Adding a Page
So you’ve gotten started with WordPress and you think you’re ready to create a Page? Well, we’re going to go over all the ins and outs of the basics of Creating a GREAT Page! But first we’re going to answer the one question that starts it all off: What is a Page?
What is all this stuff below the Content field?
What is all of this on the right of my screen?
A Page is a visual and contextual representation of static information. In other words, a Page has information that doesn’t often change, such as contact information, directions to the office/store, or a company’s mission statement. But this information isn’t set in stone. We will go over simple ways to edit information as often as you like as well as include photos, calendars, and other exciting stuff.
To add a page, hover your mouse over “Pages” on the toolbar.
A small grey down arrow will appear next to it. Click on the arrow and a box will drop down.
Then click on “Add New”.
The browser will take you to the “Add New Page” site.
In the top text field you will type in your Page Title. We have decided to call our Page “History”.
The next text field is for Page Content.
Here we wanted to write about the history of our website, but instead we just wrote “words…” over and over.
Above the Content Text Field is a series of icons for enhancing the content of your Page. If your hover your mouse over the different icons you can see a short description of their purpose.
For more information on the Content field for both Pages and Post, visit our <L>“Content and the Kitchen Sink” page.
What is all of this stuff below the Content field?
The Custom Fields option has infinite possibilities. Essentially the Custom Field option allows you to add additional data to your Page or Post. A basic example used by bloggers is “Current Mood” which allows the Blogger to display their mood (i.e. Happy, Sad, Excited, etc.). This option can be useful for other Meta Data too. If you have a consistent contributor that travels, you can add a Custom Field that displays where he/she is Blogging from. Basically, this is another way to Tag and Categorize. It’s not a necessary tool but it can be a fun and useful one.
If you wish to add a Custom Field to your site, ask WebDevStudos.com to do it for you
WordPress was created as a Blogging software and what is a Blog without comments? Granted, most (if not all) of these Pages will be used as Static Information and not as a discussion board, so this is the section to turn the comments on and off.
Check the box to allow users to leave comments. Uncheck the box in order to not allow. Simple!
This section is designed to assign an author to a specific Page. The default assignment will go to the username of the person who created the page. (i.e. if Noah created the page and Noah’s username is “noah”, the default setting will be at “noah”)
If someone set up the page for you to write, just press the down arrow in the drop down box and select your username. If you are just editing a Page for someone else, leave the Page Author at its default and it will be associate with the originator of the Page.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a technique used to increase a website’s visibility and traffic by increasing a website’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page) Ranking. Meta Elements are tags placed within the code of a page to aid in the efficiency of search engines. These elements are used by the search engines to identify web pages.
Each Post and Page editing page on sites we setup will have a section called “All in One SEO Pack” (This is a Plugin and will not be available with the “Out-of-the-Box” version of WordPress).
This is how YOU will Optimizes your site.
Start by filling in the title. This is your Meta Title.
Next you will fill out your description. This is called your Meta Description.
Besides being part of what the search engines use to categorize your site, these elements are what show up on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). When you make a Google search, the results come back with a Page Title and a brief description of what is on the Page. If nothing is written in the description section, the SERP will grab parts of the Page or Post that pertain to the keyword searched. Anyone who has used Google has seen sloppy uninformative descriptions. They are not always useful and often turn a user off from choosing the result.
The only other part you should focus on is the “Keywords”. These are words that concern the site, Page, or Post that may be searched for. This is an opportunity you for to think like your audience. What words would they use to search for you?
When you write the words here, be sure to think of variations (like POST and POSTS or CHRISTMAS and HOLIDAY) and separate each Keyword with a comma.
Do you want to add a Map? You can do that too! It’s a great way to keep track of News Reports, show where your biggest Sales are located, show your customers your Store Locations, or simply show were your Events are happening! (This is a Plugin and will not be available with the “Out-of-the-Box” version of WordPress.)
Find “Post Google Map” on your editing Post or Page screen.
Fill in the information and click “Add Address”. The address will appear under “Current Saved Addresses” in the “Post Google Maps” box. Fill in as many addresses if you want.
The “Google Map” with show with your Post or Page to illustrate any areas you wish!
What is all of this on the right of my screen?
The fist section is about Saving, Checking, and Finishing your work.
If you want to save this Page to Publish later, click “Save Draft”.
It’s useful to check to see if what you have designed will come out the way you wanted first. Just click the “Preview” button to see, and a page will open illustrating what will be displayed on your site.
Note the “Edit” link. If there is something you don’t like, just click on “Edit” to edit your Page.
“Attributes” is all about the organization of your pages.
The first section under attributes is “Parent”. This is how you decide the hierarchy of your Pages. (Most sites will have their Parent Pages listed across the top of their website pages.)
Let’s use an example: Contact Us.
If your Page is the Contact information for your company, you may want to have it across the top as a Parent Page. To make this happen, select from the drop down box “Main Page (no parent)”.
If your Page is the Driving Directions to you geographic site, you may want to make it a subPage under Contact Us. To make this happen, select from the drop down box “Contact Us”.
Now, “Driving Directions” will be a subPage of “Contact Us”. And in many pages, when you hover over “Contact Us” on the top of your website page, “Driving Directs” will drop down from its parent category.
Ok. What is a Template?
To talk about Templates it’s useful to talk about WordPress Themes. A WordPress Theme is a series of WordPress Templates working in conjunction to create a unique visual rendering for your site. WordPress Templates are made for everything from your Header to your Sidebar to your Page and Post layouts.
What does this mean for your Pages and Posts?
A Webmaster can set up specific Templates for every type of Page and Post you publish. For example, if you would like a different look for your Company News and your Environmental New Posts, you would have a Webmaster set up different Templates for each. The most common Template for Pages and Posts is the “Archive” Template, which allows you to archive old Posts.
How do you change the Order of the Parent Pages across the header of your website?
You use the Order section of your Page Attributes. The order is designated from “0” to “1” to “2” and so on, with the Page with Order # “0” as the furthest to the left, followed by the Page with Order # “1”, followed by the Page with Order #”2”, and so on.
It’s as simple as that.
Finally, we return to the top of “Add New Page/Edit Page” and explain your URL editing tool.
Your Page’s URL is your Page’s address. As an example, look at the Address Bar on your internet browser. The “http://…” is the Page’s URL.
Why is this important?
Effective URLs are an important part of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). When search engines search the web for keywords to make a query, the most prominent area searched is the URL. Messy URLs with cryptic ID labels retard the search process and are easily passed over.
For example, consider the difference between these two URLs.
For a website page, a messy URL may look like this:
website.com/product123/
or even worse, like this
website.com/product.php?id=12345
An optimized version would look more like this:
website.com/website_optimization/seo/
The search engine would recognize the keywords in the URL and produce a more optimal SERP ranking.
What can I do to clean up my URL?
At the top of both the Posts and Pages editing screens you can edit the URL.
The default URL is usually the Title of the Page or Post. If you need to change it, just click on the “Edit” button. The proposed URL will become edit friendly. From here you can change it as easily as editing text. When you finished, click “Save”!
That’s it! Wasn’t that easy?! Now it’s time to go out and show off by creating a beautiful and effective Page!
Don’t forget to “Save Draft” or “Publish” when you are done creating or else your work will be lost!
If you can dream it, we can build it! Please contact us today to discuss your ideas and how WebDevStudios can help you today!Have you visited the new DrHyman.com?
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