*** Important ***
WordPress introduced a new content editor in version 5.0 called Gutenberg.
For tutorials on how to use the new Gutenberg content editor, go here:
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In other tutorials, we explain the main differences between Posts and Pages and show you how to create a new post.
WordPress tasks like editing content and deleting posts simple.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to edit and delete a single post. It also explains to use the WordPress Posts Table to perform single and bulk post edits and deletions and includes additional tips that will help you save time editing your WordPress posts.
Parts One and Two of this tutorial cover the following:
- WordPress Table Of Posts – Features
- WordPress Table of Posts – Screen Options
- Table Of Posts – Filtering Options
- Editing Posts In WordPress
- How To Edit An Individual Post
- Editing Bulk Posts In WordPress
- Deleting Posts In WordPress
- Deleting A Post
- How To Delete Bulk WordPress Posts
- Editing And Deleting WordPress Posts – Useful Tips And Information
Accessing The Posts Screen
Go to the administration section and click on Posts > All Posts …
(Posts – All Posts)
This brings you to the Posts area …
(WordPress Posts panel)
Here you can add, edit, and delete posts …
(Add, edit, and delete posts in the Posts panel)
We have written a detailed tutorial about how to create a new WordPress post here: Creating A New WordPress Post
WordPress Table Of Posts
The Table of Posts lists posts that have already been published, scheduled posts, sticky posts, private posts, posts that are yet to be published, and pending posts (posts that need to be approved by an editor or administrator before being published).
Let’s go through the main features of the Table of Posts:
The WordPress Table of Posts displays a list of all posts on your posts on your web site or blog listed in reverse chronological order (newest first) …
(Post Date column)
You can select checkboxes in the Posts Title column to bulk edit posts (see Part 2 of this tutorial for more details about bulk editing posts) …
(Select checkboxes in the WordPress Table of Posts to bulk edit posts)
Table Of Posts – Column Sections
Title
Each post title is displayed as a clickable link. Clicking on the post title lets you edit the post …
(Table of Posts – Title column)
Hovering your mouse over a row in the posts list reveals features that will enable you to further manage your post …
(Hover over title area with cursor to view options)
The following tasks are available:
- Edit takes you to the editing screen for that post. You can also reach the Post editor if you click on the title.
- Quick Edit lets you update details about your post. To learn more about how to use the Quick Edit feature of WordPress, go here: How To Use The Inline Editor In WordPress
- Trash removes your posts from the Table of Posts and places them in the trash. From there your posts can be permanently deleted.
- Preview will show you what your draft post will look like when you publish it. ‘View’ takes you to your live site to view the post. Which link displays here will depend on the status of your post.
Indicators next to your post title allow you to tell at a glance if posts have been saved as Draft, Private Post, Password Protected Post, etc …
(Post Status)
Post Author Column
Posts authors are listed in the ‘Author’ column …
(Post Author column)
If your website contains multiple authors, click on an author name …
(Author links are clickable)
This displays all posts authored by that user in the Table of Posts …
(You can display a list of all posts authored by the same user)
Categories Column
This column lists all the categories that your posts have been filed under.
Click on a category …
(Table of Posts – Post categories)
And the Table of Posts filters and lists all posts with that specific category …
(WordPress can sort posts by category)
Post Tags Column
This column lists the tags for each post.
Click on any tag …
(Tags column – WordPress Table of Posts)
And your Table of Posts filters and returns only posts with that tag …
(List of posts displayed by tags)
Post Comments
The column with the “comments bubble” lets you see the number of comments associated with each post. If any comments have been made on your posts, the number of comments is displayed in the comment bubble next to the post.
You can view the comments by simply clicking on the icon …
(View comments by clicking on the bubble)
If any post has comments that need to be approved by an administrator before they can be displayed, these will display next to the bubble graphic for that post …
(Table of Posts: Comments)
With approved comments, the number is displayed inside the post’s comment icon …
(Post comments – WordPress Table of Posts)
Note: Clicking on the comments bubble brings up the Comments area where you can moderate comments …
(Comments screen)
Post Date
The ‘Date’ column shows the dates for each post as follows:
- The Published date for all published posts,
- The Last Modified date for unpublished posts (e.g. draft posts), and
- The Scheduled date for any posts scheduled for publishing in the future …
(Date column)
As well as listing posts using the default ‘List’ view, the Posts table can also display posts in ‘Excerpt’ view …
(Table of Posts – Post Excerpts View)
Displaying posts in Excerpt View is explained in the next section.
Post Management Section – Screen Options
To view Table of Posts options, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top right-hand corner of your screen …
(Posts Table – ‘Screen Options’ tab)
The top section of your screen expands and reveals several options for configuring your Table of Posts …
(Table of Posts options)
Options are divided into the following sections
- Columns – This section allows you to tick/untick check boxes to display/hide columns in your Table of Posts.
- Pagination – Enter the number of entries to display on each page of your Table of Posts.
- View Mode – Specify whether items should be displayed in ‘List View’ (default), or ‘Excerpt View’.
Remember to click the ‘Apply’ button to save and update your settings when finished …
(Save Posts options)
Table Of Posts – Filtering And Sorting
WordPress provides a number of options and menu links to sort, filter, and display selected posts. Depending on the status of your posts, you will see the following Post links:
(Post management section – Post menu options)
- All – Clicking this link brings up all posts.
- Mine – Clicking this link displays only the author’s’s posts.
- Published – Click on this menu filter to show all published posts.
- Scheduled – Click on this menu link to list all scheduled posts.
- Draft – Click on this menu filter to list all draft posts.
- Pending – The ‘Pending’ posts menu filter shows all pending posts. (Posts marked as ‘pending’ need to be reviewed and approved by an Editor or Administrator before publishing.)
- Private – The ‘Private’ menu filter returns all posts set to ‘private’ status.
- Trash – Clicking this link returns all posts set to ‘trash’ status
Click the menu links to view by status …
(Post Management Screen – Click menu links to view posts by status)
Below the menu filter and next to the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu and ‘Apply’ button are two additional filtering features:
View Posts – All Dates/Selected Months
In the Table of Posts, you can filter posts by dates. By default, Show all dates is selected and displays all your posts.
Select a specific month from the Posts > ‘All dates’ dropdown menu and click the ‘Filter’ button to display only posts time-stamped within the selected month …
(View Posts by Dates)
Filter Posts By Category
WordPress also lets you filter posts by categories. All Categories is selected by default and all posts are listed.
Use the drop menu and click the ‘Filter’ button to display posts by category …
(Post Filter – All Categories)
If there are many posts spanning across many Post screen pages, use the Search feature to filter and display only posts containing the search words you have entered into the search field …
(Table of Posts – Search Posts function)
To clear the search filter results and view all posts again, click the ‘All’ menu link above the table …
(Clear the results of the search filter by clicking ’All’)
The search filter results will be cleared and all of your posts will be listed once again in the Table of Posts …
(Posts screen – Table of Posts)
Next Step …
Now that you have a better understanding of what all the different features of the WordPress Table of Posts are and how they work, the next step is to learn how to edit and delete your posts in WordPress.
This is the end of section one of this tutorial.
To view Part Two, click the link below:
How To Edit And Delete A WordPress Post – Part Two
Related Tutorials And Articles
The articles and tutorials below will help you better understand topics discussed above and how to use WordPress posts:
- WordPress Pages Vs Posts
- How To Create A Post In WordPress
- How To Use The Inline Editor Feature In WordPress To Edit Your Pages And Posts
- How To Schedule Blog Posts In WP
- What Does A Sticky Post Do?
- WordPress Content Protection For Pages And Posts
- Web Site Traffic Blueprint Part 4 – Learn How To Create An Automated Web Traffic Generating Machine With WordPress
- Attributing Posts To Another Author
- Configuring And Using Categories In WordPress Posts
- How To Configure Tags In WP Posts
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com