If you manage a website or blog, chances are you copy and paste a lot of content. Copy and paste in WordPress can be a useful feature for many reasons, but it can cause formatting problems if you’re not careful. Here’s how to properly copy and paste in WordPress.
As long as you follow the right technique, you can copy and paste successfully in WordPress and the results always match your expectations. This can make collaborating outside of WordPress much easier. Plus, you can maintain strong web security when you limit the number of WordPress user accounts that can be created.
In this post, we will give you a quick overview of copy and paste in WordPress. Then, we’ll show you how to do it without any formatting errors. let’s get started!
Overview of Copy and Paste in WordPress
Before we show you how to properly copy and paste in WordPress, let’s review the basics of this simple action.
Typically, the first thing you need to do is select or highlight the content you want to work with. In our example, we’ll take from the Google Doc:
Then, there are a few ways you can copy it. You can use keyboard shortcuts (ctrl + c on Windows and command + c on Mac). Alternatively, you can right-click and choose copy Menu options:
Then, you need to open the WordPress post or page you want to work with. Just right-click anywhere on your screen and then select Paste it In the menu:
However, when we do this, we get some formatting issues. This is because the formatting is copied along with the text and images. As you can see, our title is now shorter than our first title:
Additionally, if we scroll down a bit further, and select our image, we can see that it has been posted as an Article block:
This is a problem because in order to display properly to users the images must always be added using an image block.
While these formatting issues may seem minor, they make a big difference. They can lead to a poor user experience (UX) and damage your reputation.
So, you might be wondering why would you want to copy and paste in WordPress. The answer is simple. Collaborating with individuals such as guest bloggers or any consultants or contractors you’ve hired may be necessary.
While you can give these people their own WordPress user profiles, as a general rule, it’s best to limit accounts to those that are strictly necessary. It can help you maintain tight WordPress security on your site.
How to Copy and Paste in WordPress (Block Editor)
Now let’s learn how to copy and paste in WordPress. We’ll start using Block Editor as it’s the preferred choice of over 81 million users [1],
To get started, highlight your content as we did in the previous section. This time, we are going to copy and paste our entire document into WordPress.
As you’ll remember, when we paste this into WordPress our result will look something like this:
First, let’s address the formatting issue with Heading 1. This title appears to be much larger than our title because, in our Google Doc, we used Heading 1,
To avoid this you should always stop using Heading 1 Both in WordPress and elsewhere (Google Docs, Microsoft Word, etc.). Other than this Topicthe highest title should always be title 2,
While you will want to choose your title formats carefully outside of WordPress, it is essential to use them when copying and pasting in WordPress.
Always avoid manually “bolding” or modifying the size of the text to indicate the start of a new section. This way, WordPress can easily move to your headings.
Here’s how our result changes when we use title 2 In the original Google Docs:
Next, we’ll need to fix our image problem. To do this, select the image and simply delete it. then add an image Block instead:
click on Pour And add the image that’s here. To do this, you need to make sure that all images in your document are also saved as image files on your device.
Finally, if you suspect there are any additional issues with spacing or other formatting matters, you can check your content in the code editor,
This way, you can easily modify the HTML content and check for any extraneous HTML tags.
How to copy and paste in WordPress (classic editor)
If you are one of the original WordPress users, you can still stick to the classic editor by using an older version of WordPress or with an official plugin.
If so, then copy and paste in WordPress will be a little different. To get started, let’s see how our document looks after copying and pasting it into the WordPress classic editor:
As you can see, in the classic editor Topic The field is completely separate from the body of the post. Therefore, you’ll want to avoid copying the headings, instead adding them manually.
Additionally, you’ll notice that our image is nowhere to be found. You have to add it manually by clicking Add media and then uploading it.
Also, the formatting for spacing looks great, so you might want to fix that. As with the block editor, you can always take a look at your code to uncover any hidden formatting problems.
To do this, just switch from picture As far as the Basic lesson Tab in the upper right corner of your post:
Overall, copying and pasting is a bit more challenging in the WordPress classic editor. If this is going to be an issue for you, now might be the time to bite the bullet and upgrade to a block editor (and maybe even a block theme). The block editor is better equipped to copy and paste content from a variety of sources.
Quick Tips for Copy and Paste in WordPress Review
Now, let’s review some of the tips discussed for copying and pasting in WordPress:
- Use Heading Formatting Outside WordPress So It Can Be Transferred Easily
- Use title 2 as your highest title
- Properly add images in WordPress using image block Or Add media Speciality
- Use the code editor Or text tab To review your work and manually modify the HTML
- Preview your work on the front when you’re done
Here are some best practices for making sure you’re copying properly from outside WordPress. However, if you want to be certain that you don’t make any formatting errors, you can always paste it as plain text and then reformat everything.
Alternatively, if you want to copy and paste Inside Content Management System (CMS), you can consider duplicating WordPress content. If so, then reusable blocks can also be a major time saver.
Conclusion
Copy and paste in WordPress can be extremely convenient. However, if you don’t do this properly, you can inadvertently create formatting problems. Then, you will have to spend precious time fixing these errors.
Luckily, it’s very easy to prevent. As long as you follow some best practices—like formatting headings properly beforehand, adding images manually, and proofreading your work—you can copy and paste in WordPress without any issues.
