Making WordPress Content Updates

A Step-by-Step Guide to Updating WordPress Content

1. Familiarize Yourself with the Site:

• Review Existing Content: Spend time browsing through different pages and posts to understand the overall structure, style, and tone of the content.
• Analyze Design: Pay attention to the layout, typography, and visual elements to ensure your updates align with the existing design.

2. Plan Your Updates:

• Outline Changes: Create a list of specific changes you want to make, such as adding new sections, modifying existing text, or updating images.
• Consider SEO: If applicable, research relevant keywords and optimize your content for search engines.

3. Be Prepared:

• Full Site Backup: Before making any significant changes, create a complete backup of your WordPress site. This will serve as a safety net in case something goes wrong. This can be done through the website's hosting environment. If you do not have access to this ask Zach or Brett to make a backup for you.

• Staging Site: If the changes include large structural changes, such as URLs changing and menus being updated, set up a staging environment where you can make and test changes before they go live. This helps minimize risks and ensures a smooth update process.

4. Update Content:

• Edit Posts and Pages: Use the WordPress editor to modify your content. Be mindful of formatting, grammar, and spelling.
• Update Media: Replace or add images, videos, or other media files as needed.
• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your content is mobile-friendly by using responsive design and testing on different devices.

5. Preview Changes:

• Preview Mode: Use the preview feature in WordPress to see how your updates will appear on the frontend.
• Test on Different Devices: Check how your content looks on different screen sizes and browsers.

7. Publish Changes:

• Publish Posts and Pages: Once you're satisfied with the preview, publish your updates.
• Schedule Publication: If you want to delay the publication, use the scheduling feature.

8. Clear Cache:

• Cache Clearing: After publishing your changes, clear your website's cache to ensure the updated content is visible to visitors. Most site will be using WP Rocket and you can hover over WP Rocket in the top menu of WP Admin and select the Clear and Preload Cache option.

9. Test Thoroughly:

• Functional Testing: Verify that all links, forms, and other elements are working correctly.
• Content Consistency: Ensure that your updated content is consistent with the rest of the site in terms of style and formatting.
• Incognito Testing: After publishing your updates visit the effected pages in an Incognito or Private browser window. If you are not seeing changes in these windows, or if styles or functionality are broken then try clearing the cache once more and doing a few hard refreshes on the page.
• Mobile Testing: Make sure to test your changes directly on a physical mobile device, or at least through the inspector window in chrome setup to simulate mobile browsing.

By following these steps, you can effectively update your WordPress content while maintaining a high-quality user experience.