just visual styling.

By comparison, here is the code produced when copying from Word instead of Google Docs in the classic editor. There are no unnecessary formatting tags and the bold and italics have been correctly rendered.

If you’ve copied your post from Google docs, you will need to go through the HTML code and manually correct the formatting. In this case, that means:

• Removing all the <span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span> tags.
• Changing all the <li style="font-weight: 400;"> to just <li>.
• Changing <b> and </b> to <strong> and </strong>.
• Changing <i> and </i> to <em> and </em>.

To speed up the process, you first need to copy and paste the HTML code into a text editor.

Then, simply use Find and Replace to change incorrect formatting. Here’s an example using notepad. We are finding all instances of <li style="font-weight: 400;"> and replacing them with <li>:

Once you’ve replaced all the incorrect formatting, simply copy and paste the text back into the Text view of the classic editor.

Copying and Pasting Plain Text

Plain text is text without any formatting. To avoid any possibility of incorrect formatting, you may prefer to copy and paste plain text.

This is also a very useful option if you’re copying a section of text from another website. For instance, you might include a quote from someone else in your content.

Copying and Pasting Plain Text in the Block Editor

The WordPress block editor doesn’t have a button or option to paste plain text. However, it’s easy to do this yourself.

The quickest method is to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+V (PC) or Command+Shift+V (Mac) to paste your text. This will automatically paste in plain text format.

Alternatively, some browsers offer the option to paste as plain text. If you’re using Google Chrome, simply right click and select the ‘Paste as plain text’ option:

Both of these methods will work to paste plain text in a single paragraph block.

Copying and Pasting Plain Text in the Classic Editor

To paste plain text into the classic editor, first click the Toolbar Toggle button:

Now, you just need to click the ‘Paste as text’ icon. It looks like a clipboard with the letter T on it:

Any text that you paste will now be pasted in plain text mode, with the formatting removed. Here’s how that looks when we paste the text from our Google doc. The headings, bold, italics, bullet points, and link have all been removed:

Pro Tip: Copy, Paste, and Clone Entire WordPress Sites

While the above beginner’s guide show you the basic of copy and pasting, WordPress also offers many advanced copy, paste, and cloning features.

For example, you can easily clone an entire WordPress site in 7 easy steps.

There’s also a way to create a duplicate WordPress page or post with a single click.

If you’re using the block editor, then you can also create re-usable blocks that you can use across multiple posts.

We hope this article helped you learn how to copy and paste into WordPress. You might also like our tips on mastering the WordPress content editor, and our expert pick of the must have WordPress plugins for all websites.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Copy and Paste in WordPress without Formatting Issues appeared first on WPBeginner.

September 21, 2020 at 05:00PM

7 Best Twitter Plugins for WordPress in 2020 (Compared)

Are you looking for the best Twitter plugins for WordPress?

Perhaps you want to include your recent tweets on your site or encourage visitors to share your content.

In this article, we’ll share the best Twitter plugins for WordPress that will help you grow your Twitter followers and engagement.

1. Smash Balloon Custom Twitter Feeds Pro

Smash Balloon Custom Twitter Feeds Pro is the best Twitter plugin for WordPress. It allows you to easily embed your recent tweets in WordPress.

It comes with various layout choices and customization options which gives you different ways to display tweets onn your site.

You can add Tweets from not just your account, but any public account, hashtag, and keyword. You can even combine multiple accounts and keywords to create smart Twitter feeds.

It supports the default WordPress editor and you can add your feed using a simple block. There is also an easy to use sidebar widget, this allows you to showcase Twitter feeds in non-content areas of your website.

There’s a free version of Custom Twitter Feeds available as well with limited features that you can get started with.

2. RafflePress

RafflePress is the best WordPress giveaway plugin on the market. It lets you set up contests with prizes and you can use these to get more Twitter followers and engagement.

RafflePress comes with a built-in campaign template for Twitter. This allows you to instantly launch contest aimed at boosting Twitter engagement.

It is incredibly easy to use and comes with a drag and drop contest builder. Simply add the actions you want to include in your contest and then add it to any WordPress post or page.

RafflePress is not just limited to Twitter. You can use it to grow your email list, increase Facebook likes, drive traffic and sales to your WooCommerce store, and more.

Note: You can use RafflePress Lite (free version) as well to get started with giveaways and contests.

3. Shared Counts

Shared Counts is one of the best social sharing plugin for WordPress. Unlike other social sharing buttons, it is designed for speed and performance without compromising features.

As the name suggests, it also allows you to display the share count for each social media platform. You can also display the total share count for each article.

There are multiple button styles to choose from and you can also select where you want them displayed. It is super easy to use and helps you instantly add social features to your website without compromising website speed.

Just check out our step by step guide using on Shared Counts to get started.

4. Social Warfare

Social Warfare is another popular plugin to easily social sharing buttons to your website. It gives you control over what people share on Twitter (and other social networks) and how they share it. You can give your posts custom images and titles for Twitter, too.

Social Warfare offers multiple button styles and they are all designed to work well on mobile devices. You can style and position them in different ways, too. You can even put the sharing buttons in the middle of an article.

There’s a free version of Social Warfare available, which is a good place to start. Upgrading to the Pro version gives you access to more features.

5. Revive Old Posts

Revive Old Posts lets you easily share old articles at a pre-defined schedule to your social media profiles. This helps you keep your Twitter timeline active throughout the day without manually scheduling tweets.

Once you are done with the setup, it automatically works in the background to share your old posts. You can select a date range, exclude specific categories and tags, and pause it at any time.

You can customize what goes out in the tweets, too. For instance, you might want to include a hashtag based on the post’s category or tag.

The free version of the plugin works with Twitter and Facebook pages, so you may want to use that to begin with.

However, the pro version has some powerful extra features. These include the ability to set custom schedules, use multiple Twitter accounts, and add conversion tracking tags to URLs.

6. Simple Social Icons

Simple Social Icons makes it easy to add social media icons to a sidebar widget. These icons have links to your Twitter profile and your other social media profiles. Visitors to your site can then easily find and follow you on their favorite social network.

It is quite simple and easy to set up. You have the option to choose the button colors, alignment, and order. It comes with an easy to use widget that you can simply add to your WordPress blog.

7. Better Click to Tweet

Better Click to Tweet is a free plugin that lets you add ‘click to tweet’ boxes in your posts. It’s fully compatible with the WordPress block editor.

You can use this plugin to highlight specific quotes in your content. Your visitors can then simply click a button to tweet that quote. For more details, see our guide on adding click to tweet boxes in your content.

The Better Click to Tweet plugin is free, but it doesn’t have any options to customize the styling of your quotes. You can add custom CSS to change how the quotes look or you can pay for the premium addon, which offers a range of different styles to choose from.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best Twitter plugins for WordPress. You might also want to see our list of the best Instagram plugins for WordPress, and our comprehensive guide on increasing your website traffic.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Best Twitter Plugins for WordPress in 2020 (Compared) appeared first on WPBeginner.

September 18, 2020 at 05:00PM

How to Create a Local WordPress Site Using XAMPP

Do you want to create a local WordPress site on your computer using XAMPP?

Installing WordPress on your computer helps you try out WordPress, test themes and plugins, and learn WordPress development.

In this article, we will show you how to easily create a local WordPress site Using XAMPP.

Why Create a Local WordPress Site?

Creating local WordPress sites is a common practice among developers and site owners. It allows you to test WordPress without creating an actual website on the internet.

Local websites are only visible to you on your computer. You can try different WordPress themes and plugins, test their features, and learn the WordPress basics.

If you already have a WordPress website, then you can create a local copy of your website on your computer to try out new plugin updates before implementing them on your live website.

Important: Local website will only be visible to you on your computer. If you want to make a live website, then you’ll need a domain name and WordPress hosting.

Follow the step by step instructions in our how to start a WordPress blog guide when you are ready to create a live website.

Having said that, let’s check out how to install WordPress locally on Windows, Mac, or Linux using XAMPP.

What is XAMPP?

XAMPP is a software package that includes all things you need to set up a local server environment on your computer.

In order to create a local WordPress site, you need to set up a web server software (Apache), PHP, and MySQL on your computer.

PHP is a programming language and MySQL is a database management software. Both of them are required to run WordPress.

Installing each of them separately is quite difficult for beginners. This is where XAMPP comes in.

XAMPP makes it easy for you to build WordPress websites locally. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux based computers.

Let’s get started by installing XAMPP and setting it up to run your local WordPress site.

Installing XAMPP on Your Computer

First, you need to visit the XAMPP website and click on the download button for your operating system.

Depending on your operating system, your installation wizard and the application interface may differ from the screenshots here. For the sake of this article, we’ll show you the Windows version of the software.

After downloading XAMPP, you will need to click and run the installer.

XAMPP will ask where to install the software and which packages you’d like to install. The default settings will work for most users. Keep clicking on the ‘Next’ button to finish the setup wizard.

After finishing the wizard, check the ‘start the control panel now’ option and then click on the finish button.

This will launch the XAMPP control panel app.

Using the XAMPP app, you can run Apache web server as your local server and MySQL as your database server. Go ahead and click on the start button next to both Apache and MySQL.

XAMPP will now start Apache and MySQL. You may see a Windows firewall notification, it is important that you click on the ‘Allow Access’ button for both applications to run on your computer.

Once both applications are started their names will be highlighted in Green.

Now you are ready to create a local website and install WordPress using XAMPP.

Creating a Local WordPress Site with XAMPP

First, you will need to download WordPress. Visit the WordPress.org website and click on the ‘Download WordPress’ button.

After downloading WordPress, you need to extract the zip file, and you will see a wordpress folder. You need to copy this folder.

Next, head over to your XAMPP installation folder.

On Windows it would be C:/Program Files/XAMPP/htdocs or C:/Xampp/htdocs folder.

On Mac, it will be /Applications/XAMPP/htdocs folder.

Paste the wordpress folder you copied earlier inside htdocs.

We recommend renaming the wordpress folder to websites or anything else. This will help you easily identify your local site.

Next, you need to open your favorite web browser and enter the following URL in your browser’s address bar.

https://localhost/website1/

If you renamed the WordPress folder something else, then replace website1 with your own folder name.

This will load the WordPress installation wizard and you’ll be asked to select a language. After selecting a language, click on the ‘Continue’ button.

On the next screen, you will see a notice that WordPress needs a database name, database username, password, and host information.

Let’s create a database for your WordPress site.

You’ll need to open a new browser tab and visit https://localhost/phpmyadmin/.

This will launch the phpMyAdmin app that comes pre-installed with XAMPP. It allows you to easily manage your databases using a simpler interface.

You would need to click on Databases, and provide a name for your new database. After that, click on the ‘Create’ button to continue.

Now that you have created a database, you can use it for your WordPress site.

Switch back to /localhost/website1/ browser tab and click on the ‘Let’s Go’ button.

On the next screen, you will be asked to provide your WordPress database information.

Enter the database name you created earlier. Your username is ‘root’ and you should leave the password field blank. For the database host field, you need to use localhost.

Once you are done, click on the ‘Submit’ button to continue.

If you are on Windows or Linux, WordPress will now store these settings in your WordPress configuration file called wp-config.php file.

However, if you are on Mac, then it will show you the contents of the file and will ask you to create it.

You will need to create this file in your website’s root folder.

After creating the file, paste the text you copied earlier inside it. Next, you need to save the file and return back to WordPress installer to continue.

In the next step, WordPress will ask you to provide information about your website. First, enter the title you want to use for this site.

After that, you need to enter a username, password, and email address for your admin account.

Once you have filled all the information, click on the ‘Install WordPress’ button to continue.

WordPress will now run the installation and prompt you to log in once it’s done.

You can login to your website by going to /localhost/website1/wp-admin page and use the username / password that you entered during installation to login.

Things to Try After Creating a Local WordPress Site

Now that you have created your local WordPress site using XAMPP, you can work on it like you would do on a live WordPress site.

Head over to Appearance menu in WordPress admin sidebar, to customize your site’s appearance or install a new theme.

Here are some great free themes that you can try.

The next thing you would want to try is WordPress plugins.

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress site and allow you to add cool features like contact form, social media buttons, eCommerce store, etc.

Need help installing plugins? See our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Bonus: Moving Local WordPress Site to Live Server

After working on your local WordPress site you may want to move it to a live server to make your first WordPress blog or website.

To do that you’ll need a domain name and web hosting account. Normally, a domain name costs $14.99 and website hosting start from $7.99 per month.

That’s too much if you are just starting out.

Luckily, Bluehost is offering WPBeginner users a free domain name with generous discount on hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

For more hosting recommendations, take a look at our complete WordPress hosting guide.

Once you have signed up for hosting, you can follow our step by step guide on how to move WordPress from local server to live site.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a local WordPress site using XAMPP. You may also want to look at alternate ways to create local WordPress sites on Windows using Wampserver, and on Mac using MAMP.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Create a Local WordPress Site Using XAMPP appeared first on WPBeginner.

September 17, 2020 at 02:13PM

How to Edit the Footer in WordPress (Step by Step)

Do you need to edit the footer area of your WordPress website? The footer area appears at the bottom of each page on your WordPress site.,

There are several different ways website owners can utilize this area and make it more useful for their website visitors.

In this article, we will show you how to edit the footer in WordPress.

What is the Footer in WordPress?

The ‘footer’ in WordPress is the bottom part of your website that appears after the content area. It normally appears on all pages on your website.

This part of the website is located far down below and is often ignored by most beginners for a long time. However, there are several ways you can utilize this area by making it more helpful for your users, WordPress SEO, and your business.

All top WordPress themes come with footer widget area that’s easy to edit. You can also carefully edit the footer.php template file in your theme to remove unwanted links from this area.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily edit the footer in WordPress. You can use the following links to jump to the section you want to read.

• Adding widgets in your footer
• Removing the ‘Powered by WordPress’ text from your footer
• Adding code to WordPress footer

Editing Widgets in Your Footer in WordPress

Many popular WordPress themes have widget areas in the footer.

You can use these widget areas to add text, images, or links to your privacy policy and legal disclaimers in the footer area.

Adding text and images is quite straight forward. You can simply go to the Appearance » Widgets page and add a Text, Image, or Gallery widget to your footer widget area.

To add a widget, simply drag and drop it into a footer area. If you need more help, then see our article on how to add and use widgets in WordPress.

Note that many themes will have multiple footer areas, and they may use them differently. You can preview your website after adding widgets to make sure that they appear where you want them to be.

Adding Links in Footer Widget Area

You may also want to add links to different pages, categories, or to the legal pages of your website in the footer area.

WordPress comes with an easy to to manage those links using the navigation menus. Simply head over to the Appearance » Menus page and click on the ‘create new menu’ link.

WordPress will ask you to provide a name for your new menu. Enter a name that helps you easily identify this menu and then click on the ‘Create Menu’ button.

Your menu is now ready and you can start adding links to it. Simply select the pages, posts, categories from the left column to add them to your menu.

Once you are finished, click on the Save Menu button to store your changes. For more help, see our article on how to create navigation menus in WordPress.

Your menu is now ready to be added to the WordPress footer widget area. Simply visit the Appearance » Widgets page in your WordPress admin and then add the Navigation Menu widget to your footer area.

In the widget settings, select the footer navigation menu you created earlier from the dropdown menu and click on the Save button.

You can now visit your website to see your footer links in action.

You can create multiple navigation menus in WordPress and add as many navigation menu widgets to your sidebar as you need. If you need another set of links simply repeat the same steps again.

Removing the ‘Powered by WordPress’ Text from Your Footer

When you first install WordPress, your site may have a ‘Powered by WordPress’ link in a footer bar at the bottom. This isn’t a widget, so it’s often not clear how to change it.

Some themes will alter this to their own text and link. If so, you can normally change this text using the live theme customizer. Simply go to Themes » Customizer in your WordPress admin. Look for an option to edit your site footer:

We’re using the Astra theme for this example. With Astra, you need to go to Footer » Footer Bar in the customizer. You will then have the option to change the text of your footer bar:

Once you’ve finished editing the text, don’t forget to click the Publish button at the top of the screen to put your changes live.

Go ahead and view your site to see your new footer:

For more help, take a look at our in-depth guide to the WordPress theme customizer.

Editing the Footer Text Manually

What if your theme doesn’t have the option to edit the footer text using the customizer?

In this case, you need to edit the footer.php file. It is a template file stored in your WordPress theme folder and is responsible for displaying the footer area for that particular theme.

The easiest way to edit this is by using an FTP client to connect with your WordPress hosting.

First, download the /wp-content/themes/yourtheme/footer.php file and then edit it in a text editor.

You will need to find the line in the file with the ‘Powered by WordPress’ text. This is how it looks in the Twenty Twenty theme:

<div class="footer-credits">

        <p class="footer-copyright">&copy;
                <?php
                echo date_i18n(
                        /* translators: Copyright date format, see https://www.php.net/date */
                        _x( 'Y', 'copyright date format', 'twentytwenty' )
                );
                ?>
                <a href="<?php echo esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ); ?>"><?php bloginfo( 'name' ); ?></a>
        </p><!-- .footer-copyright -->

        <p class="powered-by-wordpress">
                <a href="<?php echo esc_url( __( 'https://wordpress.org/', 'twentytwenty' ) ); ?>">
                        <?php _e( 'Powered by WordPress', 'twentytwenty' ); ?>
                </a>
        </p><!-- .powered-by-wordpress -->

</div><!-- .footer-credits -->

Then, simply delete or change that text, and reupload your footer.php file.

Tip: Make a copy of your footer.php file before making changes. That way, if you accidentally break anything, you can easily upload the original file again.

For more help, check out our guide on removing the ‘Powered by WordPress’ footer link.

Adding Code to Your WordPress Footer

Sometimes, you may need to add code snippets to your WordPress footer. This is often done in order to connect your site with an external app.

For instance, to add a Pinterest button to your site, you need to add Pinterest’s script to your footer. You may also see a tutorial that asks you to insert your Google Analytics code there.

The easiest way to do this is to install and activate the Insert Headers and Footers plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, simply go to Settings » Insert Headers and Footers in your WordPress admin. Go ahead and copy and paste your footer code into the ‘Scripts in Footer’ box:

Don’t forget to click the Save button before moving on.

For more help, take a look at our guide to adding header and footer code in WordPress.

If you’re looking to add Google Analytics, then we recommend you use another method instead which helps with better tracking.

We hope this article helped you learn how to edit the footer in WordPress. You may also want to see our comparison of the best drag & drop WordPress page builder plugins, and our guide on how to create a custom WordPress theme without writing any code.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Edit the Footer in WordPress (Step by Step) appeared first on WPBeginner.

September 16, 2020 at 04:20PM