For content creation in WordPress the built-in editor is a great tool. The WordPress editor will appear as soon as you create new posts or pages. The WordPress editor offers a visual and text mode as well as many editing tools to modify and edit your content as you prefer. You can even extend the editor by using suitable plugins. In case you have issues when using the WordPress editor, we have put together an overview with the most common issues:
- Where to find the editor in the WordPress dashboard
- Difference between visual and text mode in WordPress editor
- Icons in toolbar of text editor are missing
- WordPress editor is not working as expected
- How to add formatting in the WordPress editor
- How to insert HTML or other code in the WordPress editor
- You have not found a solution to your issue?
Where to find the editor in the WordPress dashboard
When you start writing new posts and navigate to Posts => Add New in your WordPress dashboard, the editor will automatically appear and you can start writing or copy & paste content into the editor and then modify as you like. To create content for pages, please go to Pages => Add New. The WordPress editor already offers the most common editing tools in its toolbar – make sure you can see all available tools. Please note, the WordPress editor offers two different modes – visual and text mode – you can find more information about these modes in the next section just below.
Difference between visual and text mode in WordPress editor
As soon as you start creating content for posts or pages, the WordPress editor will appear below the title field in your WordPress dashboard. Have a look at the upper right corner of the editor where you can see two tabs which say Visual and Text. These are the two modes which each have their own toolbars. The difference is basically, that in visual mode you do not need to know any HTML and can edit your text using the self-explanatory toolbar. When using the text mode, it is recommended to have basic HTML knowledge as the text editor will display your content including HTML markup.
Whichever mode you are using is up to you and depends on your skills and knowledge. However we would strongly recommend to choose one mode and stick to it over the writing course, because if you switch between two modes certain formatting can get lost. This is especially the case when you switch from text to visual mode and back. Please also see this detailed tutorial: How to use the WordPress Text Editor for Writing Posts & Articles.
Icons in toolbar of text editor are missing
If you only see a few icons available in the toolbar of the WordPress editor, please make sure that you have selected the correct editor mode (visual or text) and ensure that you have clicked the Toolbar Toogle icon to open up more tools for you to use. In text mode the WordPress editor has less icons available in the toolbar. If that does not help, there might be another conflict within your WordPress installation – like plugins or scripts that interfere with the WordPress editor.
WordPress editor is not working as expected
If you encounter that the WordPress editor does not work properly, e.g. icon tools in the editor are missing completely, editor is not showing up at all or anything else, then this can have many reasons. Your issue could be caused by conflicts with installed plugins, implemented scripts, hosting related issues or simply a defective WordPress installation. In this case we can only recommend that you inspect your site closely to do some troubleshooting, turn off or even delete plugins one by one, remove scripts and in worst case re-install WordPress to see if this solves your issue.
How to add formatting in the WordPress editor
While editing or writing posts in visual mode, the toolbar within the WordPress editor contains a number of different icons, each denoting a specific tool for you to use. You can make text bold, italic/cursive, create lists and many more. For example the blockquote icon is marked with the single quotation mark. First, mark the words or sentences which you want to be in blockquote and then hit the button with single quotation mark once. Now your selected phrase will appear in blockquote when viewed on your website. Here is a helpful tutorial with several screenshots of the editor.
How to insert HTML or other code in the WordPress editor
To add code into your posts or pages, the first thing you need to do is selecting the text mode instead of the visual mode within the WordPress editor. You can switch to the text mode while making use of the tabs in the right upper corner of the WordPress editor. Only in text mode it is possible to insert code into your content. Please note that switching back and forth between editor modes can cause loss of text formatting or other issues – especially unwanted spaces or else.
You have not found a solution to your issue?
In case you have not found answers to your questions in this support article, please also take a look at our other support topics, as it is very likely that you will find your answer there. If you have purchased a WordPress theme by MH Themes and have a valid license to gain access to theme updates and support, then you may also send a support request for additional assistance.