Tools you can use today:

In order to successfully navigate WordPress and reap its rewards, we all need to put the time in. After all, nothing compares to a little patience and perseverance when coming to understand this powerful CMS.

But once you’ve laid the groundwork, there are some WordPress hacks and blogging tips to kick your productivity into overdrive. We’re sharing eleven of them with you today. Enjoy!

Hack 1: Insert Link Shortcut

For years, when I wanted to insert a link, I would highlight my text, head up to the menu bar and right-click on the link option to select the text I wanted to link. Sounds easy enough, right?

Well, there’s an easier option.

When you’d like to insert your link, simply highlight your text and press CTRL + k (on PC) or CMD + k (on MAC) and poof! You’re linked!

Hack 2: Adding Images

Adding media through the “add media” option is an extra step that can be avoided now that WordPress allows us to drop images straight into the post! Having said that, please make sure you have captioned the image and included an alt text, too. Google (and your SEO check) will thank you.

Tip 3: Using free resources.

There are a ton of free resources that bloggers can use when stocking their website with quality content. Photo and other free materials can be found on sites like Unsplash, Pixabay, Pexels, StockSnap.io, and the Arsenal.

Tip 4: Grammer check.

The Google extension Grammarly is immensely helpful when checking grammar within WordPress. It’s an easy install and will aid you in looking like a grammar snob. (We think that’s a good thing!)

Hack 5: Internal Link Discovery

Want to link past content to the blog post you’re currently putting together? It’s easier than you might have previously thought. Simply highlight the story you’re looking back upon, click on the link options wheel, and search for the past content under “or link to existing content.”

Choose the content you want to link to and you’re done!

Done: Introducing our Watercolor Alphabet Font Texture Pack!

Hack 6: Heading Shortcuts

If you’re sick of pulling the heading option bar down each and everytime you want to change your heading from paragraph to Heading 1 to Heading 2 and so forth, simply learn your heading shortcuts:

Shift + Alt + 7 = Paragraph
Shift + Alt + 1 = Heading 1
Shift + Alt + 1 = Heading 2
Shift + Alt + 1 = Heading 3
Shift + Alt + 1 = Heading 4
Shift + Alt + 1 = Heading 5
Shift + Alt + 1 = Heading 6

Hack 7: Single Line Break

Hate the double-line spacing WordPress forces upon you when starting a new section, paragraph or bulleted item? Simply use the Shift + Enter shortcut in one of these cases and…
Ta-Da! You’ve moved down one single space. I don’t know about you, but my world has been rocked.

Test with Enter >

Ugh

Test with Shift + Enter
Yay!

Tip 8: Page Analytics

Get a sense of how visitors are interacting with your blog/website when you download the Page Analytics extension for Chrome. It takes a few seconds to install, and is easy to pop open/hide when you’re in the mood.

Hack 9: Get to work without returning to the post editor

If you’ve exited the post editor and are instead taking a glance at your post in the real world, you can easily make edits, add a new post, new media and more via the drop-downs in the menu bar above the post. (Don’t see the menu bar above your post? You’re likely not logged in anymore.)

Tip 10: Click to tweet

Want to highlight a cool quote that one of your interviewees said? Download a plugin like Click to Tweet so that you can easily post it on any blog post like this:

[Tweet “”That one really cool thing that that one person said.” – That gal”]

No, we weren’t sponsored. We just really love this feature.

Hack 11: Creating Multiple Pages

Have a long post you’d like to split into multiple pages? Enter the “text” mode of your article in order to split it up into sections. Decide where you’d like to break your text. Enter “<!–nextpage–>” here.

Here is what will result >>>

Your content here