it is an easy to use platform that you can use without touching a single line of code. But, knowing how to edit in is a good skill to have within your portfolio.
By knowing how to edit the code, you can troubleshoot or do advanced customization to improve your WordPress site.
This article will talk about why you need to edit HTML in WordPress and how to do it correctly.
Necessary?
WordPress is amazingly designed to be completely out of the box, meaning without writing any code.
In fact, WordPress has a large collection of and to easily customize your website. Therefore, you don’t really need to know how to edit HTML in WordPress.
If you want to change the look and feel of your website, you can use and customize the pre-installed theme or install a new one from the WordPress directory. Also, to add more functionality to your website, installing plugins could be one of the best solutions.
In short, leaving WordPress source code alone is fine for most situations.
However, there are times when you need to edit in WordPress because it might be the only way to accomplish something you need.
For example, when you want to customize the theme in an advanced way or add HTML effects in your posts, such as attractive highlight text.
Keep in mind that editing code in WordPress incorrectly can be fatal. So do it carefully.
Details to consider
Editing WordPress source code is a serious task. You should minimize risk whenever you can.
To do so, you need to consider what your goal is, what tools to use, and how much time you have.
Ask yourself: what is your motive? Do you want to make changes for test, learning either advanced customization?
If you want to test things, it is highly recommended to create a WordPress. In case something goes wrong, it will not affect your website. Also, playing around with a child theme allows you to see if the mod is what you expected.
You can also test certain WordPress features for learning purposes. Remember, you should narrow your scope, touching only the part you want to learn. Not only will you save time, but you’ll also avoid running into unnecessary trouble.
Editing the WordPress source code requires you to have a like Notepad++ for Windows or Text Wrangler for Mac. You should also prepare an FTP client like FileZilla and a modern browser like Google Chrome.
Last but not least, decide how much time you want to spend on the task.
Editing WordPress source code on your own usually takes quite a bit of time. So if you think you don’t have time to do it, hiring a professional might be a good option.
Editing source code in WordPress
As you may know, WordPress uses four different programming languages: , , PHP and .
Each language has its own code and different functionalities. For example, HTML handles the structure of the content and CSS handles the appearance. That said, you may need to perform certain operations using a specific set of code.
Now, let’s explore more about how to edit WordPress source code.
How to edit HTML in WordPress
As noted above, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) controls the structure of content.
You can add any type of content like text, images, videos in your WordPress posts. Typically, you would do this from within the WordPress editor.
WordPress has two types of editors: a visual and a text (HTML) editor. In the classic editor, you can easily switch from the visual editor to because they are located next to each other.
But, that is not the case with the newly introduced editor. There are two ways to switch to the HTML editor:
- Clicking the three-dot menu button on each block
- Clicking the three dots menu at the top left to edit the entire post
This is an example of how to edit HTML in WordPress using the Gutenberg editor:
And this is the result:
As you can see, you can edit HTML in WordPress using the two ways above.
But how to edit HTML on your home page? Basically, you can add custom HTML from the widget areas. go to Appearance -> Widget.
From the widget areas, you can edit the HTML of the widgets or add more widgets from the menu custom HTML.
To edit HTML, you must first choose the widget, make your changes, and save them.
On the other hand, you can add new ones from the custom HTML menu.
Depending on your theme, the options may vary. For example, when using the theme, you have the options: Blog Sidebar, Footer 1 Y Footer 2. Once you add the details, save them.
How to edit PHP and CSS in WordPress
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) applies styling to HTML. It is responsible for determining how the web page is presented.
When you apply a , your website will have a specific design, color and fonts. If you don’t like the default theme, you can use another one.
But what if you want to keep the theme layout but want to change the font? In this case, you may need to edit PHP and CSS in WordPress.
Be careful, this method might not be suitable for WordPress beginners.
There are two ways to edit PHP and CSS in WordPress: using the WordPress code editor or using the .
1. The WordPress code editor
The first method is to access the WordPress code editor. Please note that you can only use this method if your website is working fine, i.e. your website is not crashing due to malware attacks or failed updates.
Once you’ve created a child theme, activate it. Then you can go to Appearance -> Editor.
Make sure to select the specific child theme you want to edit. For example, if you want to edit the footer, you can select footer.php On the right side. You can then add or edit the code in the Code Editor.
After editing the code, click the button update file.
2.FTP client
The following method uses an FTP client.
While this could be a powerful method, we do not recommend using it. It is not secure and could put your website at risk if you mishandle it. But that’s how it’s done if you feel qualified and confident in your skill set.
First, you must create the login credentials to your FTP. You can then open your FTP client and enter your FTP host details, username and password.
Once you manage to connect, you will have access to the WordPress source code. Select any file you want to edit, right click and choose Edit. After you finish editing, you can save your changes.
conclusion
You need a good reason to edit HTML in WordPress. Most of the time, it is enough to use themes and plugins.
If you need to fix any issues or want to do advanced customization, you can edit the WordPress source code. There are things to consider before doing so: your goals, the tools Y your time.
There are different options to edit the WordPress source code:
- Edit HTML in WordPress from the Editor
- Edit PHP and CSS in WordPress using the WordPress code editor or an FTP client
And remember, backup your data before editing HTML in WordPress, safety first!
Deyi is a digital marketing enthusiast, with a background in web design, content creation, copywriting, and SEO. She is part of ‘s SEO & Localization team. In her free time, she likes to develop projects, read a book or watch a good movie.
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